Comparative analysis of national tourism decarbonisation plans

Abstract

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.