Virtual Water Trade in the Service Sector: China’s Inbound Tourism as a Case Study

Yu Zhang, Jin-he Zhang and Qing Tian
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Yu Zhang: School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao 276826, China
Jin-he Zhang: Huangshan Park Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Ministry of Education, Huangshan 245800, China
Qing Tian: School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao 276826, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Research on virtual water and the water footprint is mainly focused on agriculture and industry, and less so on the service sector. The trade in products generates virtual water flow, as does the flow of people. The flow of international tourists will inevitably lead to the transfer and exchange of water resources embedded in the virtual form. This study takes China’s inbound tourism flow as the research object, from the perspective of the water footprint, in order to explore virtual water “exports” to the world. Based on kernel density estimation and ArcGIS spatial analysis, spatial-temporal evolution and structural difference were investigated. Virtual water “exports” showed an increasing trend. The kernel density estimation curves basically exhibited a “single peak” feature which indicated that virtual water “exports” from tourism were not significantly polarized in China. In terms of spatial evolution, this varied greatly at the provincial and regional level and Guangdong was always in the high value area. The south displayed greater values than the north, but this difference in provinces narrowed over the years. The water footprint of food was the largest, more specifically, the green component of this water footprint. Promoting a reasonable diet, reducing food waste, improving agricultural production technology, reducing the frequency of changing hotel supplies, and encouraging the use of new energy helped to reduce the water footprint. Virtual water trade in the service sector provides a new idea for helping to mitigate the global water crisis, in addition to virtual water flow for agricultural products.

Keywords: virtual water export; tourism water footprint; spatial-temporal evolution; structural difference; water resource management; China inbound tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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