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Article history: Transport profoundly affects energy use and carbon dioxide emissions in the tourism sector. This study
Received 4 March 2008 focuses on five national parks in Taiwan, namely Kenting National Park, Yushan National Park, Yang-
Accepted 12 March 2009 mingshan National Park, Taroko National Park and Sheipa National Park, and applies a bottom-up
approach to determine the amount of CO2 emissions from domestic tourism transport in 1999–2006. The
Keywords: CO2 emission factor of private car derived in this study reveals a higher value than that of previous study
Carbon dioxide emissions
due to its lower load factors. Moreover, CO2 emissions per person are different in each national park,
Transport
influenced by the attributes of travel distance and transport mode. The scenario analysis indicates that
National parks
Taiwan CO2 emission can be reduced by increasing load factors of transport, tourist switching from private cars
to public transport and going to destinations close to their points of departure, which can be achieved by
authorities through activity management, regulation control and price adjustment. This is also an
adequate solution for Taiwan Government owing to the increases in transport volume and the limited
tourism budget.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0261-5177/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2009.03.009
286 T.-P. Lin / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 285–290
Australia (Lenzen, 1999) and Mumbai, India (Yedla, Shrestha, & where Pi indicates the total number of passengers taking transport
Anandarajah, 2005). Various studies have examined CO2 emissions mode i, Di is the transport distance of transport mode i (km), bi
from transport in the tourism industries in Norway (Høyer, 2000), stands for CO2 emission factor for transport mode i, i.e., CO2
France (Dubois & Ceron, 2006), the western coast of the South emissions per passenger-kilometer (kg/pkm), which can be
Island in New Zealand (Becken, 2002b), Rocky Mountain National expressed as
Park in the US, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, borders of France, the
Seychelles and Val di Merse in Italy (Gössling et al., 2005). CO2 Fi
bi ¼ (2)
emissions of different tourist locations within a single country have Ei $Li
rarely been compared.
where Fi indicates the CO2 emissions generated per liter of fossil
To compare the transport characteristics and CO2 emissions of
fuel for transport mode i (kg/l), Ei stands for fuel efficiency for
individual tourist destinations within a country, this investigation
transport mode i, i.e., the distance traveled for each liter of fossil
analyzes five national parks in Taiwan, namely Kenting National Park,
fuel (km/l). Li is the load factor for transport mode i, representing
Yushan National Park, Yangmingshan National Park, Taroko National
average number of passengers for each vehicle (people). For energy
Park and Sheipa National Park, using Statistics for 1999–2006. The
not measured in liters, the values of Ei and Fi are converted.
CO2 emissions by transport associated with local tourism destinations
Therefore, as long as bi in Eq. (2) is known, the CO2 emissions can be
are investigated. This study addresses the following issues.
determined by inputting passenger-kilometer for different trans-
port modes into Eq. (1). Additionally, the estimate in Eq. (1) only
1. The total amounts, trends and characteristics of CO2 emissions
covers one-way travel; thus, the value must be doubled when
for the five national parks are estimated.
calculating round-trip consumption.
2. The issue of how individual national parks can reduce their CO2
emissions is addressed, assuming the number of existing
2.2. Subjects
tourists and profiles of inbound tourists are the same.
transport mode, i.e., the bi value in Eq. (2). The value of Fi in Eq. (2) is 3. Results
obtained by multiplying the net calorific value (NCV) by the
emission factor (EF). This work applied the Heat Content of Various 3.1. CO2 emissions per annum
Energy Commodities listed in the Taiwan Energy Statistical Hand-
book (Bureau of Energy, 2005) for NCV; IPCC (1996) for EF, and Table 2 presents the number of tourists and CO2 emissions for
statistical data provided by Ministry of Transport and Communi- each national park in 1999–2006. According to average values over
cations (2004a, 2004b, 2004c) (MOTC) for Ei. the last eight years, Kenting National Park had the highest number
Since the average numbers of passengers for certain transport of tourists with an average 4 million tourists annually. Kenting also
mode may change according to their purpose, e.g., commuting, had the highest level of CO2 emissions, with an average of 61.7
work or tourism, the load factor (Li) for each transport mode was million kilograms. Sheipa National Park had the fewest tour-
obtained by distributing a questionnaire survey, rather than istsd0.5 million on averagedand the lowest CO2 emission at 8.1
applying the national average data obtained from the Ministry of million kilograms per annum. Kenting National Park was the most
Transport and Communications (MOTC). This questionnaire survey popular tourist site along the southern coast, and produced the
was aimed at the tourists visiting national parks, and asked them most CO2 emissions. The average amount of CO2 emissions gener-
about their mode of transport and how many people in their ated by transport associated with the five national parks annually
vehicles. Totally 435 effective questionnaires were obtained for was as high as 161 million kilograms. The CO2 emissions associated
calculating the load factors. with Taroko and Kenting National Park rise significantly during the
Stage two was to calculate the number of passengers and period surveyed. Emissions in 2006 for Taroko and Kenting
mileage for each transport mode, i.e., Pi and Di. Pi is obtained from National Park were 3.74 and 2.2 times the levels in 1999, while the
the total number of tourists and the breakdown of transport modes remaining three national parks had more stable trends of emissions
for each national park (National Parks of Taiwan, 2007). The during the period surveyed.
