Methods for Measuring the Impact of Sustainable Tourism Development on Climate and Environment

Abstract

Climate and environmental change is a growing topic in the post-Covid-1, when tourism growth is recovering. Tourism is a significant polluter of the environment and a rapid response to climate change is needed. Methods for assessing the climate and environmental impact of sustainable tourism development help to measure and communicate the environmental impact of tourism activities, but they are difficult to select and often lack indicators. The aim of the study was to choose methods for assessing the climate and environmental impact of sustainable tourism development in the context of Latvia. The study was based on the analysis of scientific literature, the grouping of methods for assessing the climate and environmental impact of sustainable tourism development according to their functional characteristics i.e. "preventive", "protective", "estimating" and "carbon emission determining" methods. A multi-criteria decision-making method was used for the selection of evaluation methods - Analytical hierarchy process with empirical analysis (AHA) of the obtained weights. By summarising the environmental and climate indicators available for a specific region of Latvia regarding the impact of tourism and experts evaluating the obtained results, the most suitable method for evaluating the impact of tourism development on the climate and environment is the Tourism value chain for low carbon content and efficient use of resources. However, the authors' recommendation for researchers: 1) when evaluating the impact of tourism development on the climate and environment, the choice of method ought to be based on evaluation indicators available for a specific study; 2) in research combinations of  sets of "evaluative" and "carbon emission determining” methods should be used.