Search Results (142)

Environmental degradation has intensified alongside rising carbon emissions driven by economic expansion, energy consumption, and transport activities. In recent decades, Middle Eastern economies have experienced substantial growth in tourism, trade openness, and energy use, raising concerns about their environmental consequences. This study investigates the impact of tourism activity, energy consumption, and trade openness on transport-related CO₂ emissions in ten Middle Eastern countries over the period 2000–2020. Data were obtained from the World Development Indicators (WDI) database of the World Bank. Using a panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework, the analysis captures both short-run dynamics and long-run equilibrium relationships. To improve measurement robustness, tourism activity is proxied using two alternative indicators: international tourism expenditures (TEs) and international tourism receipts (TRs). The empirical results indicate that tourism activity and energy consumption significantly increase transport-related CO₂ emissions in both the short and long run, while trade openness does not exert a statistically significant long-run effect. These findings suggest that tourism expansion and energy-intensive transport systems are key contributors to environmental pressure In the region, whereas the environmental impact of trade may be indirect or conditional. The study highlights the importance of integrating sustainable tourism policies and improving energy efficiency. In addition, it underscores the need to develop low-carbon transport strategies to support environmentally sustainable economic development in Middle Eastern economies. Full article

This study evaluates the demand dynamics of the 20 leading strategic destinations in the global tourism market by modeling the interactions between traditional macroeconomic determinants and climate-linked environmental sustainability indicators. The primary objective is to assess the predictive capacity of physical and structural environmental factors—including water stress, air pollution, renewable energy adoption, and sanitation infrastructure—relative to established economic metrics like GDP per capita. Employing non-parametric predictive frameworks on a panel dataset of 400 observations (2000–2019), the empirical analysis suggests that tree-based ensemble models, notably Extra Trees (90.54%) and CatBoost (84.75%), yield higher predictive accuracy than conventional multiple linear regression (73.97%). Interpretations derived from cooperative game theory via SHAP analysis suggest that environmental determinants may serve as important predictive drivers of tourism demand. Specifically, variables such as water stress (28.20%), renewable energy share (27.12%), and sanitation infrastructure carry substantial predictive weight, whereas the benchmark macroeconomic indicator (2.30%) exerts a relatively marginal influence within the model architecture. These findings imply that environmental sustainability metrics may capture international tourism demand variations more effectively than traditional economic variables. The results suggest that acute environmental vulnerabilities may be associated with reduced tourism inflows, potentially reflecting limitations in destination sustainability thresholds. Broadly, the evidence is consistent with the notion that contemporary global tourism demand may be increasingly interdependent with ecological resilience and low-carbon transition policies. It is important to note that the findings reported here reflect predictive associations derived from machine learning models and should not be interpreted as evidence of causal relationships. Full article

As the core driving force behind the new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, digital–green synergy (DGS) has become a crucial pathway of low-carbon development in the tourism industry. On the basis of panel data from 54 coastal cities in China from 2011 to 2023, this study employs baseline regression models, moderation effect models, threshold effect models, and spatial spillover effect models to empirically examine the impact mechanisms of DGS on tourism carbon emission efficiency (TCEE), and its spatial spillover effects. The results indicate that (1) DGS can effectively enhance TCEE. (2) Environmental regulation (ER) and tourism industry agglomeration (TIA) play positive moderating roles in the relationship between DGS and TCEE. (3) The effect of DGS on TCEE exhibits nonlinearity, with a double-threshold characteristic, which leads to leap-like changes. (4) DGS has spatial spillover effects on TCEE, facilitating coordinated emission reductions across regions. (5) The results of the heterogeneity analysis indicate that the promoting effect of DGS on TCEE is more pronounced in the southern marine economic circles and economically advanced regions. The present study offers theoretical evidence and policy insights for promoting the deep integration of digitalization and greening development and for achieving high-quality development of the tourism industry in Chinese coastal regions. Full article

Community-based tourism (CBT) destinations are increasingly expected to align visitor experiences with climate responsibility, yet local managers often lack product-level carbon evidence that can guide practical route redesign and service decisions. This study addresses this aggregation-to-action gap by developing a route-level carbon footprint baseline for a CBT itinerary in Ban Boonjaem, Phrae Province, Thailand. Using an exploratory and applied case study design, the study treats one completed six-hour, non-overnight itinerary as the functional unit and applies a life-cycle-informed operational boundary covering transportation, food and beverage consumption, and solid waste generated during the route test. Primary activity data were collected from one organized route test involving 20 Thai domestic volunteer tourists and were matched with relevant emission factors to estimate total and per-tourist emissions. The tested itinerary generated 0.2234 tCO2e, equivalent to 223.4 kgCO2e in total and approximately 11.2 kgCO2e per tourist per trip. Transportation was the largest emission domain, accounting for 55.89% of total route emissions, followed by food and beverage consumption at 38.55%, while waste contributed 5.56%. Together, transportation and food and beverage represented 94.44% of measured emissions, indicating that the route’s carbon profile was shaped mainly by mobility arrangements and service provisioning rather than waste generation alone. The study contributes a transparent, route-specific operational baseline for low-carbon CBT management. The findings should be interpreted as case-specific decision-support evidence rather than as a destination-wide carbon inventory or statistically generalizable estimate. Full article

