Research on Carbon Emissions of the Tourism Industry in Henan Province - Based on a Multi-Regional Input-Output Model

Lien-Chieh Lee; Xudong Yuan; Anran Li; Haidi Yu

doi:10.22161/jhed.8.5.4

Abstract

To investigate the carbon emission problem against the background of the rapid development of the tourism industry, this study takes the international tourism industry of Henan Province as the object and, based on a multi-regional input-output model, measures and analyzes its carbon emission characteristics as well as sectoral and regional differences. The study first reviews the development trends and revenue pattern of China's international tourism industry, combines provincial energy consumption data from the China Energy Statistical Yearbook to calculate total energy intensity and energy footprint, and then focuses on the sectoral revenue and carbon emissions of Henan Province's international tourism industry. The results show that in 2012, 2015, and 2017, carbon emissions of China's international tourism industry exhibited significant regional differences; eastern coastal provinces contributed the highest, and transportation, catering, and accommodation were the main emission sectors. Although Henan Province's international tourism revenue accounted for a small proportion of the national total, it increased year by year; in 2019, the total carbon emissions of the province's tourism industry were about 77 million tonnes, and with the expansion of tourism scale, they generally showed an upward trend. Based on the research conclusions, emission reduction countermeasures such as optimizing tourism transportation modes, strengthening carbon emission supervision of catering and accommodation, and encouraging green consumption are proposed, in order to provide reference for the low-carbon development of Henan Province's tourism industry and other high-emission regions.

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Article Info

Received: 16 Aug 2026; Received in revised form: 18 Sep 2026; Accepted: 21 Sep 2026, Published on: 27 Sep 2026