1. Introduction
Global climate change is a major challenge facing all countries, which profoundly affects the survival and development of humankind [
1,
2]. In the fourth global climate assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pointed out that human activities and greenhouse gas emissions are the main causes of global warming [
3]. Therefore, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions has become an important mission for all humankind to cope with the challenge of global warming, and countries around the world have dedicated numerous efforts to achieving this [
4,
5].
Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up more than 40 years ago, China has seen miraculous economic growth [
6], and its share of the global GDP rose from 1.75 percent in 1978 to 16.04 percent in 2018 [
7]. However, this unprecedented economic boom has come at the cost of relatively serious environmental pollution problems. According to the research report
Challenges of Maintaining Global Warming Below 2 °C by the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research, China, as the world’s largest energy consumer, ranks first in the world in terms of total carbon emissions [
8], and its carbon emissions amounted to 37.2 billion tons in 2018 [
9]. The Chinese government has realized that China should participate extensively in international climate cooperation and undertake its corresponding international obligations [
10,
11]. Hence, at the 75th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Chinese government proposed China’s commitment and strategic goals to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 [
12].
Industrial structure is an important factor affecting the level of carbon emission [
13,
14]. Therefore, building a green and low-carbon economic system is an important way for China to achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. It is also conducive to China’s realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Many international organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB), believe that the tourism industry is a key economic sector for promoting the transformation of the economic system from “brown” to “green” [
15]. Can tourism economy effectively contribute to the achievement of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals and become a reliable segment of the green and low-carbon economic system in China? In practical terms, the tourism industry has been considered by the Chinese government as a strategic pillar industry of the national economy in recent years due to the improvement of national living standards and the increase in tourism demand. According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, the scale of China’s tourism industry continues to expand (
Figure 1). Indeed, its comprehensive contribution to national economic growth and employment has exceeded 10% [
16].
Theoretically, based on panel data or time-series data analysis, some studies have indicated that tourism economy could significantly reduce the regional carbon emission intensity (i.e., carbon emissions per unit GDP; see
Section 4.2.2 for more details) of destinations [
17,
18], although it has generated a certain amount of carbon emissions [
19]. In this context, we aim to answer the following three questions: (1) Can the development of tourism slow down the overall carbon emission intensity of the destination? (2) If the tourism economy has a carbon emission reduction effect, what is the mechanism for tourism to reduce carbon emission intensity? It is worth mentioning that the existing literature lacks research on this issue. (3) Furthermore, does the formation mechanism have spatial heterogeneity?
To answer the above questions, we adopted the panel data of 92 tourism-dependent cities in China from 2005 to 2016 to construct a structural equation model (SEM) and empirically tested the existence and formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy. In other words, we separately explored the direct effects of tourism economy on carbon emission intensity and the indirect effects of tourism economy on carbon emission intensity through industrial development, environmental regulation, and opening-up. In addition, given that tourism-dependent cities are distributed among various regions in China, the spatial heterogeneity of the pathway characteristics of tourism economy affecting carbon emission intensity is further discussed. The potential contributions of this research are as follows: (1) This research provides an empirical framework combining tourism economy and carbon emission intensity to deeply understand the environmental externalities of the tourism industry. In technical terms, we applied SEM to investigate the multiple pathways of tourism economy’s influence on carbon emission intensity. Namely, the formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy has been verified. (2) Existing research on the interaction between tourism and carbon emission was mostly based on the national and provincial levels. To this end, we utilized China’s tourism-dependent cities as a research sample to supplement empirical research on a prefecture-city level. (3) From a practical point of view, this research is conducive to building a policy system for the tourism industry to promote green and low-carbon transition and is of great value for tourism-dependent cities to explore green and low-carbon transition pathways.
The remainder of this study proceeds as follows:
Section 2 provides a literature review.
Section 3 presents the theoretical analysis and research hypothesis.
Section 4 introduces the methods and data sources.
Section 5 reports and analyzes the empirical results based on SEM.
Section 6 gives concluding remarks.
2. Literature Review
Tourism development, such as the construction of tourist attractions, the development of accommodation and catering facilities, and tourism activities, have extensive impacts on the environment and ecology of destinations [
20]. Existing studies have shown that tourism can have adverse effects on the environment. For example, several scholars have revealed that while tourism actively promotes the development of the economy, it also causes adverse effects in terms of water pollution [
21,
22]. In addition, several studies have found that negative impacts on the environment and biodiversity are most pronounced near tourist resorts [
23,
24]. Some scholars have found that tourism seems to be a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and its air pollution cannot be ignored [
25,
26]. Among the above issues, the impact on greenhouse gas emissions is an important topic of long-term academic attention.
