The importance of tourism around the world is increasing. In 2014, direct, indirect, and induced economic effects of tourism amounted to 9% of global GDP (United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Tourism Highlights 2015). Moreover, the contribution of newly developing countries in the tourism market to this figure increased from 30 to 45% over the last 25 years, which means that tourism has been effective in improving economic well-being in these countries (UNWTO 2015). Hardy et al. (2002) reported that the three key factors in the development of sustainable tourism are environment vision, economic development, and community involvement. More recent
AbstractAs the economic importance of tourism increases, it is important to consider the effects that tourism has on the environment in the affected regions of the country. In our study, we selected two popular tourist destinations in Japan, Tokyo and Kyoto, for our case studies on the repercussion effects induced by the economic and environmental activities of visitors. As waste generation and landfilling are two of the most important environmental loads in Japan, a regional waste input-output approach was considered to be an effective method for evaluating these issues. The estimated direct effects of visitors' consumption activities in Tokyo and Kyoto amounted to approximately 434 billion yen and 209 billion yen, respectively. The tendencies of visitor consumption in both prefectures were similar, as were the repercussion effects on the production value, which accounted for approximately 434 billion yen and approximately 260 billion yen in Tokyo and Kyoto, respectively. Value added amounted to 276 billion yen in Tokyo and approximately 108 billion yen in Kyoto. Waste generation induced by tourists in Kyoto accounted for approximately 22,690 t, which was similar to that induced in Tokyo at 20,655 t. Regarding the repercussion effect of the area of landfill consumption, Kyoto tourists consumed 1479 m 2 of landfill in contrast to 7369 m 2 in Tokyo. The results of our study reveal the importance of considering the regional characteristics of the target region when conducting environmentally sound campaigns directed at stimulating tourism.
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