Abstract:

Purpose: The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between tourism and ecological footprint within the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis. Design/Methodology: In the study, the 10 countries with the highest ecological footprints were discussed for the period 1995-2020. The GUW cointegration test developed by Gengenbach, Urbain, and Westerlund (2016) was used. Long-term coefficient estimates were made with the Common Correlated Effect (CCE) test. Findings: The findings showed that tourist arrivals are positive for some countries and negative for others on the ecological footprint. In addition, it was concluded that the Kuznets Curve is inverted u-shaped in China, Russia and Japan. On the other hand, renewable energy consumption was found to be significant for all countries. Limitations: The most important limitation of the research is the inclusion of the 10 countries with the highest ecological footprint in the analysis and the data supply in terms of the country set that constitutes the sample group of the research. In future studies, more comprehensive studies can be conducted by increasing the number of countries and obtaining data covering a longer period of time. Originality/Value: EKC Hypothesis has been studied in many studies, mostly by considering carbon emissions. The ecological footprint variable is an important indicator used to measure environmental quality in recent years. On the other hand, tourism is seen as an important income generating item for countries. Examination of ecological footprint and tourism with the EKC Hypothesis constitutes the original value of the research.

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