The Impact Of Air Pollution On Tourism Industry

Driven by the rapid development of China's social economy,the sharp increase of domestic residents' disposable income and the upgrading of consumption,China's tourism market has grown substantially.China has entered the era of "mass tourism".Tourism demand is booming year by year,and the direct and comprehensive contribution of tourism to GDP has increased year by year.Tourism has become an important engine of economic growth of China.Tourism is an emerging industry with great prospects.It has a significant pulling effect on related industries,with less investment and great returns.Compared with inbound tourism,domestic tourism accounts for a large proportion of the tourism industry,has a broader growth potential,and has become the backbone of industrial structural transformation in China.However,in recent years,air pollution,represented by haze,has occurred frequently in China,which not only damages the health of tourists,reduces the satisfaction of tourists,but also has a negative impact on the tourism industry and local economy of cities.Air quality has become one of the most important factors for domestic residents to travel.Most of the existing literature on air pollution and tourism industry studies the impact of air pollution on tourists' risk perception and attitudes.The data are mainly based on questionnaires which are subjective.The research on air pollution and tourism population or tourism income are based on provincial annual data,while the monthly data of cities are used in this paper.The research scope is more detailed and the data frequency is higher.This paper has important practical significance for domestic tourism industry.By assessing the impact of air pollution on city's attractiveness and the economic development of tourism,it is helpful to highlight the seriousness of the problem,arouse the attention of local governments,improve the enthusiasm of air pollution control,and help the government to assess the cost and benefit improvement of air pollution control and formulate corresponding management plans.Based on the monthly month of tourism industry from 2006 to 2016,this paper makes an empirical study.And we use Baidu Index which reflect people's attention and hotel data which is highly associated with tourism industry to check the robustness.The results show that:(1)Air pollution has a significant negative impact on the development of domestic tourism industry,including weakening the attractiveness of city and domestic tourism revenue.When the monthly average of AQI(Air Quality Index)increases by one standard deviation(24.70),the number of domestic tourists will decrease by 0.04%,while the negative impact of domestic tourism income will be greater,reaching 0.09%.(2)The negative impact of air pollution on domestic tourism shows a marginal increasing trend with the aggravation of pollution.(3)API(Air Pollution Index)and AQI indicators were used to evaluate the air quality.When AQI was used,the domestic tourism showed stronger sensitivity to air pollution.(4)Whether a city is popular or not,domestic tourism will be negatively affected by air pollution.(5)Highly polluted cities are more negatively affected by air pollution than low-polluted cities.(6)We also find that,the development of domestic tourism industry has self-driving inertia.The number of domestic tourists will increase 0.37% in the current period when it increased by 1% in the previous period,the same,the domestic tourism income will increase 0.27% in the current period when it increased by 1% in the previous period.Since fresh air and clean natural environment are the cornerstone of the development of city's tourism,air pollution will hinder the development of domestic tourism economy.Because of the strong industrial correlation of tourism,the comprehensive pulling effect of the economy is great,the shrinkage of tourism industry will double the impact on local economy.Local governments should strengthen the infrastructure construction of tourist areas and city brand.At the same time,they should strengthen pollution control and environmental protection to balance the economic cost and potential economic benefits of air pollution control.Only by fostering a good tourism environment can we enhance the attraction of the city,maintain a good reputation and sustainable development of the tourism.