According to estimates by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (though the estimate does not include carbon emissions from food, accommodation, and shopping, so the actual value may be higher than the estimated result), tourism carbon emissions account for 4.9% of global anthropogenic carbon emissions [
27]. Tourism is one of the sources of global greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, the total amount of carbon emissions generated by tourism is hard to ignore, but tourism economy has a comprehensive impact on the destination economy system, environment system, and social system [
28,
29], which may have a mitigating effect on regional carbon emission intensity.
Based on our understanding of tourism’s carbon emissions [
30,
31], the academic community has carried out extensive discussions on the effects of tourism economy on regional carbon emissions. Most of the literature has confirmed that there is a significant causal relationship between tourism economy and regional carbon emissions.
On one hand, some studies supported the view that tourism economy has a carbon emission reduction effect. Lee et al. found that the tourism economy of EU countries not only can promote domestic economic growth but also has a long-term co-integration relationship with carbon emissions, which could significantly curb carbon emissions [
32]. Dogan et al. used a heterogeneous panel estimation with cross-sectional dependence to study the relationship among carbon emissions, real income, energy consumption, and tourism economy in EU countries and reached the same conclusion [
33]. Paramati et al. conducted panel cointegration and long-term elasticity tests on the annual data of EU countries and found that there was a long-term equilibrium relationship between tourism investment and carbon emission, and tourism investment significantly reduced carbon emission [
34]. Alam et al. investigated the dynamic role of tourism investment on tourism development and carbon emissions and found that long-term elasticity and short-term causality, concluding that tourism investment in 10 tourism-dependent countries around the world also inhibited carbon emissions [
35]. In addition, Brahmasrene et al. utilized a cointegration test and panel regression model to conduct empirical research on 10 Southeast Asian countries, and they came to the same conclusion that tourism economic growth was conducive to destination carbon emission reduction [
36]. Lee et al. studied the impact of the tourism and hotel industries in Korea on economic growth and carbon emissions and found that the growth of the tourism economy in Korea could also reduce carbon emissions [
37].
In contrast, some studies determined that tourism economy could significantly aggravate destination carbon emissions. Rabindra et al. concluded that for every 1% increase in tourist arrivals in Nepal, carbon emissions increased by 0.98%, which reminded the government to promote the green tourism agenda [
38]. Len et al. found that the tourism economies of both developed and developing economies had a significant role in promoting carbon emissions, but the effect in developed countries was even more pronounced [
39]. Similarly, Balli et al. concluded that tourism statistically had a significant impact on the economic growth of Mediterranean countries, leading to increases in regional carbon emissions [
40]. Danish et al. found that tourism could not only significantly promote the economic growth of BRICS countries but also increase regional carbon emissions and reduce environmental quality [
41]. Zhang et al. utilized the VECM Granger causality method for the first time to study short-term and long-term causality among tourism, economic growth, energy consumption, and carbon emissions in 30 provinces in China, and they indicated that tourism could promote economic growth and increase regional carbon emissions [
42].
In addition, the nonlinear relationship between tourism economy and regional carbon emissions was also explored based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. Paramati et al. revealed the nonlinear impact of tourism on carbon emissions using 26 developed economies and 18 developing economies as the research sample. Specifically, due to differences in national income, the impact of tourism in developed economies on carbon emissions was smaller than that in developing economies [
43]. This provided evidence for the EKC hypothesis between tourism economy and carbon emissions. Wang et al. found that with increases in GDP per capita, there were significant U-shape and inverted U-shape relationships among China’s tourism reception, tourism consumption per capita, and regional carbon emissions per capita [
44].
However, the above studies still have certain limitations, including the following research gaps. (1) Due to differences in research samples, proxy indicators, and research methods, the effects of tourism economy on regional carbon emissions have been not yet conclusive. (2) Existing studies did not provide further explanations for the relationship between tourism economy and regional carbon emissions but only tried to explore the interactive relationship of them. (3) In addition, the existing literature mostly focused on research based on the national level and lacked detailed discoveries on the prefecture-city level. Given this, we adopted 92 tourism-dependent cities in China as a research sample and not only estimated the effect of tourism economy on regional carbon emissions but also utilized the SEM method to reveal the multiple pathways of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy.
