The effect of globalization, income and tourism on environment: An empirical analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of globalization, real income, and tourism on the environment in top 10 destinations that attract the most tourists, using panel unit root, panel cointegration, and panel cointegration estimators for the period between 1995 and 2014. Panel cointegration test results show that the series moves together in the long run. According to the long-run panel estimator results, an increase in real income negatively affects the environment in China, France, Spain, Thailand, and the UK. Tourism decreases environmental degradation in Germany, Italy, the UK, and the United States. Globalization reduces environmental degradation in France and the UK. The short-run panel estimator shows that an increase in real income in all countries, except China, increases environmental degradation. Tourism decreases environmental degradation in Mexico and increases it in Spain. Finally, globalization contributes to the reduction of environmental degradation in Italy.

Visitor demographics, site‐type and activities determine the occurrence and severity of environmental impacts at nature‐based tourist destinations

“…This shift could facilitate the alignment of conservation and tourism goals and enable informed conversations/knowledge exchanges at planning level where interventions are needed (Mandić & McCool, 2022). Tourism‐typologies are widely recognized in the tourism literature with many studies showing the variant behaviours or motives of different types of tourists (Mehmetoglu & Normann, 2013) from various demographics (Ozcan et al, 2022; Thapa et al, 2022; Tolvanen et al, 2020). This research shows that group‐types also have different environmental behaviours and therefore can connect to discussions of Tourism‐typology, although further research is needed to interrogate this concept further with direct engagement surveys.…”

“…Political, social, cultural and economic factors are important to consider with respect to NBT in protected areas (Rhama et al, 2020). Trends in NBT research show a high demand for increased access to nature reserves; however, the research has a bias towards low‐ to moderate‐income counties (Thapa et al, 2022) and income availability is known to influence environmental impacts (Ozcan et al, 2022). There is a need to prioritize responsible low‐key tourism—particularly in protected areas—to align tourism and conservation goals; this is reliant on increased understanding of visitor interactions (Jurkus et al, 2022).…”

“…The primary benefits of NBT are employment, business opportunities and income (Thapa et al, 2022) and a study by Ozcan et al (2022) showed tourism and globalization decreased environmental damage in countries such as the UK and France. Despite known impacts, time spent in nature positively influences environmental behaviours and decision‐making (DeVille et al, 2021; Fenitra et al, 2021; Pasek & Ratkowski, 2021); which is beneficial for broader conservation goals.…”