Environmental Implications of the Tourism Industry
Environmental Implications of the Tourism Industry
Terry Davies Sarah Cahill
Discussion Paper 00-14
March 2000
Resources for the Future 1616 P Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 Telephone 202-328-5000 Fax 202-939-3460 Internet: http://www.rff.org
© 2000 Resources for the Future. All rights reserved. No portion of this paper may be reproduced without permission of the authors. Discussion papers are research materials circulated by their authors for purposes of information and discussion. They have not undergone formal peer review or the editorial treatment accorded RFF books and other publications.
Terry Davies and Sarah Cahill
Discussion Paper 00-14
Environmental Implications of the Tourism Industry
Terry Davies and Sarah Cahill Abstract This report analyzes the environmental impacts of the tourism industry, which is the third largest retail industry in the United States, behind only automotive dealers and food stores. In 1998, travel and tourism contributed $91 billion to the U.S. economy, supporting 16.2 million jobs directly and indirectly. While extensive research has documented the significant economic impact of such service industries as tourism, little has been written about their effect on environmental quality. This study uses a framework developed from the industrial ecology literature to assess the impacts of the tourism industry on the environment. Three categories of impact are discussed: direct impacts, including impacts from the travel to a destination, the tourist activities in and of themselves at that destination, such as hiking or boating, and from the creation, operation, and maintenance of facilities that cater to the tourist; “upstream” impacts, resulting from travel service providers’ ability to influence suppliers; and “downstream” impacts, where service providers can influence the behavior or consumption patterns of customers. We have identified impacts from tourist-related transportation, including aircraft, automobiles,
Terry Davies Sarah Cahill
Discussion Paper 00-14
March 2000
Resources for the Future 1616 P Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 Telephone 202-328-5000 Fax 202-939-3460 Internet: http://www.rff.org
© 2000 Resources for the Future. All rights reserved. No portion of this paper may be reproduced without permission of the authors. Discussion papers are research materials circulated by their authors for purposes of information and discussion. They have not undergone formal peer review or the editorial treatment accorded RFF books and other publications.
Terry Davies and Sarah Cahill
Discussion Paper 00-14
Environmental Implications of the Tourism Industry
Terry Davies and Sarah Cahill Abstract This report analyzes the environmental impacts of the tourism industry, which is the third largest retail industry in the United States, behind only automotive dealers and food stores. In 1998, travel and tourism contributed $91 billion to the U.S. economy, supporting 16.2 million jobs directly and indirectly. While extensive research has documented the significant economic impact of such service industries as tourism, little has been written about their effect on environmental quality. This study uses a framework developed from the industrial ecology literature to assess the impacts of the tourism industry on the environment. Three categories of impact are discussed: direct impacts, including impacts from the travel to a destination, the tourist activities in and of themselves at that destination, such as hiking or boating, and from the creation, operation, and maintenance of facilities that cater to the tourist; “upstream” impacts, resulting from travel service providers’ ability to influence suppliers; and “downstream” impacts, where service providers can influence the behavior or consumption patterns of customers. We have identified impacts from tourist-related transportation, including aircraft, automobiles,
References: Discussion Paper 00-14 The tourism industry is complex; being fragmented into several industries that, taken together, constitute what is commonly referred to as the travel and tourism industry (McIntosh & Goeldner, 1990, p.16) Discussion Paper 00-14 The degree of environmental impact varies, depending on the type of tourist and the intensity of site use (Gartner, 1996, p.117)