Life Cycle-Based Sustainability and Circularity Indicators for the Tourism Industry: A Literature Review

Abstract

The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing sectors, even though in the last couple of years there has been a negative effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This growth has led to an increase in environmental, economic and social impacts. Furthermore, the transition towards a circular economy has become one of the priorities of the European Union given its orientation towards sustainable development. However, the concept of circular tourism has been poorly analysed until now. This paper aims at identifying a set of life cycle-based sustainability- and circularity-related indicators for the hospitality sector by means of a literature review and a content analysis. It presents an overview of the most relevant themes and indicators in the tourism sector, showing that carbon footprint and resource-related indicators are especially relevant. Given the complexity of the measurement of circularity and the fact that life cycle-based indicators have started to be considered in this field, the paper also proposes some criteria for indicator selection to make their application more feasible for hospitality actors.

Exploring the Evolution Trend of China’s Digital Carbon Footprint: A Simulation Based on System Dynamics Approach

“…Lastly, this study focuses on assessing the environmental carbon footprint of the digital economy, but we recognize that social dimensions are equally important. As emphasized by Di Cesare et al and Cartone and Postiglione, social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) provides a framework for systematically assessing the social and socio-economic impacts of products and services throughout their life cycle [54,55]. Future research will investigate how digitalization affects social welfare, including labor conditions, human rights, and community well-being, as well as studies on digital inequality and the impact of the proliferation of digital technologies on different population groups.…”

The role of digital technologies for the LCA empowerment towards circular economy goals: a scenario analysis for the agri-food system

“…LCA has many potentialities concerning measuring circularity, especially in its broadest dimension, or when integrated with management accounting tools, such as life cycle costing (LCC), and with analytical systems and tools for evaluating social aspects, such as the social life cycle analysis (SLCA) (Padilla-Rivera et al 2021;Arzoumanidis et al 2021). Therefore, it can serve as a sustainability assessment tool to support organisations' decision-making processes while providing greater awareness of the potential consequences associated with alternative design and production methods and the impacts on the environment and human health and the related costs.…”

Tourism Sector: The Supply Chain Social Footprint of an Italian Accommodation Facility

“…In particular, over time, the tourism sector has been the subject of increasing attention towards sustainability among various stakeholders [7]. This may refer to consumers or political decision makers, as demonstrated by the numerous financial incentives implemented in order to support sustainable initiatives (e.g., [8]).…”

“…Indeed, tourism can be regarded as sustainable if it respects not only the environment 2 of 12 but also the traveller, the local population and the cultural heritage [10,12]. Despite this, to date, the social dimension of sustainability appears to be the least investigated, also in terms of its footprint [7]. Nonetheless, in order for the effective diffusion of this concept to be achieved, it is essential to assess the effective sustainability of tourist services, especially the social aspect, using suitable methods and indicators.…”