The Carbon Impact of International Tourists to an Island Country

Abstract

Taiwan, located in the East Asia, is an island country with limited natural resources. To increase economic growth and reduce CO 2 emission levels, the Taiwanese government is promoting a sustainable low-carbon tourism industry. This study investigated the CO 2 emission coefficient of tourist activities and identified the CO 2 emissions (CE) patterns of international visitors to Taiwan. The total CO 2 emission per visitor without considering international transportation was estimated using a questionnaire. The total CO 2 emission comprises the CO 2 emission of transportation, the CO 2 emission of accommodation, and the CO 2 emission of tourist activities. The results suggest that more convenient public transportation might help to reduce the total CO 2 emission. Without considering CO 2 emission from international air travel, in contrast to many non-island countries where CO 2 emission of transportation is the main contributor to total CO 2 emission, the CO 2 emission of accommodation was the main contributor to total CO 2 emission in Taiwan. To reduce the CO 2 emission of accommodation, the Taiwanese government should improve the energy-use efficiency of devices in tourist hotels and promote bed-and-breakfast accommodations with low CO 2 emission coefficients. Visitors enjoyed culinary journeys and shopping, both of which are activities that contribute highly to the CO 2 emission of tourist activities because of their high CO 2 emission coefficients.

Investigation about the Impact of Tourism Development on a Water Conservation Area in Taiwan

“…Tourists are the most important participants in and experiencers of tourism and travel [28]. Numerous tourist-based studies on tourism impacts have been conducted [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]; it was found that tourists also have varying opinions about the changes caused by tourism development.…”

“…The residents hope that tourism-driven improvements in business investment and earnings will meet their expectations. If the living needs of the residents cannot be met, this will lead to a divergence between each stakeholder in their opinions about the following tourism-related economic issues: job opportunities, opportunities for starting a new business, opportunities for working as a tour guide, policies on tourism protection, and designing creative commodities [9,11,12,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…The local residents and entrepreneurs would like to utilize the opportunities afforded by tourism in this region, but owing to a lack of supporting infrastructure and the absence of sustainable business concepts, the cost of living and housing prices have increased as a consequence. These issues have led to significant differences in opinion among the stakeholders in each village, concerning the following issues: opportunities for starting a new business, higher living costs, higher prices of basic necessities and housing, healthcare, policies on tourism protection, and designing creative commodities [9,11,12,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. In terms of the economic development of each village, significant differences were also present among the economic-development-related perceptions of the stakeholders, especially regarding tourism planning, healthcare, consumption choices, tourism infrastructure, and professional ethics (p < 0.001), as shown in Figure 4 (right).…”

“…If a tourist area is very similar to the place of residence of the tourists and has no distinguishing features, the travel experiences of tourists in the area will then be negatively affected. The aforementioned problems are responsible for differences in the perceptions of stakeholders towards the following issues: quality of tourism activities, participation in community development, sufficient tourism indicators, more development associations, attracting excellent private businesses, young people returning home to start a business or find work, opportunities for vocational training, living environment, traditional cultural events, tourists perceive that they are trusted, positive interactions between residents, and contribution to the development of aboriginal cultural industries [9,11,12,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. In the context of the social development of each village, there were significant differences between the perceptions of each stakeholder regarding population structure, labor resources, and tourism acceptance (p < 0.001), as shown in Figure 5 (right).…”

Low-Carbon Behaviour Performance of Scenic Spots in a World Heritage Site

“…Human activities are affecting the Earth's system with unprecedented magnitude and speed, which, in turn, affects the quality of human life and the level of sustainable development. Tourism is closely linked to the environment and climate and is considered to be a vulnerable and highly climate-sensitive sector of the economy [1,2]. According to the research report of the World Tourism Organization, the carbon dioxide generated by global tourism development reached 1.3 billion tons, which accounted for 4.9% of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide, while the contribution rate of anthropogenic global warming by the tourism sector accounted for 5-14% [3,4].…”