| Growing rapidly in market size,tourism has become a major driver for social and economic development.But it has also exerted a negative impact on local ecological system,society and culture,which in turn will undermine the sound development of tourism.The fifth plenary session of the 18th congress of the Communist Party of China proposed the concept of green development,shifting focus from purely seeking economic profits to pursuing green development by following natural laws and fully utilizing idle resources.Promoting green development is the foundation for a sustainable tourism industry.Once proposed,the concept of developing green tourism was embraced by people from all walks of life.The tourism ecological footprint model,one of the gauges used to assess the green and sustainable development of regional tourism,can holistically assess the macro and micro implications of tourist activities for regional environment.Thus,it is widely adopted in measuring the sustainability of regional tourism.Built upon existing studies,this paper chooses Chengdu as the research area and adopts the ecological footprint theory and methodology,attempting to develop a model consisting of six variables,namely,catering,accommodation,transportation,sightseeing,shopping,and recreation,with a five-year time series.It dynamically analyzes the composition and changes in the ecological footprints in Chengdu between2012 and 2016 from consumption structure and types of land.It also evaluates the sustainability of tourism in Chengdu by factoring in the resilience of local ecology,and puts forward recommendations based on the features of ecological footprints and the status quo of tourism in Chengdu.The main conclusions are as follows:??1?The total amount and per capita volume of tourism ecological footprint in Chengdu have shown an upward trend over time.The total volume increased from4135121.11hm2 in 2012 to 7905666.72hm2 in 2016,and the per capita volume increased from 337.67×10-4hm2 in 2012 to 394.69×10-4hm2 in 2016.The main reason is the growth of tourists and the extension of tourists'stay in Chengdu.?2?Based on the analysis of the structure of tourism consumption,the total ecological footprint of tourism transportation and catering between 2012 and 2016accounted for nearly 90%of the total tourism ecological footprint in Chengdu.It indicates that transportation and catering in Chengdu are the most influential factors in the process of tourism activities.In the composition of land use,the proportion of fossil energy land took up the largest proportion,which is as high as 70%.It shows that the development of tourism in Chengdu relies heavily on energy and the energy risk is also high.?3?Research results of tourism ecological remainder and ecological deficit in Chengdu reveal that Chengdu is always in the development state of tourism ecological deficit in the study period.The per capita ecological deficit level increased from-277.66×10-4hm2 in 2012 to-356.61×10-4hm2 in 2016.It shows that Chengdu's tourism eco-environment has been unsustainable.?4?The composition of tourism ecological footprint in Chengdu also has regional particularity.Tourism consumption and consumption of forest and grassland ranked second in tourism consumption structure and land use type respectively.This is closely related to Chengdu's reputation as"the gastronomic capital of the world".?5?The results show that the main factors affecting the Chengdu tourism ecological footprint are:the consumption structure of food and beverage,the choice of type of transportation,the difference in accommodation facilities,the number of tourists in Chengdu over the years,and the number days of tourists spending in Chengdu.Based on the above factors,practical and feasible suggestions are put forward for the green and sustainable development of Chengdu's tourism industry. |
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