Closing the circularity gap in tourism through policy co-design

Description

Abstract:
The tourism industry has proven to be a catalyst for economic growth, with over 969 million tourists generating over US$7.7 trillion for the global economy whilst simultaneously contributing 7.6% towards global GDP in 2022 (Statista, 2023). Concurrently, the tourism industry has provided great societal benefits, with the creation of 22 million jobs in 2022, a 7.9% increase on 2021 (WTTC, 2023). However, despite its success, Casagrandi and Rinaldi (2002) argue that it is at the environment’s expense. Despite the United Nations (UN) calling for the more sustainable development of all sectors through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2015), the continual disregard for the environment suggests that the current linear economic system is outdated (Zhong et al., 2011), with interest peaked towards a circular economic system which promotes resource minimisation (Andersen, 2007).
Circular economy literature has roots in industrial ecology which is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems (Andersen, 2007). However, the circular economy is mainly referred to in industrial ecology literature within a manufacturing context; and with regards to practice, only three countries have begun to embrace this new economic structure: China, Japan, and Germany (Ogunmakinde, 2019). Despite this advancement, the circular economy remains under-researched within a tourism context (Korhonen et al., 2016), with a keyword search of terms relating to circular economy and tourism yielding only 69 results within nine reputable databases.
In Northern Ireland (NI), tourism spend exceeded £1 billion in 2019 (Tourism Northern Ireland, 2022). However, despite this economic growth challenges to environmental and societal wellbeing, such as pollution, climate change (DAERA, 2019) and low spending on transport remain (Torrance, 2022). To combat this, the NI Department for the Economy published a report – “The Circularity Gap” – highlighting a significant circularity gap within NI. Only 7.9% of the NI economy is currently deemed circular, with the report identifying the tourism sector as one of the most offending culprits of linearity (DfE, 2022). However, the report remains vague on how to improve circularity. Therein lies the aim of this research: to develop a policy framework for a circular economy within the NI tourism industry; and thus, contribute to the development of circular economy research within tourism literature.
It is noted in literature that a circular economy demands a holistic approach, therefore this research intends to adopt a co-design methodology, which is particularly beneficial in a governmental context (Blomkamp, 2018). The data collection will comprise of a range of qualitative methods, including an extensive analysis of relevant NI policy documentation and a series of nominal group technique workshops with policymakers and agents of change within the circular economy and tourism space in NI. The analysed data will then be discussed within a consensus workshop with the aim of co-designing a tourism circularity conceptual framework, which will support the narrowing of the circularity gap within NI and will also be applicable to comparable destinations.

Key Words: circular economy, tourism, co-design.

References:
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Period	24 Sept 2024