Tourism Development and Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in ASEAN Countries

Tourism development has become one of the key drivers of economic growth in many ASEAN countries; however, the adverse environmental impacts of tourism and economic growth have raised significant concerns among policymakers in the region. With that, this study examines the role of tourism development within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis across ten ASEAN countries over 25 years from 1995 to 2019, employing panel estimators robust to cross-sectional dependence. The results confirm that tourism development significantly contributes to environmental degradation, particularly in the baseline estimation and in robustness checks when population size is excluded. Notably, ASEAN countries are found to exhibit an economic growth-environment trajectory that follows an inverted N-shaped EKC. The computed threshold values of GDP per capita, whether in the baseline or robustness estimations, suggest that the current economic development in ASEAN is having an adverse impact on the environment. Still, renewable energy emerges as a crucial mitigating factor. Furthermore, population size plays a key role in driving both CO2 and GHG emissions. These findings underscore the intricate relationships between tourism development, economic growth, and environmental quality in the ASEAN region. Subsequently, several policy implications are discussed.