Does tourism increase or decrease carbon emissions? A systematic review

Whether tourism increases national carbon emissions has important implications for national development agendas. This study reviews the causality, direction, and elasticity as analysed in 81 tourism-extended Environmental Kuznets Curve studies published between 2013 and 2021. Findings indicate a low consensus on the tourism-emission nexus with contradictory results being reported across regions, income levels, and the sector's economic importance. Results highlight the need to critically reconsider tourism‑carbon interrelationships and the methods used in empirical studies. A conceptual framework including relevant parameters connecting tourism and national carbon emissions is presented. This provides the basis for an advanced understanding of the mechanisms that will determine tourism's capacity for macro-level decarbonization.