No abstract

The tourism industry holds high importance for the economy of Latvia; therefore, it is important to comply with the low-emission mobility strategy. The aim of this research is to investigate the CO2 emissions caused by a trip to Latvia’s Western coast at the Baltic Sea for recreational fishing in order to create information basis for intensifying the development of the specific tourism industry on a Baltic Sea states scope. In this research a hybrid (top-down and bottom up) and regression method was used for determination of CO2 emissions and interlinked relations. Research results: Altogether travelling forth and back to fishing destinations totalled 22 546 km, emitting 5.796 tCO2 emissions; vehicle occupation rates for vehicles vary – for car – 28.9 %, for motorhome – 50 %, for vans – 25 %. Renewal of car fleet to more fuel-economy vehicles would help comply with the CO2 95 g/km goal, would reduce the emissions by 684.49 kg, 847 kg and by 570.84 kg accordingly. The emission reduction per passenger with 60 % seat occupancy depend on the car CO2 emission ratio – 155 g/km, 147 g/km or 131 g/km, and would correspond to the cumulative effect of CO2 6.77 kg, 5.01 kg and 5.40 kg. Annual journey to fishing destinations per passenger, with 95 g/km emissions and 60 % vehicle occupancy rate with given registered CO2 emissions at 155 g/km, 147 g/km or 131 g/km: would produce CO2 297.7 kg, 322.7 kg and 280.2 kg accordingly. Use of seat-sharing of newer cars would allow for a reduction of emissions, specifically within Latvia’s Western coast of Baltic Sea recreation fishing area, where due to the scarce population, public transport is less available.

In terms of Kyoto protocol, the reduction of CO2 emissions of the transport used in tourism is an important goal for Latvia. Based on a top-down and a bottom-up approach, the CO2 emissions of tourism transport and its types were estimated, while analysing the relation between the CO2 emissions from tourism transport and the relevant input of the tourism transport as part of GDP and vice versa. The results concerning the period 2010 till 2017 showed that the CO2 emissions caused by tourism transport rose from 996.8 x 10 3 kg/km to 1527.3 x 10 3 kg/km. The aviation transport associated with the increased tourism activity is the main cause for the increase of CO2 emissions in Latvia. The connection between the CO2 emissions from tourism and the contribution of tourism transport to GDP is linear. The trend in increase of CO2 emissions in the tourism industry is similar to that of other industries.

The tourism has a close relation to the travel and tourism transport. Transport is the source of CO2 emissions. The aim of the research was to inspect the tourist transportation (TT) CO2 emissions caused by the tourist overnight trips, because any similar analysis up until now has not been made. For the determination of CO2 emissions from the TT a hybrid (top-down and bottom up) approach, correlation, regression was used. The author’s proposed algorithm for determining CO2 emissions from the TT is useful in the circumstances when there is not sufficient statistical data. In the research of regions of Latvia (NUTS 3) from 2012 to 2017, it was determined that the TT overnight trips indicated a reduction of CO2 emissions of 475 t/year. It is a positive approach in order to reach reduction of CO2 emissions according to the EU criteria for 2030; however, it left a negative impact on the national GDP. Finding solution to this economical problem is the aim of the next researches.

Latvia can be described as a tourist-friendly country. The assumption is based on the statistical data of the ever increasing share of tourism services as a part of the GDP. The tendency of growth of the tourism sector comes with downsides which include an increasing pressure on the territories of special protection area status. The goal of the research is to create a tourism service consumption model that can be used as a tool for sustainable management of the special protection areas (SPAs) while reaching the present and future needs in an efficient way. The model was created with the system modeling software STELLA and based on the acknowledged data of the Slitere National Park tourism resources, the monitoring data from the period of 2009 till 2011, and on the local and international experience and methods for determining the capacity of national parks. When comparing acquired data from software STELLA and Excel, tourism service consumption model validity was ascertained with a result of 0.98 and the credibility -0.97. The input data is changeable; the platform is lucid and widely usable also in future.