IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v7y2018i2p38-d152943.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Ecological Footprint of Ecotourism Packages: A Methodological Proposition

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Serena Mancini

    (Global Footprint Network, 18 Avenue Louis-Casai, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Mikel Evans

    (Global Footprint Network, 426 17th Street, Suite 700, Oakland, CA 94612, USA)

  • Katsunori Iha

    (Global Footprint Network, 426 17th Street, Suite 700, Oakland, CA 94612, USA)

  • Carla Danelutti

    (IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, Calle Marie Curie 22, 29590 Malaga, Spain)

  • Alessandro Galli

    (Global Footprint Network, 18 Avenue Louis-Casai, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland)

Abstract

Tourism represents a key economic sector worldwide, constituting great leverage for local economic development but also putting noticeable environmental pressures on local natural resources. Ecotourism may be a viable alternative to mass tourism to minimize impacts on ecosystems, but it needs shared sustainability standards and monitoring tools to evaluate impacts. This paper presents a first methodological proposition to calculate the environmental impact of ecotourism packages through the use of an ad-hoc, customized version of the Ecological Footprint methodology. It follows a participatory, bottom-up approach to collecting input data for the four main services (Accommodation, Food & Drinks, Activity & Service, and Mobility & Transfer) provided to tourists through the use of surveys and stakeholders engagement. The outcome of our approach materializes in an excel-based ecotourism workbook capable of processing input data collected through surveys and returning Ecological Footprint values for specific ecotourism packages. Although applied to ecotourism in Mediterranean Protected Areas within the context of the DestiMED project, we believe that the methodology and approach presented here can constitute a blueprint and a benchmark for future studies dealing with the impact of ecotourism packages.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Serena Mancini & Mikel Evans & Katsunori Iha & Carla Danelutti & Alessandro Galli, 2018. "Assessing the Ecological Footprint of Ecotourism Packages: A Methodological Proposition," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-37, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:7:y:2018:i:2:p:38-:d:152943
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/7/2/38/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/7/2/38/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cristea, Anca & Hummels, David & Puzzello, Laura & Avetisyan, Misak, 2013. "Trade and the greenhouse gas emissions from international freight transport," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 153-173.
    2. Wiedmann, Thomas, 2009. "A first empirical comparison of energy Footprints embodied in trade -- MRIO versus PLUM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1975-1990, May.
    3. Patterson, Trista M. & Niccolucci, Valentina & Bastianoni, Simone, 2007. "Beyond "more is better": Ecological footprint accounting for tourism and consumption in Val di Merse, Italy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 747-756, May.
    4. Kitzes, Justin & Galli, Alessandro & Bagliani, Marco & Barrett, John & Dige, Gorm & Ede, Sharon & Erb, Karlheinz & Giljum, Stefan & Haberl, Helmut & Hails, Chris & Jolia-Ferrier, Laurent & Jungwirth, , 2009. "A research agenda for improving national Ecological Footprint accounts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1991-2007, May.
    5. Alessandro Galli & Martin Halle, 2014. "Mounting Debt in a World in Overshoot: An Analysis of the Link between the Mediterranean Region’s Economic and Ecological Crises," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-12, March.
    6. Gossling, Stefan & Hansson, Carina Borgstrom & Horstmeier, Oliver & Saggel, Stefan, 2002. "Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 199-211, December.
    7. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    8. Wackernagel, Mathis & Onisto, Larry & Bello, Patricia & Callejas Linares, Alejandro & Susana Lopez Falfan, Ina & Mendez Garcia, Jesus & Isabel Suarez Guerrero, Ana & Guadalupe Suarez Guerrero, Ma., 1999. "National natural capital accounting with the ecological footprint concept," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 375-390, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Evgenii A. Konnikov & Olga A. Konnikova & Dmitriy G. Rodionov, 2019. "Impact of 3D-Printing Technologies on the Transformation of Industrial Production in the Arctic Zone," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, January.
