Understanding the effectiveness of environmental policies in the tourism sector

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the recommendations and stated challenges and stated research gap of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2025 and 2026, spanning 3 journals. Those papers have been cited 24 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 4 representative gaps

• Multi-level governance of low-carbon tourism in rural China: policy evolution, implementation pathways, and socio-ecological impacts (2025) · Frontiers in Environmental Science · cited 20× · doi

  6.1 Key findings and theoretical contributions low-carbon tourism governance it provides a comprehensive analysis of This study offers several significant contributions to the in rural understanding of the contexts. First, evolution of China’s low-carbon tourism policy framework, revealing a progression from broad conceptualization to more targeted and ambitious analysis contributes to the literature on policy development in sustainable tourism, offering insights into how national strategies evolve in response to changing environmental and economic priorities. For example, our analysis reveals how provinces like Zhejiang pioneered innovative practices in community-based tourism that were later incorporated into national policy frameworks, while the central government’s carbon reduction targets stimulated new waves of provincial policy experiments. strategies. This temporal Second, our research illuminates the complex dynamics of policy diffusion and implementation across multiple governance levels. By examining how national policies are interpreted and adapted at provincial and local levels, we contribute to the theoretical understanding of multi-level governance in sustainable tourism. This analysis reveals the importance of both top-down directives and bottom-up innovations in shaping policy outcomes, addressing a gap in the literature regarding the interplay between different governance scales. and Third, the identification of distinct implementation pathways - technology-driven, community-based, and policy-led approaches - provides a nuanced understanding of how low-carbon tourism strategies are operationalized in diverse rural contexts. Our case studies demonstrate how these pathways reflect different local conditions approaches flourishing in more developed villages with stronger financial resources, community-based approaches succeeding in areas with rich cultural heritage and strong social cohesion, and policy-led approaches emerging in regions with robust institutional support. This typology contributes to the literature on sustainable tourism implementation, offering a framework for analyzing the varied approaches to low-carbon development in rural areas. technology-driven capabilities: Fourth, our examination of stakeholder perceptions and experiences adds depth to the understanding of how low-carbon tourism policies are received and enacted on the ground. By highlighting the diverse perspectives of government officials, tourism operators, local residents, and tourists, we contribute to the literature on stakeholder engagement in sustainable tourism governance. Finally, our analysis of the socio-economic impacts of low- carbon tourism initiatives provides empirical evidence of both the potential benefits and challenges of this development approach. For instance, our survey data reveals that while 80% of significant respondents implementation challenges persist, including funding constraints technical capacity limitations (58%), and resistance to (62%), changing evidence-based analysis contributes to the ongoing debate in the literature established practices environmental (55%). This benefits, recognize findings of collectively sustainable regarding the efficacy of sustainable tourism as a tool for rural development and environmental conservation. advance tourism governance theoretical

  generalrecommendations
  Keywords: tourism policy carbon governance sustainable literature approaches rural understanding development based implementation theoretical provides contributes
• Toward net-zero tourism: Aligning technological and social levers with sustainable development goals (2026) · Equilibrium Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy · doi

  The study highlights the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from tourism activities, which are projected to increase by nearly 25% by 2030. The study notes the importance of considering the intersection of infrastructure systems, governance arrangements, and individual and collective agency in achieving net-zero outcomes. The study identifies the need for a multidimensional, SDG-oriented synthesis of net-zero tourism pathways.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study highlights challenge reducing greenhouse gas emissions tourism
• Moving in the Same Direction: A Shared Path for Sustainable Tourism and Nature-Based Solutions (2026) · Sustainability · doi

  The need for models and methodologies to systematically support more sustainable approaches to territorial governance. The lack of explicit alignment between sustainable tourism, nature-based solutions, and ecomuseums. The need for a comprehensive framework to assess the capacity of ecomuseums to act as community-based nature-based solutions and sustainable tourism actors.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: need models methodologies systematically support sustainable approaches territorial
• Tourism sector decarbonization and policy effectiveness in China: a subsectoral environmental performance analysis (2025) · Frontiers in Environmental Science · cited 4× · doi

  The study identifies a gap in understanding the effectiveness of environmental policies in the tourism sector. There is a lack of empirical research on the impact of environmental governance on sustainability outcomes in the tourism sector. The paper highlights the need for more research on the sectoral heterogeneity of environmental impacts and policy responsiveness.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study identifies gap understanding effectiveness environmental policies tourism

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