TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparative analysis of national tourism decarbonisation plans
AU - Conefrey, Anita
AU - Hanrahan, James
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Varna University of Management. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - For tourism to be considered sustainable, the industry needs to be transparent in measuring, monitoring and reporting all emissions to actively contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy. The purpose of this study was to identify to what level tourism decarbonisation has been discussed, assessed, and planned for globally. For this study, a content analysis of national tourism plans was implemented to identify if the carbon footprint of tourism has been assessed, establish a unified approach to measure tourism emissions and determine what level of tourism decarbonisation strategies are currently in place. The findings in this study identified that the carbon footprint of tourism has not been assessed globally, lacks serious discussion and planning for tourism decarbonisation. Crucially, baseline data for tourism emissions are not available, as a result, tourism policymakers cannot monitor and manage the level of decarbonisation in tourism. Furthermore, a unified approach to measure tourism emissions needs to be agreed upon to ensure that each country measures the same criteria. Consequently, allowing policymakers to compare international tourism emissions and establish if tourism is actively transitioning towards a low-carbon industry. Climate change is a significant crisis facing humanity, and until now, this research has not been completed.
AB - For tourism to be considered sustainable, the industry needs to be transparent in measuring, monitoring and reporting all emissions to actively contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy. The purpose of this study was to identify to what level tourism decarbonisation has been discussed, assessed, and planned for globally. For this study, a content analysis of national tourism plans was implemented to identify if the carbon footprint of tourism has been assessed, establish a unified approach to measure tourism emissions and determine what level of tourism decarbonisation strategies are currently in place. The findings in this study identified that the carbon footprint of tourism has not been assessed globally, lacks serious discussion and planning for tourism decarbonisation. Crucially, baseline data for tourism emissions are not available, as a result, tourism policymakers cannot monitor and manage the level of decarbonisation in tourism. Furthermore, a unified approach to measure tourism emissions needs to be agreed upon to ensure that each country measures the same criteria. Consequently, allowing policymakers to compare international tourism emissions and establish if tourism is actively transitioning towards a low-carbon industry. Climate change is a significant crisis facing humanity, and until now, this research has not been completed.
KW - Analytical Approaches
KW - Carbon Footprint
KW - Climate Change
KW - Decarbonisation
KW - Greenhouse Gases
KW - National Tourism Plans
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125187933&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.54055/ejtr.v31i.1979
DO - 10.54055/ejtr.v31i.1979
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125187933
SN - 1994-7658
VL - 31
JO - European Journal of Tourism Research
JF - European Journal of Tourism Research
M1 - 3105
ER -