Railway transport is increasingly recognized as a key pillar of sustainable mobility, offering a low-carbon and energy-efficient alternative to road and air transport and playing a critical role in achieving climate objectives, regional connectivity, and sustainable tourism development. Despite extensive research on service quality, sustainability, and tourism, their interrelationship within the railway sector remains insufficiently explored. This study aims to systematically analyze the intersection of quality management systems (QMS), sustainability, and tourism in passenger railway transport and to identify structural gaps that hinder their integration. A systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA methodology, resulting in a final sample of 37 studies. The findings reveal a significant research gap, particularly the absence of integrated and empirically supported QMS frameworks linking passenger satisfaction with sustainability and tourism objectives. Quality-management-oriented constructs appear in 48.6% of the analyzed studies, sustainability in 32.4%, and tourism in 24.3%, while none demonstrate full integration of all three dimensions. The study contributes by providing a conceptual basis for future research on the integration of operational quality management, environmental performance, and passenger-oriented service quality in railway systems. Full article

Chang Moi Subdistrict is in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. It is a subdistrict characterized by cultural heritage and everyday community life. The study pursued three objectives: (1) to explore the tourism context of Chang Moi together with tourist attitudes and behaviors; (2) to develop creative tourism routes and evaluate their carbon implications; and (3) to propose appropriate routes and activities for low-carbon creative tourism development. A mixed-method design was employed, comprising qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, a quantitative tourist survey (n = 408), route development, an LCA-informed greenhouse gas assessment, route testing, and synthesis of findings. Three representative route programs were developed: a one-day walking route for international tourists, a one-day private-car route for Thai tourists, and a two-day mixed route. The carbon-footprint results showed that the one-day routes generated substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions (Program 1 = 10.58 kg CO₂ eq; Program 2 = 10.82 kg CO₂ eq) than the two-day overnight route (Program 3 = 31.52 kg CO₂ eq). Waste management was the largest contributor in the one-day routes, whereas Program 3 showed a more distributed emission profile across waste management, creative activities, food and beverage services, and accommodation. Among the assessed activities, flower arranging generated the highest carbon footprint. Overall, the findings indicate that low-carbon creative tourism development in Chang Moi should emphasize compact and walkable route structures, lower-impact creative activities, sustainability-oriented interpretation, and community-based implementation. The study provides an evidence-based basis for tourism planning in Chang Moi and offers implications for other compact creative districts pursuing low-carbon tourism transition. Full article

In the context of global climate change and the green transformation of the tourism industry, low-carbon tourism has emerged as an important topic within the field of sustainable development research. Consequently, there is a pressing need to systematically review and synthesize its knowledge domain. This study utilizes bibliometric analysis, employing CiteSpace, to review 468 articles published in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2010 to 2026, thereby elucidating publication trends, keyword clustering, and research hotspots within the field of low-carbon tourism. Additionally, it employs content analysis to provide an in-depth discussion of the knowledge system in this research area. Key findings are as follows: (1) The number of published papers on low-carbon tourism exhibits a phased growth pattern, with contributions predominantly centered around scholars such as Gössling and institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Moreover, keyword co-occurrence and clustering analyses uncover a development from essential concepts such as low-carbon tourism and climate change to a more extensive range of themes, including carbon emission accounting, tourist behavior, and systemic governance, and research topics have undergone a phased evolution, moving from macro-level cognition to quantitative analysis, and then to systemic governance. (2) The research hotspots encompass five key areas: basic cognition and related concepts, carbon emission accounting methods and applications, factors influencing emissions and assessment frameworks, tourists’ low-carbon behaviors and decision-making mechanisms, and pathways for multi-party collaborative governance. (3) Current research is still facing four challenges, i.e., the absence of a standardized framework for assessing carbon emissions, outdated assessment methods, a disconnect between behaviors and governance, and fragmented governance entities. This indicates that research on low-carbon tourism has progressed beyond the initial macro-level discussions and has entered a critical phase closely linked to substantive governance. Future research needs to focus on deeply exploring the standardization of accounting methods, the development of dynamic assessment models, the design of behavioral intervention mechanisms, and the establishment of multi-level collaborative governance mechanisms. These efforts are essential to provide scientific evidence and practical guidelines for the global tourism industry to achieve neutrality goals. Full article

