Influence of Tourism Economy on Air Quality—An Empirical Analysis Based on Panel Data of 102 Cities in China

Fen Zhang, Haochen Peng, Xiaofan Sun and Tianyi Song
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Fen Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Haochen Peng: School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Xiaofan Sun: School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Tianyi Song: College of Business, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The relationship between regional tourism development and air quality is complex. Although air pollution restricts tourists’ willingness to travel, the air pollution produced by tourism and its ancillary industries can also not be ignored. Using the annual panel data of PM 2.5 concentration and tourism revenue at the city level, and comprehensively using the Panel VAR model, Geodetector and other analysis methods, we explored the spatio-temporal relationship between the tourism economy and its impact on air quality in China. The main conclusions are as follows: first, the “Kuznets” curve of tourism development and air pollution in mainland China from 2004 to 2016 is generally significant—that is, the tourism economy and air pollution generally show an “inverted U-shaped” relationship. Second, the tourism economy has a positive effect on air pollution in the short term, and this effect is stronger in the eastern region. Third, tourism economy is not the leading factor affecting the change in regional air pollution. GDP and industrial structure are more likely to have the greatest impact on air pollution, and the effect of this “joint force” factor on air pollution is greater than that of other single factors. In the future, the high-quality development of China’s tourism economy needs to take environmental protection into consideration, and advocate for low-carbon travel and green tourism.

Keywords: tourism economy; air pollution; environmental Kuznets curve; penal VAR; Geodetector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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