breakdown of the departure destinations is first derived by data
from the report on domestic tourism in Taiwan (Tourism Bureau,
3.2. CO2 emissions per person for each national park
2005), which accumulated the demographic information, depar-
ture place, transport mode of tourists and other information from
To understand the properties of CO2 emissions associated with
a survey of 18 616 local people. Di, which represents travel distance,
transport in each national park, the average CO2 emissions per
is then determined according to digital maps for distances between
person in each national park was obtained, as listed in Table 3. The
each departure destination and national park. The number of
CO2 emissions per person were highest for Sheipa National Park
passengers and travel distance of each vehicle is determined from
(15.9 kg/person) and lowest for Yangmingshan National Park
the derived Pi and Di values, and is expressed in passenger-kilo-
(7.2 kg/person) (Table 3). That is, the CO2 emissions for one person
meters. Finally, the bi, Di and Pi values of individual vehicles are
traveling to Sheipa National Park were 1.6 times that from one
input into Eq. (1) to obtain the CO2 emissions per annum of
person traveling to Yangmingshan National Park, indicating that
different vehicles for individual national parks.
the sensitivity of CO2 emissions to number of tourists differs among
national parks.
2.4. CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometer of individual transport
modes
3.3. Effect of travel distance and transport mode on CO2 emissions
Table 1 lists the bi values per passenger-kilometer for different
Two main factors, namely travel distance and transport mode,
transport modes. Among the vehicles listed, private cars have the
affect CO2 emissions according to Eq. (1). The amount of CO2
highest CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometer (0.097 kg/pkm),
emissions increases as the travel distance rises. Average travel
approximately four times that of a tour bus (0.028 kg/pkm). The
distance can be derived (Table 4) from the total number of tourists,
average number of passengers per bus trip is significantly higher
the distribution of departure destinations and the distance between
than that of private cars; hence, taking a bus decreases the CO2
emissions per passenger-kilometer. This implies that the CO2
emissions shouldered by each person in a vehicle with numerous
passengers (e.g., tour buses) are lower than those of private cars Table 2
and motorcycles. Annual number of tourists and CO2 emissions for each national park.
Notably, this study obtained a higher load factor than MOTC, in National Park 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Average
which the load factors are 2.2 for private cars, 4.2 for vans, 33.0 for Kenting Touristsa 2.1 4.3 5.0 4.6 3.7 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.0
tour buses and 1.3 for motorcycles. This is because the MOTC values CO2 26.9 53.0 69.5 64.5 54.2 60.6 57.3 59.8 55.7
b
are the average of the national values in Taiwan including emissions
commuting, work, freight and tourism. The average numbers of Yushan Tourists 1.3 0.5 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.2
passengers in any transport mode are generally higher for tourism CO2 8.8 3.5 7.9 10.7 14.0 11.6 12.6 12.3 10.2
than for commuting or work, thus leading to a relatively high load emissions
factor in tourism surveys. Yangmingshan Tourists 3.8 4.4 4.6 4.3 4.6 4.9 4.2 4.8 4.5
CO2 21.7 26.9 28.4 33.0 35.6 38.8 33.2 38.7 32.0
emissions
Table 1
Taroko Tourists 0.8 1.2 3.1 2.9 3.3 3.5 5.6 6.3 3.3
Fuel efficiency, load factor and CO2 emissions for each transport mode.
CO2 9.8 14.7 37.3 34.9 37.9 37.4 60.4 68.2 37.6
Transport Fuel efficiency Average load factor CO2 emissions per passenger- emissions
mode (km/l) (people) kilometer (kg/pkm)
Sheipa Tourists 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.5
Private car 8.9 2.6 0.097 CO2 4.8 2.8 5.3 9.4 12.7 8.9 6.2 7.0 7.1
Van 7.5 4.8 0.075 emissions
Tour bus 2.8 34.3 0.028 a
Motorcycle 21.8 1.9 0.054 Tourist numbers in millions.
b
CO2 emissions in million kilograms.
288 T.-P. Lin / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 285–290
Table 3
Average CO2 emission for each person in each national park from 1999–2006.
Kenting
National park CO2 emission for each person (kg/person)
Kenting 13.8
Yushan 8.3 Yushan
Yangmingshan 7.2
Taroko 11.2
Sheipa 15.9 Yangmingshan
Taroko
the departure destinations and arrival destinations. Table 4 also
presents the percentage of tourists traveling from the nearest three
counties to individual national parks (i.e., the counties in which the Sheipa
national parks are located and the two closest counties).
