Revisiting the role of tourism and globalization in environmental degradation in China: Fresh insights from the quantile ARDL approach

Abstract

Ascertaining sustainable development is a major issue across the globe, and the economic growth pattern achieved is a predominant reason behind this. The globalization-led economic growth achieved by the emerging economies might not be ecologically sustainable, as globalization might not have been utilized as a policy tool. Moreover, a sound policy calls for considering the entire data spectrum for the analysis, which is largely ignored in the literature. This research contributes to the literature by proffering a policy framework for the emerging economies by analyzing the impact of globalization and tourism on environmental degradation, by considering the Chinese context as a sample. Following the quantile autoregressive distributed lag model, the impact of economic growth, globalization, and tourism on greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide emissions, and the ecological footprint in China over 1978Q1-2017Q4 are analyzed. The results demonstrate that economic growth stimulates environmental degradation, while the presence of Environmental Kuznets Curve is also validated. Moreover, tourism has been found to exert positive environmental externalities, while globalization exerts negative environmental externalities. Based on the outcomes of the research, a comprehensive policy framework has been suggested, following which the Chinese economy might be able to attain the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals 7, 8, and 13.

Eco-Cultural Tourism: Sustainable Development and Promotion of Natural and Cultural Heritage

“…Asian countries including China, Malaysia and Thailand are a modern example of countries with emerging economies, which have experienced significant economic growth and rapid urbanisation. Scientific studies have addressed, from a global dimension, the impacts of tourism and its destinations on logistics and economic dynamics, especially the effect the tourism industry has had on transport, ASIA: China, Malaysia, Thailand [11][12][13][14][15] 1. Global dimension, natural, urban and rural areas: countries with emerging economies with high economic growth and rapid urbanisation.…”

“…Within the same context, the relationship between tourism and globalisation in environmental degradation is investigated in China [13], where a quantum distributed delay model is used. They show that economic growth stimulates environmental degradation and suggest a comprehensive policy framework that could achieve Sustainable Development Goal No.…”

Effective Leadership in the 21st Century: Lessons for the Tourism Sector in the African Continent

“…Research literature on tourism reveals that leadership has not received the necessary attention in both tourist destinations and networked environments in general [39]. The work by [28] covers tourism and environmental degradation in China, while Zhang, Khan, Kumar, Golpîra, and Sharif covered logistical operations and environmental degradation from Thailand perspective [12]. Although tourism businesses in Africa are not isolated from developed and developing communities, there is interdependence of the different sectors, individuals and groups involved in tourism [4].…”

Gen Y: Emotions and Functions of Smartphone Use for Tourist Purposes

“…In this sense, the cost associated with the development of smart infrastructures (powerful transport networks, free Wi-Fi, etc.) should not be an obstacle for destinations with fewer resources [47,48] because, as Huertas et al [43] point out, there are other more affordable actions that serve the same purpose, such as proper integration and management of social networks and mobile apps.…”