Estimating transportation-related CO2 emissions of European city tourism

The present study develops a methodology to assess transportation-related CO2 emissions of European city tourism. In doing so, not only is travel distance considered, but also the chosen transportation modes and the particularities of the different cities’ source markets. The major contribution of this study is the implementation of this learning methodology into a decision support system for destination management organizations of cities. Based on a sample from 2018 of 48 European cities with at least 40 source markets, the range of aggregate transportation-related CO2 emissions of European city tourism is estimated. Moreover, a longitudinal analysis of the exemplary city of Vienna covering the period of 1990 to 2018 is carried out. Finally, some policy recommendations of how destination management organizations can contribute to make the estimated transportation-related CO2 emissions even more precise and on how to make European city tourism more environmentally sustainable are drawn.