Decarbonization of the Tourism Sector: Case Study of Baltic States

The tourism sector is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through transportation, accommodation, and other energy-intensive activities. The urgent need for decarbonization has been recognized by governments, businesses, and international organizations. This paper explores current challenges, key strategies, and future pathways toward achieving a low-carbon tourism industry. The paper analyses decarbonization indicators of tourism and develops an indicator framework for the assessment of the success of the decarbonization path of tourism in countries with tourism destinations. A case study for the Baltic States was developed to apply decarbonization indicators of tourism and rank neighboring countries based on achievements in decarbonizing their tourism sectors. The case study shows that Estonia received the overall best results in decarbonizing the tourism sector.