This paper examines how forest by-products (potash, tar, resin and charcoal—PoTaRCh), with a special focus on charcoal production, are presented in contemporary heritage tourism and how different communication frameworks influence the audience’s perceptions and intentions in the context of low-carbon development. The research is based on a combined methodological approach. Qualitative analysis of 70 communication units from the field of heritage tourism identified three dominant communication frames: traditional heritage, ecological-educational frame and future-oriented low-carbon innovation. These findings served as the basis for the experimental part of the research, conducted through an online A/B test on a sample of 212 adult respondents interested in travel, cultural tourism and heritage-based experiences. The results of the experiment indicate that the low-carbon communication framework leads to statistically significantly higher levels of perceived relevance of PoTaRCh, visit intention and positive attitude towards sustainability compared to the traditional framework, with perceived relevance partially mediating these effects. The findings suggest that, although traditional communication patterns still dominate heritage tourism, the future-oriented low-carbon framework shows greater communication potential for attracting a sustainability- and future-oriented audience. By combining the analysis of communication content from several European countries and the experimental testing of communication frameworks, the research provides an empirical contribution to the understanding of the transition from the concept of heritage-as-preservation to heritage-as-transition in contemporary discourses of sustainable tourism. Full article

Since sustainable tourism gains relevance in tourist destinations like Thailand, the fact that some satisfied customers fail to become avid promoters is a research dilemma. In this paper, the researcher explored the behavioural intentions of low-carbon tourists in Thailand by looking at the contributions of constraints and sustainability communication, satisfaction, and advocacy in an integrated framework. The study aimed to explain the gap between satisfaction and advocacy, and to determine the key determinants of revisit and recommendation intentions. The methodology used was a mixed-methods approach of combining the survey data of 452 valid respondents who were questioned in major destinations such as Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi, and Bangkok, with 32 semi-structured interviews. Structural equation modelling found that sustainability communication has a positive impact on satisfaction, and structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints have a detrimental influence on such. Advocacy was highly predicted by satisfaction, and it mediated its influence on behavioural intentions partially. Passive satisfaction, doubt towards green claims, social identity, and advocacy fatigue were recognized as qualitative findings to explain the gap found. The research finds that plausible communication and identity-based interaction are critical to make contented tourists loyal low-carbon campaigners. Full article

Designing sustainable pedestrian infrastructure in hyper-arid cultural landscapes requires balancing visitor experience, heritage protection, and environmental constraints. This study develops a statistically grounded model for planning sustainable walking trails in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, using multi-spectral remote sensing data integrated with expert-based evaluation. A GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework was applied to assess topographic slope, vegetation cover (NDVI), built-up density (NDBI), Land Surface Temperature (LST), and solar exposure. Indicator weights were validated through a three-round Delphi survey involving fifteen experts. The results indicate strong consensus among experts, identifying LST (21%) and slope (20%) as the most influential determinants of trail suitability in desert environments. These findings highlight the critical role of thermal stress in shaping safe and sustainable pedestrian mobility in hot climates. The optimized 44.5 km trail network, classified into three difficulty levels, improves energetic efficiency by reducing caloric expenditure by 24% compared to conventional routing. In addition, the proposed network has the potential to reduce carbon emissions associated with heritage-related travel by approximately 75% through modal shift from vehicles to walking. The framework provides a practical decision-support tool for planners seeking to develop low-carbon, climate-responsive tourism infrastructure aligned with the objectives of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Full article

The rapid growth of the digital economy has transformed the tourism industry, yet the industrial linkages and environmental impacts of this integration remain underexplored. This study employs an input–output framework to examine the interactions between the digital economy and tourism and their carbon footprint effects in China. Multi-year digital economy–tourism input–output tables for 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023 are constructed using sectoral disaggregation and the RAS updating method. Results indicate increasing integration, with tourism more dependent on the digital economy sectors and both industries exerting the strongest influence on the secondary sector. The digital economy shows a gradual shift from hardware manufacturing to information services. Structural decomposition analysis and structural path analysis reveal that technological progress significantly reduces emissions, whereas population growth drives increases. These findings offer empirical evidence for guiding digital–tourism integration and supporting low-carbon strategies in the tourism sector. Full article

