Air transport as an indicator to assess tourism sustainability: The case of Cancun in Quintana Roo

Abstract

In this paper, the flights CO2 emissions are analyzed in a touristic destination which is highly dependable on passenger air transport. It is assumed that, under similar development conditions, transportation emissions are an important factor to assess the extension of the ecological hinterland in a tourist destination as well as local and global aspects of sustainability. To this end, national and international flights to Cancun between 2014 and 2016 are analyzed. By doing so, a general insight within this paper is that this tourist destination is provoking a high level of CO2 emissions, representing an impact in ecosystem degradation according to the discussed consequences of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This impact is not only local, but also international, when the customers’ demand is fulfilled with national and international flights, whose frequency and total distance is increased in the same period