Investigating and analyzing the causality amid tourism, environment, economy, energy consumption, and carbon emissions using Toda–Yamamoto approach for Himachal Pradesh, India

Himachal Pradesh is a preferred tourist destination with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.76% between 2011–12 and 2020–21. The increasing trend of CAGR has boosted the tourism economy in the state while impacting the local environment. The negative impacts have recently increased due to changes in climatic patterns and increased tourism influx during the post-pandemic period. In this context, the present study analyzed the impact of tourism on the environment, economy, and energy consumption using the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The novelty of this study is to the existing literature on sustainable tourism development through investigating the interrelationship between tourism, environment, economy, energy consumption, and carbon emissions by employing the Toda–Yamamoto (TY) technique. This study will be a pioneering scientific investigation with quantitative results in the western Himalayan states of India, encompassing Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. The annual data for each variable, such as per capita carbon emission (CEP), per capita Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), per capita GSDP square, per capita energy consumption (ECP), and per capita tourism receipts (TRP), was collected from 2010 to 2021. This study exhibited an inverted-U EKC in the state, signifying the initial stage of economic development and extensive exploitation of natural resources for tourism. The TY results indicated an inter-causal relationship and feedback association among the variables in the study area. Thus, increased TRP would lead to an upsurge in energy consumption affecting the environmental quality due to increased carbon emissions. Such environmental degradation in the state would negatively impact the tourism sector in the long run. The research findings would guide planners and policymakers in promoting sustainable tourism.