New insight to tourism-environment nexus in Mediterranean countries: evidence from panel vector autoregression approach

This paper analyzed the relationship between environmental performance and tourism sector development in Mediterranean countries for the period from 2000 to 2014. For this purpose, it is adopted PM2.5 exposure as a proxy of environmental performance indicator. Economic growth, energy consumption, industrial value-added and urbanization are included in model as other explanatory variables. It is applied panel vector autoregression methodology for analyze the relationship. Main result suggests that tourism development causes deterioration in air quality. Furthermore, the U-shaped relationship between growth and pollution is confirmed for the PM2.5, and as urbanization increases, air quality deteriorates. In addition to these, the existence of a bidirectional causality relationship between tourism development and PM2.5 exposure is revealed. The analysis results imply that the nexus among tourism and environment in the Mediterranean countries is also confirmed by a specific environmental performance indicator PM2.5 exposure.