The Footprint of tourism: a review of Water, Carbon, and Ecological Footprint applications to the tourism sector

Abstract

Tourism places pressures on the environment through the services provided (accommodation, food, leisure ac­ tivities, and transport), meanwhile it is particularly vulnerable to global warming as climate is a crucial component of destinations’ attractiveness. As a result, research focusing on the impacts of tourism has increased significantly. Practitioners consult a plethora of frameworks and publications to environmentally assess tourism but none of the existing guidelines provides specific recommendations making difficult to obtain reliable results that can be properly replicated and compared. This paper discusses the use of Footprint family indicators in tourism through a review of studies that measure the Water, Carbon, and Ecological Footprint of tourists. Results show a lack of specific data, and an absence of consensus about the system boundaries and methodologies used for calculation. Food production and trans­ portation are the main drivers of environmental burdens. The Footprint indicators help to understand the tradeoffs between environmental effects which can be used to prioritize sustainability efforts in the tourism industry. Additionally, this study presents a critical analysis of the influence on the trip’s Footprint of the services provided to different rated tourism experiences (high, medium, and low rated) and offers a reflective comparison on the pressure exerted by visitors and the local population.