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Journal of Tourism & Hospitality

Journal of Tourism & Hospitality
Open Access

ISSN: 2167-0269

+44 1300 500008

Abstract

Sustainability Threats to Mountain Tourism with Tourist Mechanized Mobility Induced Global Warming: A Case Study of Nepal

Pranil Kumar Upadhayaya

Mountain tourism is sensitive to global warming and responsible in coping to and adapting with its effects. The fast growing global tourism industry is bound to increase its share from existing 5 per cent of total global CO2 emissions, one of the high up sources of global warming. The three quarters (as the majority) of this emission is covered by mechanized mobility of passengers (both tourists and non-tourists). The trend of growing ecological footprints of tourists mechanized activities from all kinds of tourism (e.g. mass or alternative) is not only adding to the challenge of global warming but also gradually threatening the sustainability of mountain tourism destinations.

In this context, this paper brings its attention towards mass tourism bound emerging mountain tourism destination of Nepal which is bound for high growth on international tourist arrivals. Such a trend is compelling to grow tourists’ mechanized mobility segments in Nepal. The paper focuses tourists’ mechanized mobility induced global warming trend and its related various spatial effects in Nepal Mountains. This paper also finds out the responses of various direct and indirect tourism actors in managing tourist mechanized mobility segments and copings. The innovative responses of the local actors in recent time reveal about the considerable contribution to transform the conventional mountain tourist destination of Nepal into a new form of sustainable tourism destination. The recent mass tourism bound landlocked mountain tourism destination of Nepal and others can learn much from the early matured European tourist destinations of all kinds (e.g. Alps, Andes and Rocky mountains) of Europe and Americas on responding to such negative impacts. The paper finally stresses for the substantial exchange of scientific research information and mutual learning among the mountain tourist destinations of all kinds.

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