Linkages among tourism demand, human development, and CO<inf>2</inf> emissions in Thailand

Abstract

© 2020. This study investigates the linkages between international tourism demand, human development, and CO2 emissions in reference to Thailand, throughout the period from 1995 to 2018, using a Three-Stage Least Squares analysis and Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation. The empirical results indicate a unidirectional causal link without feedback effects from tourism demand to human development. This implies that tourism contributes to human development. Meanwhile, bidirectional causality was found between tourism demand and CO2 emissions, as well as between human development and CO2 emissions. The results highlight that tourism demand and human development contribute to the reduction of emissions, while CO2 emissions also contribute to the reduction of tourism demand and human development in terms of quality of life. The findings suggest that a green growth policy such as investment in eco-friendly infrastructure to secure energy efficiency, emission control technologies, and access to renewable energy sources will encourage a greater tourism demand and improve human development in Thailand.