Assessing the Impact of Air Pollution on Inbound Tourism along the Yangtze River across Space and Time

Xiang Zhang, Chenjiao Ma, Xingming Li (), Lina Xiong () and Silin Nie
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Xiang Zhang: Wuhan Branch of China Institute of Tourism, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Chenjiao Ma: Wuhan Branch of China Institute of Tourism, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Xingming Li: Key Laboratory for Geographical Process Analysis & Simulation of Hubei Province, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Lina Xiong: Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Silin Nie: Wuhan Branch of China Institute of Tourism, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-14

Abstract: The prevalent air pollution along the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) possesses a significant threat to the natural environment, which further affects nearby tourism destination development. The paper seeks to assess the impact of air pollution on tourism in this region through a 2002–2012 panel data of 31 prefecture-level cities, along with geographic information system (GIS) and cluster analyses. The results reveal that air pollution is negatively associated with the number of inbound tourists along the YREB. In general, when air pollution intensifies by 1%, the number of inbound tourists decreases by 1.171%. This impact is more evident when air pollution is more severe, in the long term, and in areas that are larger, more central, and with more tourism resources. The paper contributes to the literature by addressing common limitations in previous studies and providing a more comprehensive evaluation of air pollution’s impact on inbound tourism in the YREB. Practical implications regarding public policies and development directions based on air pollution periods, regions, and tourism resource allocations are provided.

Keywords: air pollution; inbound tourism; fixed effect model; Yangtze River Economic Belt; environmental impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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