Coastal ecosystems are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities associated with tourism development and maritime traffic. This study evaluates the environmental quality of a coastal sector using an integrated approach combining sediment characteristics, heavy metal concentrations, and benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Nineteen surface sediments were collected and analyzed for trace metals using ICP-MS, while benthic foraminiferal assemblages were quantified, and ecological indices were calculated. Results reveal elevated concentrations of trace metals at coastal stations, closely associated with high TOM and fine-grained sediments, indicating significant anthropogenic inputs. These stations are characterized by low species richness, reduced Shannon diversity, high dominance, low living foraminiferal percentages, high malformed individuals, and markedly low FoRAM values, reflecting stressed environmental conditions. Opportunistic taxa such as Ammonia tepida dominate impacted sites, whereas sensitive carbonate-producing taxa (Quinqueloculina lamarckiana, Coscinospira hemprichii, Elphidium striatopunctatum, Elphidium crispum) prevail at less disturbed stations. Multivariate analyses clearly separate polluted coastal stations from relatively unimpacted offshore sites. The combined geochemical and biological evidence demonstrates that tourism-related activities and ship effluents exert a strong negative influence on benthic ecosystems. Benthic foraminifera, together with heavy metals, provide an effective and sensitive tool for assessing anthropogenic impacts and coral reef health for sustainable coastal management of Safaga Bay. Full article

The recovery of water and other resources from urban water systems (UWSs) has long been practiced in many Mediterranean countries, but remains relatively unexplored in Croatia. In this study, the sustainable circulation processes of water, nutrients, energy, and their components in UWSs in coastal tourist areas are analyzed in order to strengthen urban systems and environmental sustainability. Dissipative structure theory is used to critically analyze the complexity and sustainability of UWSs, urban systems, and circular economy frameworks. This study is based on conceptual analysis and knowledge (experience), and the sustainability of a circular urban water system is assessed based on circular thermodynamics. This study examines the core concepts of circular urban water systems as a local resource for nutrients, water, and energy, integrating approaches that strengthen resource recovery concepts. Systemic urban climate adaptation and circular urban systems have been adopted as interrelated strategies for resilient cities, focusing on closing resource loops while building resilience to climate impacts through whole-system approaches. This framework moves beyond single solutions, connecting urban planning, energy, water, waste, and social factors to incorporate green and low-carbon developments into cities. It was established that the principle of integrated resource management lies at the heart of effective water, energy, and nutrient management in coastal urban areas, which treats entire urban life support systems as an interconnected system. Such systems increase the efficiency percentages of water, nutrient, and energy recovery while minimizing sludge volume and system entropy, thus supporting the tourism economy and low-carbon development. Full article

Does the rapid expansion of the digital economy ultimately reduce or increase carbon emissions in tourism transportation? Its impact remains ambivalent, presenting both clear opportunities and unforeseen challenges. This study hypothesizes that while the digital economy increases total carbon emissions by expanding the scale of travel and driving up private car ownership, it concurrently reduces emission intensity. This study estimates tourism transportation carbon emissions across 30 Chinese provinces (2011–2021) using a bottom-up approach. By integrating fixed-effects, mediation, and threshold models, it systematically examines the digital economy’s direct, mechanistic, and nonlinear impacts on emission dynamics. The empirical findings provide strong support for initial hypotheses. Further, the threshold tests uncover the tipping points in how threshold variables influence tourism transportation carbon emissions. The effect of the digital economy transitions from accelerating to attenuating emission growth once these boundaries are crossed, revealing a shift from a scale-driven regime to an efficiency-driven equilibrium. These findings suggest that well-calibrated policies can harness digitalization to foster low-carbon transformation. Recommended measures include implementing tiered subsidy schemes for low-emission vehicles and fostering cross-regional collaboration to establish carbon-inclusive platforms. Full article

The mulberry-dyke fishpond system represents China’s traditional circular agricultural heritage yet faces challenges of “circularity without economic viability” and preservation under modernization pressures. Taking the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System site of Digang in Huzhou as a case study, this paper reveals fundamental shifts in its value structure through local research and interviews. Key findings include the following: (1) Significant decline in traditional economic value: Annual income from mulberry-dyke fishpond systems is extremely low, far below the per-mu yield of modern intensive aquaculture in the area. This has led to producer withdrawal and the disintegration of the base-pond structure. (2) Ecological and social values increasingly emerge and partially marketize: The system’s ecological service value is substantial and policy-recognized, with markets responding through a 100% premium on eco-fish prices. Concurrently, heritage-based cultural tourism integration generates significant new value—for instance, Digang village’s 2023 tourism revenue reached 140 million. However, these prominent non-market values still lack stable, adequate realization pathways. The core argument of this study is that the decline in mulberry-dyke fishpond systems stems from an imbalance in value structures rather than the disappearance of value. Their revitalization hinges on institutional innovation that transforms ecological and social value into sustainable market incentives. To this end, this paper proposes a systematic revitalization framework encompassing a concession system (incorporating community interest alignment and risk management clauses), regional brand certification, carbon sink value realization, and mechanisms for deep community participation. This approach aims to provide a Chinese solution for the sustainable development of similar agricultural cultural heritage sites, offering both theoretical insights and practical value. Full article