The impact of economic and environmental factors and tourism policies on the sustainability of tourism growth in China: evidence using novel NARDL model

Abstract

Recently, sustainability of tourism growth has become an international issue due to environmental and economic uncertainty that needs recent researchers' focus and also requires the policymakers' attention. Therefore, the present research has examined the role of economic and environmental factors and tourism policy related to tourist arrival on the sustainability of tourism growth in China. The economic factor includes the gross domestic product (GDP), national income, and foreign direct investment (FDI), while environmental factors include carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and nitrous oxide emission. The study has extracted the data from World Development Indicators (WDI) from 1990 to 2020. The present research has employed nonlinear autoregressive distributed lagged (NARDL) to check the linkage among variables. The current study also examines the unit root using Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests. The results revealed that GDP, national income, tourism policy related to tourist arrival, and FDI have a positive linkage with the sustainability of tourism growth. The results also exposed that environmental factors such as CO 2 emission, GHG emission, and nitrous oxide emission have a negative linkage with the sustainability of tourism growth. This study provides the guidelines to the relevant authorities and regulators in developing and implementing the regulators regarding the sustainability of tourism growth by promoting economic and environmental conditions and effective tourism policies in the country.

An economic analysis of sustainable tourism development in China

“…The findings depicted the role of green R&D in making green innovations in the tourism industry. Chen ( 2022 ) employed the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lagged (NARDL) to model green tourism growth in China from 1990 to 2020. They concluded that tourism revenue and GDP (gross domestic product) positively impact the sustainable tourism growth of the country.…”

“…This article evaluates the modeling of sustainable tourism development at the level of Chinese provinces and according to the level of per capita income of the provinces. The closest research done to this research is Chen ( 2022 ) which has many differences. For example, in this paper, instead of the country level of China, provincial level data are analyzed, which provide findings that are more impactful to policymakers.…”

Clean energy-led tourism development in Malaysia: Do environmental degradation, FDI, Education and ICT matter?

“…Economic growth and eco-innovation work together to drive the development of clean energy solutions and ensure progress [Chau, Lin [ 22 ]]. Environmental factors and globalization influence energy consumption and economic growth [Chen [ 23 ]]. The complexities of exchange rate reference add a layer of complexity to energy transitions.…”

“…FDI is seen as a driver of economic growth and can infuse capital and expertise into the tourism industry, catalyzing clean energy integration [Yue, Zubair [ 48 ], Munir and Iftikhar [ 49 ]]. However, caution is needed to avoid negative consequences such as environmental degradation, economic disparities, and cultural erosion [Chen [ 23 ]; Resende-Santos [ 50 ] and Fauzel, Seetanah [ 51 ]]. Education adds a nuanced layer to the clean energy discourse.…”

Assessment of low-carbon tourism development from multi-aspect analysis: a case study of the Yellow River Basin, China

“…Environmental issues represented by climate change have emerged as a global concern. The environmental impact of tourism is mainly manifested in the consumption of resources and the greenhouse gas emissions, which are a well-known cause of climate change 1 , 2 . However, research on the environmental impacts caused by tourism is usually not independent, but connected to the growth of tourism economy (TE).…”