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This paper examines the non-linear effect of tourism on environmental degradation in 31 African countries. It also determines the moderating effect of tourism on the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation. It employs Pedroni, Johansen-Fisher and Westerlund panel cointegration tests to investigate the cointegration relationship between the variables. It uses the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares, dynamic system Generalized Method of Moments and Augmented Mean Group. These techniques enable us to account for various economic and econometric issues such as cointegration, heterogeneity, endogeneity, dynamism and cross-sectional dependence. This study reveals a cointegration relationship between the variables. It shows that tourism has a U-shaped non-linear effect on environmental degradation in African countries. Specifically, at early stage, tourism diminishes environmental degradation, but aggravates it as tourism increases. Besides, this study shows that tourism adversely moderates the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation. This paper makes significant contributions to the extant literature by unveiling the non-linear and moderating effects of tourism on the environment. The implication is that tourism is a significant determinant of environmental degradation, hence, effort to mitigate it should incorporate tourism. It may be necessary for African countries to emphasize green tourism in order to attain sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the Honduran government introduced legislative reforms designed to generate investment opportunities in energy, mining and tourism and to expedite the post-disaster recovery. This experiment in “disaster capitalism” provided a blueprint for the recovery strategy implemented by the government of Porfirio Lobo after the 2009 coup against Manuel Zelaya. The similarities between these two historical conjunctures necessitate a deeper engagement with the meaning of extractivism in post-disaster contexts, particularly in relation to so-called sustainable tourism development. While multilateral aid institutions have claimed tourism as a sustainable alternative to more exploitative forms of economic development, this paper draws on ethnographic research in a coastal Garifuna community to argue that tourism is analogous with extractivism. By analyzing the collective action and resistance of black and Indigenous organizations for territorial autonomy, this paper elucidates the connections between traditional extractive industries and tourism, both of which rely on state-orchestrated natural resource expropriation, enclosure and dispossession, resulting in widespread environmental degradation and ecological insecurity for coastal Indigenous communities. The paper highlights how neoliberal tourism policies are advanced under the guise of ecotourism and sustainable development, while creating the conditions for extractivism to take hold within black and Indigenous territories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Anthropocene is fundamentally a social imaginary that is both shaped by and is reshaping tourism practice. In this article, we enroll the concept of the anthropocenic imaginary to describe how the Anthropocene is symbolically and materially produced as well as the ways in which it draws on the historical separation of Humanity and Nature. As the structural roots from which the anthropocenic imaginary has grown, this binary co-produces new and old forms of political and ecological inclusion and exclusion. We demonstrate how core themes in tourism studies have fertilized the seeds from which the theoretical branches of post-humanist, capitalist and ecological imaginaries in tourism have taken shape. These anthropocenic imaginaries, we argue, are appropriated in market-based solutions to environmental degradation that emanate from neoliberal contexts internal to the problem. Thus, we question the reconciliation of capitalist accumulation and environmental limits in sustainable tourism. This article and the papers in this issue push forward emerging approaches in the political ecology of tourism that recognize the Anthropocene as both a geological epoch and conceptual regime. In doing so, the issue contributes to emerging conversations on the relationship between politics, ecology and tourism in the so-called recent age of man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable destinations must deliver products that perform better than their competitors and at the same time protect key environmental drawcards. This research explores the environmental–economic interface of a major destination, both as a case study in how to approach this complex relationship and as a contribution to the methodology of tackling the need for understanding competitive pressures as part of sustainable tourism strategy creation. Using the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) as an example, the paper assesses 21 key environmental values, including Indigenous culture, against market-based factors, in terms of their importance for visitors as regional drawcards, satisfaction with them and the way in which changes in them might affect trip numbers and duration across different regions. While the natural values of the GBRWHA are found to be the most important drawcards, satisfaction scores were significantly lower than importance scores for a number of these values. Visitors responded more negatively to the prospect of environmental degradation than to the prospect of a 20% increase in local prices: the detailed impact depends, however, on location and visitor mix. Clear ocean, healthy coral reefs, healthy reef fish, and lack of rubbish were the top four most important values. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This work aims to empirically study the exogenous impact of the tourism sector on the environment and the validity of the conventional and tourism-extended Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in 69 countries from America, Europe, and Asia-Oceania between 1995 and 2016. We introduce several interesting approaches in our analysis: the consideration of three heterogeneous regions to isolate the relationship between tourism activity and environmental quality from local conditions, an environmental-legal index to consider the effect of environmental regulations on pollution, and an instrumental quantile regression methodology to avoid possible endogeneity problems. Our results show that tourism activity causes environmental damage, measured by per capita carbon dioxide emissions. We also find evidence suggesting the fulfillment of the conventional and tourism-extended EKC hypotheses for the full sample and American and Asia-Oceania countries, but not European ones. Lastly, an important policy implication emerging from our analysis refers to the importance of regulations in mitigating environmental degradation, especially in high-polluted countries, suggesting the need for governments to take an active role in this matter to ensure sustainable and responsible tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly stringent environmental regulations and consumer awareness around environmental protection and sustainability are driving forces in the hotel industry. We explore the Proactive Environmental Strategies being implemented in the hotel industry using Resource-Based View (RBV) and Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) to help companies with Eco-Innovation, Green Core Competences, and Green Competitive Advantages. We investigated the correlations between Proactive Environmental Strategies, Eco-Innovations, Green Competitive Advantages, and Green Core Competences in the hotel industry. With 366 responses, the correlation of Proactive Environmental Strategies with Eco-Innovation and how these are related to Green Competitive Advantage and Green Core Competence were explored. The results revealed that Proactive Environmental Strategies positively influence Eco-Innovation, which in turn directly affects Green Core Competence. Moreover, Green Core Competence affects Green Competitive Advantage. However, the effects of Eco-Innovation on Green Competitive Advantage were not significant. Therefore, companies must either re-consider existing or develop new technologies to become more innovative to meet the emerging environmental demands and green competitiveness strategies. This study also contributes to our understanding of how Eco-Innovation affects guest satisfaction and repeat patronage in the hotel image. The practical and theoretical implications of the findings provide guidance to managers in the hotel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]