Asymmetric impacts of technology innovation and environmental quality on tourism development in emerging economies

AbstractTourism development contributes to higher economic output and is highly integrated with environmental quality and associated technologies. Although many studies explore the impact of tourism on carbon emissions; however, little is known regarding the effects of environmental pollution and technology innovation on tourism growth. Therefore, this study examines the impact of technology innovation and environmental pollution on inbound tourism in emerging economies. In doing so, we employ a recently developed panel quantiles regression and found that technology innovation and economic growth stimulate inbound tourism while increasing emissions limit tourist arrivals. These effects are not equally observed across all quantiles. Particularly, the impact of technology innovation is highest at higher quantiles, while the impact of the emissions is highest at lower quantiles. These results suggest that inbound tourism is asymmetrically affected by technology innovation and environmental quality of host destinations. Hence, emerging economies should encourage sustainable tourism by integrating green technologies and minimizing ecological hazards.