Influence of Tourism Industry Development on Environmental Pollution and EcoCompensation Measures in Chongqing City, China

Abstract

Ecological environment is not only the basis for human survival and development but also the carrier of tourism industry development. However, such a basis for survival and development of the tourism industry is damaged given the excessive pursuit of economic benefits and neglect of ecological environmental protection in tourist attractions. Eco-compensation measures protect the tourism ecosystem and coordinate the contradiction between tourism industry development and ecological protection. Thus, the sustainable development of the tourism industry can be facilitated. In this study, research on environmental pollution caused by the tourism industry in Chongqing City, China, and relevant eco-compensation measures were first reviewed. Second, an empirical study on the relations of total tourism revenues with waste gas emission, wastewater discharge, and industrial solid waste emission in Chongqing City was conducted using a vector autoregression model. The study findings show that tourism industry development can influence environmental pollution slightly and that an eco-compensation mechanism coordinates the relationship between tourism and ecological environment. Tourism economic growth has long-term equilibrium relations and mutual Granger causality with waste gas emission, wastewater discharge, and industrial solid waste emissions. The conclusions provide a reference to understand the dynamic relations between tourism industry development and environmental pollution, construct a guarantee system for tourism eco-compensation mechanism, and achieve sustainable development of tourism industry and environmental protection.

Keywords

• environment