For tourism to be considered sustainable, the industry needs to be transparent in measuring, monitoring and reporting all emissions to actively contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy. The purpose of this study was to identify to what level tourism decarbonisation has been discussed, assessed, and planned for globally. For this study, a content analysis of national tourism plans was implemented to identify if the carbon footprint of tourism has been assessed, establish a unified approach to measure tourism emissions and determine what level of tourism decarbonisation strategies are currently in place. The findings in this study identified that the carbon footprint of tourism has not been assessed globally, lacks serious discussion and planning for tourism decarbonisation. Crucially, baseline data for tourism emissions are not available, as a result, tourism policymakers cannot monitor and manage the level of decarbonisation in tourism. Furthermore, a unified approach to measure tourism emissions needs to be agreed upon to ensure that each country measures the same criteria. Consequently, allowing policymakers to compare international tourism emissions and establish if tourism is actively transitioning towards a low-carbon industry. Climate change is a significant crisis facing humanity, and until now, this research has not been completed.

The increasing popularity of the event sector in Ireland has had an effect on host communities in a positive and negative manner. This baseline comparative assessment highlights the current level of all 32 Irish local authorities socio-cultural planning provision and guidelines for event management. The research employed a content analysis methodology, which highlighted a lack of local authority social and cultural planning guidelines and indicators. The lessons learned from this study may have international implications for other event destinations and offers an opportunity for improvement by applying best practice socio-cultural indicators in guidelines for event management by local authorities.

Destination’s dependency on aviation leads to inbound tourists producing higher levels of emissions than domestic tourists. This paper aimed to measure the first baseline carbon footprint of inbound tourism at a popular island destination, without the Tourism Satellite Accounts. The environmentally extended input-output life-cycle analysis is the most favourable approach to measure tourism emissions. However, this approach cannot be applied internationally due to the lack of tourism data. Therefore, this study implemented an integrated bottom-up approach to successfully measure inbound tourism emissions. According to this study, inbound tourism to Ireland generates 11.78 MtCO2eq, this is a conservative estimate due to the assumptions made to overcome the data limitations. Nevertheless, this study contributes to the increasing body of knowledge on tourism emissions as it establishes Ireland’s first baseline carbon footprint of inbound tourism and demonstrates the need to upskill the tourism industry to actively measure, monitor and manage tourism decarbonisation.

Local Authorities have significant tourism planning responsibilities and can benefit from evidence-based approaches. Qualitative interviews with 28 Local Authorities identified impediments to adopting indicators. Key barriers included more knowledge of indicator systems, training in using systems, and understanding sustainability value and governance issues. However, transitioning to sustainable tourism through monitoring requires efficient resourcing of Local Authorities. Statutory adoption of indicators may be needed to enable evidence-based planning and policy making. More informed planning approaches can help destinations respond to tourism issues and sustainability threats. Findings have implications for facilitating indicator implementation and evidence-based planning in other tourism destinations internationally.

This paper examines the critical issue of decarbonising emissions in the tourism industry, aiming for a 51% reduction by 2030 and Net-Zero emissions by 2050. It focuses on climate action literacy and the level of engagement by tourism enterprises in emissions monitoring and reporting. The study uses a quantitative research tool developed through desk-based research to investigate tourism enterprises' climate action practices. The key finding is that while enterprises have sufficient climate action knowledge, there is a significant gap in applying this knowledge, particularly in the regular measurement, monitoring, and reporting of emissions. The study highlights the need for targeted upskilling and training to enable enterprises to decarbonise effectively. It also emphasises the importance of supporting tourism enterprises in measuring their environmental impact, assessing sustainability, and contributing to climate change mitigation efforts.