    2. David Lin & Laurel Hanscom & Adeline Murthy & Alessandro Galli & Mikel Evans & Evan Neill & Maria Serena Mancini & Jon Martindill & Fatime-Zahra Medouar & Shiyu Huang & Mathis Wackernagel, 2018. "Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-22, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yisong Wang & Jincheng Huang & Shiming Fang, 2019. "Sustainability Assessment of Natural Capital Based on the 3D Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study of the Shennongjia National Park Pilot," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Thomas Wiedmann & John Barrett, 2010. "A Review of the Ecological Footprint Indicator—Perceptions and Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(6), pages 1-49, June.
    3. Becken, S. & Simmons, D., 2008. "Using the concept of yield to assess the sustainability of different tourist types," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 420-429, October.
    4. White, Thomas J., 2007. "Sharing resources: The global distribution of the Ecological Footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 402-410, December.
    5. Kitzes, Justin & Galli, Alessandro & Bagliani, Marco & Barrett, John & Dige, Gorm & Ede, Sharon & Erb, Karlheinz & Giljum, Stefan & Haberl, Helmut & Hails, Chris & Jolia-Ferrier, Laurent & Jungwirth, , 2009. "A research agenda for improving national Ecological Footprint accounts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1991-2007, May.
    6. Sato, Misato, 2014. "Product level embodied carbon flows in bilateral trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 106-117.
    7. Jaume Rosselló Nadal & Mohcine Bakhat, 2009. "A new approach to estimating tourism-induced electricity consumption," CRE Working Papers (Documents de treball del CRE) 2009/6, Centre de Recerca Econòmica (UIB ·"Sa Nostra").
    8. Kristin Linnerud & Erling Holden & Morten Simonsen, 2021. "Closing the sustainable development gap: A global study of goal interactions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 738-753, July.
    9. Shuhui Zhang & Fuquan Li & Yuke Zhou & Ziyuan Hu & Ruixin Zhang & Xiaoyu Xiang & Yali Zhang, 2022. "Using Net Primary Productivity to Characterize the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Ecological Footprint for a Resource-Based City, Panzhihua in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, March.
    10. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2007. "Biophysical assessments in evaluating industrial development: An experience from Taiwan freshwater aquaculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 427-434, August.
    11. Sun, Yuanyuan & Mao, Xianqiang & Liu, Gengyuan & Yin, Xinan & Zhao, Yanwei, 2020. "Modelling the effects of energy taxes on ecological footprint transfers in China's foreign trade," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 431(C).
    12. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2014. "Nested open systems: An important concept for applying ecological footprint analysis to sustainable development assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 105-111.
    13. Han-Shen Chen, 2015. "The Establishment and Application of Environment Sustainability Evaluation Indicators for Ecotourism Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Shuxin Wang & Yiyuan Hu & Hong He & Genxu Wang, 2017. "Progress and Prospects for Tourism Footprint Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    15. Alper Uzunali & Tuğçe Yazıcı, 2023. "Carbon footprint changing with Covid-19 in Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 10685-10707, October.
    16. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2005. "Local sustainable yield and embodied resources in ecological footprint analysis--a case study on the required paddy field in Taiwan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 415-430, May.
    17. David Lin & Laurel Hanscom & Adeline Murthy & Alessandro Galli & Mikel Evans & Evan Neill & Maria Serena Mancini & Jon Martindill & Fatime-Zahra Medouar & Shiyu Huang & Mathis Wackernagel, 2018. "Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-22, September.
    18. Shanshan Guo & Yinghong Wang & Jiu Huang & Jihong Dong & Jian Zhang, 2021. "Decoupling and Decomposition Analysis of Land Natural Capital Utilization and Economic Growth: A Case Study in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, January.
    19. Andersson, Tommy D. & Lundberg, Erik, 2013. "Commensurability and sustainability: Triple impact assessments of a tourism event," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 99-109.
    20. Carballo Penela, Adolfo & Sebastián Villasante, Carlos, 2008. "Applying physical input-output tables of energy to estimate the energy ecological footprint (EEF) of Galicia (NW Spain)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1148-1163, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:7:y:2018:i:2:p:38-:d:152943. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.