Evaluating the Effectiveness of IoT-Based Environmental Monitoring Systems in Minimizing Ecological Impact at Eco-Tourism Sites

In recent years, several empirical investigations have focused on a technological framework that would have increased monitoring accuracy by integrating sensor-based analytics with the operational capacity to detect and manage environmental disturbances. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find out what sustainability outcomes will emerge when IoT-based environmental monitoring is implemented in the eco-tourism context. The analysis of environmental parameters to change their response patterns due to the deployment and the intensity of the amount of this monitoring in the ecosystem are the main benefits of this approach. The empirical data of the analysis are data collected by a sensor-based monitoring network in the eco-tourism sector in Uzbekistan; the comparison group is represented by pre-implementation observations. The results from the empirical estimation indicate that sites with more than one monitoring zone, having a calibrated sensor network, or integration of an adaptive feedback mechanism are more likely to be environmentally responsive. The results obtained in the MIMIC-SEM analysis indicate that there are significant differences with the results of the simple ordinary least squares estimation, not only for ecological sustainability in eco-tourism sites but also for the other latent constructs for several of the environmental indicators used in the model. It is evident that maintaining a higher level of calibration is an effective strategy to increase ecological sustainability across eco-tourism sites. However, adaptive monitoring and digital calibration reduce ecological pressure and improve the overall environmental performance.