Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Analysis in Tourism ― A Critical Review of Applications and Implications

Tourism is an activity that anyone can take part in, regardless of their age, gender, nationality or level of income. This makes tourism one of the most rapidly developing industries in the world. Despite the number of benefits which tourism produces, it also has significant negative impacts on the environment. To minimise the scope of these negative impacts, joint efforts combining tourism and environmental management are called for.

This book examines the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method and lifecycle thinking as a tool to generate more accurate and holistic appraisals of the environmental impacts of tourism. Looking at the issue of sustainability of tourism operations, the book evaluates how it can be improved. It highlights the potential of LCA to affect tourist behaviour and contribute to tourism policy-making and managerial practice.

This book provides a valuable resource for undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers interested in sustainable tourism, sustainable development and environmental impact assessment.

Dr Viachaslau Filimonau is Lecturer in Tourism at Liverpool Hope University (UK) where he has been a member of the faculty since 2013. Dr Filimonau’s academic background is rooted in geography, albeit with a strong cross-disciplinary orientation. He gained his BSc. (Hons) degree in geography and environmental science, a MSc. degree in environmental management and policy a PhD in tourism. Dr Filimonau’s research interests lie in the area of environmental impacts of tourism, tourism impact assessment, pro-environmental tourist behaviour and the use of technology in tourist decision-making. He has published a number of articles in international peer-reviewed journals on the above topics and is currently exploring these research fields further.