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Environmental Management and the Competitiveness of Nature-Based Tourism Destinations

Environmental and Resource Economics volume 24, pages 213–233 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Environmental management at nature-basedtourism destinations includes a private and apublic component. The former refers tovoluntary environmental protection activitiescarried out by individual (and groups of)tourism operators. These activities aremotivated by the dependence of the productprovided by the tourism industry on the qualityof the natural environment. Public sectormanagement, on the other hand, refers to theenvironmental regulations imposed on tourismbusinesses. The overall environmentalmanagement structure has a dual effect on thecompetitiveness of the tourism industry atnature-based tourism destinations. While theindustry may benefit from environmentalmanagement through demand stimulation, thetourism businesses also incur the associatedmanagement related costs. In this paper, theoverall effect of environmental management oncompetitiveness, as measured by aggregatetourism industry profitability, is estimated ina case study of Tropical North Queensland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, The University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra ACT, 2600, Australia

    Twan Huybers

  2. National Centre for Development Studies, The Australian National University, Australia

    Jeff Bennett

Authors
  1. Twan Huybers
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  2. Jeff Bennett
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Huybers, T., Bennett, J. Environmental Management and the Competitiveness of Nature-Based Tourism Destinations. Environmental and Resource Economics 24, 213–233 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022942001100

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022942001100

  • competitiveness
  • environmental management
  • region
  • tourism