Tackling the carbon footprint of tourism: Strategies for China's inbound and domestic travel

Tourism has emerged as a significant factor contributing to carbon emissions. As one of the major tourism markets worldwide, China ranks second in contribution to global tourism's carbon footprint, and there are significant differences in tourism resources and industrial structures across regions. Therefore, quantifying the China's tourism carbon footprint is crucial for global resource efficiency and circular economy implement. However, carbon emissions from China's tourism haven't been well quantified at the industrial and regional levels. This study constructs provincial-level inbound and domestic tourism consumption accounts, quantifies the overall and regional distributions of emissions from China's tourism, and explores the underlying drivers. Transportation along with accommodation and catering are two key contributors. The increasing carbon footprint from 2012 to 2017, primarily attributable to growing tourism demand and structural changes in increasing electricity demand from tourism activities offsetting technological advances in the transportation and electricity industry, highlights opportunities for circular economy strategies.