Balancing economic benefits and environmental costs: Introducing carbon footprint indicators in tourist market targeting
研究提出一种复合指标方法，在旅游市场目标选择中同时考虑经济效益和碳足迹成本，发现加入碳数据后区域市场比远距离市场更具吸引力，为政府制定低碳旅游策略提供依据。
We argue that governments’ decisions to target certain tourist markets must consider both benefits and costs. We design a composite indicator methodology to assess economic benefits, using six classic indicators of market desirability (leadership, dynamism, seasonality, length of stay, expenditure and connectivity), which we complement with two carbon footprint indicators indicative of some of the costs incurred by the planet (CO 2e per tourist night and CO 2e per tourist trip). We model how target market decisions should change as the weight given to carbon costs changes from zero (current scenario) to 25% and 50% in the set of indicators used to select target markets. Adding carbon data in a cost-benefit analysis makes regional and national markets much more attractive than distant markets due to their low carbon footprints, despite shorter tourist stays or lower expenditures. Our method can inform government strategies to decarbonize while maintaining a clear market focus. • Target market decisions must include data on environmental costs. • A cost-benefit composite indicator can help decarbonize target market decisions. • Incorporating carbon data changes target market priorities. • Marketing to low-carbon, low-season, high-expenditure markets boosts sustainability.