| Abstract: |
Sustainable tourism management policies should aim at maximising economic
benefits from tourist arrivals while minimizing associated adverse impacts on
the environment. This study assesses the short-run and long-run relationships
between tourist arrivals, per capita economic output, emissions, energy
consumption and capital formation, citing Nepal as a specific case study. We
developed four hypotheses and tested them using time-series econometrics based
on the autoregressive distributed lag model and Granger causality tests. The
results provide strong evidence of an economy driven tourism sector where
expansion in economic output leads to expansion in tourist arrivals. More
tourist arrivals, in turn, generate positive impacts on gross capital
formation. Energy consumption negatively affects tourist arrivals, calling for
increased attention towards improving energy efficiency and energy diversity.
We conclude that national policies to increase tourist arrivals should be
integrated with national energy and environmental policies in order to
facilitate the transition towards a sustainable tourism sector. |