GHG Emission-Based Eco-Efficiency Study on Tourism Itinerary Products in Shangri-La, Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

Eco-efficiency reflects a combined study for ecological and economic issues. It emphasises the balance between economic development and environmental protection. And greenhouse gas emissions have become a major global environmental issue; therefore the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions related to tourist activities has become central to environmental impact studies. To measure greenhouse gas emissions resulting from tourism activities, an eco-efficiency model was put forward in this paper. The eco-efficiency of an eight-day itinerary tour product in Shangri-La, a typical tourist destination in Yunnan of China, was calculated and analysed as an example. The findings indicate that there is great difference in eco-efficiencies among the various tourism products; both transportation and catering were the key elements influencing the eco-efficiency of the tourism itinerary product; influences on the eco-efficiency of the tourism itinerary products mainly come from economic value and CO2-e emissions. Economic value includes expenditures for package-price items and self-help items. CO2-e emissions primarily reflected transportation, tourism product combinations, and the types of energy. In response to these findings, some limits for this study were discussed.