The Carbon Footprint of Airport Ground Access as Part of an Outbound Holiday Trip

Abstract

In this paper, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions derived from airport surface access of outbound German tourists travelling to the Canary Islands have been estimated. It is argued that carbon footprint estimations in tourism must be improved to incorporate the transport to the airports within the country of origin. To do so, statistical data from the Tourism Expenditure Survey of the Canary Islands have been used. In particular, the postcodes of a large sample of German tourists visiting the archipelago from 2012 to 2014 are used to identify their residence and the distances travelled to their chosen airport. The findings of the paper contribute to the literature on tourism carbon footprints, including an estimate of the share of airport surface access emissions in a typical outbound sun and beach holiday trip. Airport ground access accounted for 8.17% of transport-related emissions. These results have implications for urban planners, transport firms, and tourism management.