The relationship between tourism, CO 2 emissions and economic growth: a case of Mediterranean countries

This study explores the impact of tourism on economic growth considering CO 2 emissions utilizing panel data techniques for a sample of Mediterranean countries. The cointegration tests reveal that there is a positive long-run equilibrium between tourism, CO 2 emissions and economic growth. This positive long-run relationship may suggest that tourism increases the level of CO 2 emissions and has a statistically significant impact on economic growth in Mediterranean countries. Emirmahmutoglu and Kose (2011. Testing for Granger causality in heterogeneous mixed panels. Economic Modelling, 28(3), 870–876.) test results reveal that the tourism-led growth hypothesis, which suggests that tourism contributes to economic growth, is valid for Egypt, Italy, and Spain. Additionally, there exists a bidirectional relationship between tourism and economic growth both in Morocco and Turkey. © 2018, © 2018 Asia Pacific Tourism Association.