Repercussion effects of consumption by Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean tourists in Kyoto: using a regional waste input–output approach

Since the 2003 launch of the Visit Japan Campaign by Tourism Agency, the number of foreign visitors to this nation has climbed significantly, reaching 19.7 million people in 2015, a number 3.8 higher than 2003. The increase in tourists from China, Taiwan, and Korea was especially significant, accounting for 74% of Japan’s total visitors. Although the increased tourism yielded considerable economic benefits, it also stimulated direct and indirect environmental loads. In this study, we evaluated the direct and repercussion effects of visitors from China, Taiwan, and Korea to Kyoto, both economically and environmentally, using a regional waste input–output approach. For this purpose, we first estimated the direct effects which are the visitors’ consumption activities in Kyoto in 2000 and 2014. We found that direct consumption by those tourists increased 10-fold during that period, accounting for ¥134 billion in 2014, while repercussion effects of consumption on production values by those same visitors increased from ¥16 billion in 2000 to ¥176 billion in 2014. As for waste generation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, induced waste requiring treatment increased from 2809 (2000) to 26,856 tonnes (2014), and accompanying GHG emissions increased from 12,000 ton-CO2 (eq.) (2000) to about 144,000 ton-CO2 (eq.) in 2014. To depress the level of waste generation increase and the treatment that accompanies the promotion of tourism, environmental efficiency improvements in the two main industrial sectors related to tourism, “eating and drinking locations” and “lodging,” will be crucial. Additionally, encouraging “food waste,” “waste paper,” and “plastic bag” recycling activities could also prove effective. The results implied that imported goods from other parts of Japan were purchased by Kyoto visitors, which means that visitor consumption in Kyoto stimulated production activities in other parts of Japan, especially in the manufacturing industries.