6. Discussion and Conclusions
6.1. Discussion
6.1.1. The Idea of the Carbon Emission Reduction Effect of Tourism Economy
Tourism activities have been confirmed to generate large amounts of greenhouse gases, which has shown that the traditional label of the tourism industry as a green and smoke-free industry has been questioned. Compared with that of other industries, the impact of tourism economy on destinations is more comprehensive and systematic. Therefore, not only should we explore the environmental externalities of tourism from the perspective of its own carbon emissions, but also from a macro perspective, that is, from the impact of tourism on the overall carbon emissions of the destination. Hence, this study confirms that in the context of China’s practices, tourism economy has a mitigation effect on the overall carbon emissions of a destination, especially for tourism-dependent cities. In general, this is attributed to the fact that tourism development needs to be based on a good ecological environment of destinations. This means that the destination’s government must impose strict and effective environmental regulations. The deindustrialization effect of tourism economy has also profoundly affected the industrial structure of destinations. A large number of industries with high pollution and high energy consumption have been excluded from the industrial system, thus reducing carbon emission intensity. In addition, tourism economy increases the opening-up of destinations, and the impact of FDI on innovation capacity has promoted the overall technological progress of destinations, which is ultimately conducive to a reduction in carbon emission intensity.
6.1.2. The Theoretical and Practical Contributions
The main theoretical contributions of this study are as follows: (1) This research enriches the empirical results of tourism economy’s carbon emission reduction effect and, to a certain extent, improves the current situation of insufficient empirical research on this topic. (2) This study opens the black box of the formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy and further confirms the positive environmental externalities of tourism economy in terms of carbon emission reduction. (3) Existing studies on the relationship between tourism and carbon emissions were primarily focused on the national or provincial levels. We conducted empirical research at the prefecture-city scale, which forms a certain complement to this field. Moreover, there are some potential practical contributions of this study. (1) Governments’ understanding of the positive externalities of tourism economy can be strengthened. This is of great significance for encouraging the government to develop tourism as a strategic pillar industry of the national economy that the destination can rely on for a long time. (2) This study is conducive to building a policy system for tourism to promote green and low-carbon transformation, which is important for tourism-dependent cities to explore green and low-carbon transformation pathways against the background of the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
6.1.3. Limitations and Future Directions
In this manuscript, the study of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy remains at a preliminary stage. There are certain limitations to this research. (1) This research is a preliminary discussion on the formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy, so it needs to be advanced through multiscale comprehensive investigations in future. (2) This study analyzed the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy only descriptively through SEM. The limitation of SEM motivates future research to investigate the carbon emission reduction effect through the analysis perspectives of nonlinearity, spatiality, and multidimensional heterogeneity. (3) We have discussed the impact of tourism economy on carbon emissions but ignored the possible heterogeneous effects of different types of tourism on industrial development, innovation capacity, openness, and environmental regulation. An exploration of this heterogeneity is also needed through the development of microscopic survey data in future.
6.2. Concluding Remarks
The core aim of this research was to adopt the SEM approach and employ the panel data of 92 tourism-dependent cities to investigate the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy and its formation mechanism. Specifically, we examined the existence of a carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy in China in the first step. As a second step, the transmission mechanism and spatial heterogeneity of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy were discussed. The main conclusions of the research are as follows.
(1) The total carbon emission of tourism-dependent cities in China increased year by year during the study period, while carbon emission intensity decreased. Tourism-dependent cities still face great challenges around carbon emission reduction. Both total carbon emission and carbon emission intensity show a north–south spatial differentiation pattern;
(2) An increase in lntour by 1% can significantly reduce lnCI by 0.054% for the whole sample, indicating that tourism economy has a significant carbon emission reduction effect. However, the direct effect of tourism economy on carbon emission intensity is significantly positive;
(3) The carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy presents multiple pathway characteristics. There are single intermediary pathways such as lntour → lnenvi → lnCI and lntour → lnopen → lnCI and dual intermediary pathways such as lntour → lnopen → lnind → lnCI or lntour → lnopen → lninnov → lnCI. The indirect effect formed by the combination of the above pathways can reverse the direct effect of tourism economy on increasing carbon emission intensity.
(4) The formation mechanism of a carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy has a significant spatial difference in the subsamples (eastern, central, western, and northeastern).
In China, the tourism-dependent development model can provide support for promoting carbon emission reduction, which has been relatively mature. Tourism economy has profoundly affected and reconstructed destination systems, such as economic and social systems and ecosystems of tourism-dependent cities, so that its indirect effect on regional carbon emission intensity contributes to the carbon emission reduction effect. Additionally, tourism economy has a negative direct impact on regional carbon emission intensity, indicating that its responsibility in greenhouse gas emission reduction cannot be ignored. Green, low-carbon, and sustainable are still the realistic demand and mission of high-quality development of tourism economy in this era. According to the results of heterogeneity analysis, local governments should formulate spatial-targeted policies to strengthen the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy by focusing on spatial differences in the formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect in tourism economy.