Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review
The high dependence of tourism activities on energy consumption, and particularly on non-renewable energy, is a major barrier to building sustainable tourism models. For this reason, the analysis of tourism and energy use is a growing field of study within sustainability debates. Despite this, there...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23010713 |
| _version_ | 1797655126004989952 |
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| author | Francisco M. Osorio-Molina Rocío Muñoz-Benito David Pérez-Neira |
| author_facet | Francisco M. Osorio-Molina Rocío Muñoz-Benito David Pérez-Neira |
| author_sort | Francisco M. Osorio-Molina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The high dependence of tourism activities on energy consumption, and particularly on non-renewable energy, is a major barrier to building sustainable tourism models. For this reason, the analysis of tourism and energy use is a growing field of study within sustainability debates. Despite this, there is a gap in the literature and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no previous study that critically reviews the vast literature on the energy-tourism nexus. This paper aims to fill this gap in tourism knowledge. The main objective of this article is to conduct a systematic review of scientific studies with a quantitative empirical basis that examine this nexus, trying to answer the following questions: What are the main methodologies used to approach the tourism-energy nexus? which indicators or variables are relevant?; is there a consensus on the results?; and what are the main lines of discussion on the use of energy in tourism? To this end, we particularly focus on the main methodologies, results and perspectives during the period 2001–2021. A total of 1,189 articles were reviewed by abstract and title, 236 were included for the full review and 163 were finally selected. The results show how the nexus and energy dependence of tourism is assessed mainly from four major methodological groups: G1) econometric models, regressions and other statistical methodologies (67% of the sample); G2) surveys, questionnaires and energy audits (15%); G3) Life Cycle Analysis (13%) and G4) other approaches and environmental impact indicators to assess the relationship between energy and tourism (5%). The analysis between the causal relationships between tourism development, economic growth, energy use, environmental degradation and energy efficiency of accommodations are the main issues evaluated, considering a wide range of indicators/variables. Based on the gaps and limitations found in the literature review on tourism and energy, it is discussed how some findings should be interpreted with caution due to their methodological approaches and differences. Finally, some of the main lines of future research in this field are also presented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:09:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad6232a88374476e92446f1dffe0484f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:09:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad6232a88374476e92446f1dffe0484f2023-10-20T06:38:26ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2023-11-01155110929Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic reviewFrancisco M. Osorio-Molina0Rocío Muñoz-Benito1David Pérez-Neira2Area of Applied Economics, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, SpainArea of Applied Economics, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, SpainDepartment of Economy and Statistics, Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León (Spain); Corresponding author.The high dependence of tourism activities on energy consumption, and particularly on non-renewable energy, is a major barrier to building sustainable tourism models. For this reason, the analysis of tourism and energy use is a growing field of study within sustainability debates. Despite this, there is a gap in the literature and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no previous study that critically reviews the vast literature on the energy-tourism nexus. This paper aims to fill this gap in tourism knowledge. The main objective of this article is to conduct a systematic review of scientific studies with a quantitative empirical basis that examine this nexus, trying to answer the following questions: What are the main methodologies used to approach the tourism-energy nexus? which indicators or variables are relevant?; is there a consensus on the results?; and what are the main lines of discussion on the use of energy in tourism? To this end, we particularly focus on the main methodologies, results and perspectives during the period 2001–2021. A total of 1,189 articles were reviewed by abstract and title, 236 were included for the full review and 163 were finally selected. The results show how the nexus and energy dependence of tourism is assessed mainly from four major methodological groups: G1) econometric models, regressions and other statistical methodologies (67% of the sample); G2) surveys, questionnaires and energy audits (15%); G3) Life Cycle Analysis (13%) and G4) other approaches and environmental impact indicators to assess the relationship between energy and tourism (5%). The analysis between the causal relationships between tourism development, economic growth, energy use, environmental degradation and energy efficiency of accommodations are the main issues evaluated, considering a wide range of indicators/variables. Based on the gaps and limitations found in the literature review on tourism and energy, it is discussed how some findings should be interpreted with caution due to their methodological approaches and differences. Finally, some of the main lines of future research in this field are also presented.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23010713Econometric modelingLCAEnergy efficiencyTourism developmentSustainabilityClimate Change |
| spellingShingle | Francisco M. Osorio-Molina Rocío Muñoz-Benito David Pérez-Neira Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review Ecological Indicators Econometric modeling LCA Energy efficiency Tourism development Sustainability Climate Change |
| title | Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review |
| title_full | Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review |
| title_short | Empirical evidence, methodologies and perspectives on tourism, energy and sustainability: A systematic review |
| title_sort | empirical evidence methodologies and perspectives on tourism energy and sustainability a systematic review |
| topic | Econometric modeling LCA Energy efficiency Tourism development Sustainability Climate Change |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23010713 |
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