Changing travel patterns in China and ‘carbon footprint’ implications for a domestic tourist destination

Abstract

Mitigating tourism's emissions, in particular related to transportation is critical, to achieve the broader national emission reduction targets in developing countries. To gain a better understanding of the carbon emissions related to one of Chinese top destinations, and assess changes over time, this article analyses the travel patterns of both domestic and international visitors to Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Two points in time are examined, namely 2009 and 2015. The results show that despite some contraction towards closer and shorter trips, the overall growth (a near doubling in arrivals) led to a substantial increase in carbon emissions. The increasing role of the private car and high-speed rail has been noted in particular. The average transportation carbon footprint of visitors to Zhangjiajie changed from 94.55 kg CO2 in 2009 to 82.97 kg in 2015 per trip, and 18.87 kg in 2009 to 16.46 kg in 2015 per visitor day.