Yangmingshan National Park has the shortest average travel 0 20 40 60 80 100
distance (103.2 km), since it is located just outside Taipei City, the
largest metropolitan City in Taiwan. Taipei City, Taipei County and Tour bus private car
Taoyuan County, which are the nearest three counties to Yang- Van Motorcycle
mingshan National Park, are home to 58% of tourists. In contrast,
although Kenting National Park is located on the southern tip of Fig. 2. Average percentages of passengers taking different vehicles to each national
Taiwan, a high percentage of its tourists are from the north. The park.
for all national parks, with CO2 emissions reduced by 17% and 29% for million tourists travel to national parks on the island of Taiwan. The
scenarios 4 and 5, respectively. This is because CO2 emissions decline number of tourists has been increasing in recent years; as a result,
as the average number of passengers per trip rises. Considering the the consumption of energy and amount of CO2 emissions have
same number of total tourists, increasing the number of people in increased. Therefore, National Science Council of Taiwan funded
private vehicles effectively reduces annual CO2 emissions. a project analyzing the reciprocal effects of tourism and climate
Scenarios 6 and 7 were run to determine the influences of travel change. The project focused on the five national parks on the island
distance on CO2 emissions. These two simulations moved 20% and of Taiwan, namely Kenting National Park, Yushan National Park,
40% tourists, respectively, to the departure places closer to their Yangmingshan National Park, Taroko National Park and Sheipa
destinations, thus reducing the total travel distance given the same National Park. This project evaluated CO2 emissions generated by
numbers of tourists. Analytical results demonstrate that individual domestic tourists in three sectionsdtransport, accommodation,
national parks can decrease CO2 emissions by 4–10% and 8–16% in and activities at these five national parks. Transport accounts for
these two scenarios, indicating that reducing travel distance the most CO2 emissions in the tourism industry. Therefore, the first
significantly affects CO2 emissions. stage of this project focuses on estimates of CO2 emissions from
tourism transport for the period 1999–2006.
4. CO2 emission mitigation associate with tourism transport This study adopted the bottom-up approach to measure CO2
emissions of five national parks based on questionnaire survey and
Given the same number of tourists, how these five national previous reports on domestic tourism in Taiwan. At first, CO2
parks can reduce their CO2 emissions remains significant question. emission factor for each transport is derived in this study, revealing
At first, tourists taking transport with low CO2 emission factor (bi) the private car has higher CO2 emission factor value than that in
effectively lower the CO2 emissions. In this study, the results of New Zealand due to its lower load factors. Furthermore, CO2
scenario analysis reveal that tourists switching from private cars to emissions per person are different in each national park, affected by
tour buses effectively decrease CO2 emissions by 22%, particularly the characteristic of travel distance and transport mode. Addi-
for the destinations with high percentages of tourists using private tionally, this investigation presents the effects of mitigation
cars. The investigation by Romilly (1999) of gas emissions of urban measures associated with tourism transport for CO2 emission
buses and private cars in the U.K. also suggests that switching from reduction through the scenario analysis.
private cars to buses can effectively decrease emissions of CO2 and Energy saving technologies have previously been the most
other gasses. Furthermore, this switch also significantly lowers popular way to reduce CO2 emission associated with transport.
costs linked with deaths and casualties. In terms of the public However, the analytical results of this study demonstrate that CO2
transport, the design of buses and experiences sought by tourists emission can also be reduced by increasing load factors of trans-
must be in line. Ticket prices should be raised when necessary to port, tourist switching from private cars to public transport and
improve service quality, and thereby encourage passengers to going to destinations close to their points of departure, which can
switch from private cars to public vehicles (Guiver, Lumsdon, be achieved by authorities through activity management, regula-
Weston, & Ferguson, 2007; Lumsdon, 2006). tion control and price adjustment. This is also an appropriate
According to Eq. (2), improving fuel efficiency (Ei) of transport is an solution for Taiwan Government, given increases in transport
important factor for reducing bi. El-Fadel and Bou-Zeid (1999) per- volume and the limited tourism budget.
formed scenario analysis of the adoption of energy technologies to
enhance vehicle efficiency, and determined that applying emission
reduction methods such as clean-energy plan, decreasing the lifespan Acknowledgments
of fleets by five years, and requiring all vehicles to have catalytic
converters can reduce CO2 emissions by 24% together. However, these The author would like to thank the National Science Council
approaches are costly, and generate benefits over a long time. Taiwan for financially supporting this research under Contract No.
Another factor to decrease bi is the rise in load factors. Compared NSC 96-2415-H-150-004-MY2. Thanks also due to Yu-Hui Chen for
with New Zealand data (Becken & Simmons, 2005), the bi values for data collection and preliminary analysis in her Project Practice for
buses (0.022 kg/pkm) and motorcycles (0.060 kg/pkm) in New the bachelor degree at the National Formosa University (NFU),
Zealand were similar to those for buses and motorcycles in Taiwan. Taiwan.
However, the bi value for private cars in Taiwan (0.097 kg/pkm) is
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