A study of carbon emissions during a tour: A case study of a four-day guided tour in Guilin, China

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to calculate carbon emissions associated with tour of four days including flights. The method is based upon a travel documentary that calculates carbon emissions associated travel, food preparation, accommodation, traffic conditions, shopping and entertainment by attributing values derived from other studies to tourist activities. While the study does not claim to have perfectly assessed carbon emissions in a trip, the method is essentially simple and can aid tourist to assess the carbon emissions of alternative travel patterns and activities. In the case study the total carbon emissions of a four day tour were 329.82 kg e which figure is akin to just over 10 times normal emissions associated with daily life patterns.