Closing the circularity gap in tourism through policy co-design

The tourism industry has proven to be a catalyst for economic growth, particularly within Northern Ireland (NI) with tourist spend exceeding £1 billion in 2019 and recording over
2.8 million tourists in 2021 (Tourism Northern Ireland, 2022). However, despite the tourism industry’s 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(SDGs) (UN, 2015), the continual disregard for the environment suggests that the current linear economic system is outdated (Zhong et al, 2011), with interest peaked towards a circular economic system which promotes resource minimisation (Andersen, 2007). Similarly in NI, 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 Northern Ireland. Only 7.9% of the NI economy is currently deemed circular, with the report showcasing 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.
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 for terms relating to the circular economy and tourism yielding only 69 results among nine reputable databases. Moreover, 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 three- step qualitative approach. The first step will be an extensive analysis of relevant NI policy documentation. This will be followed by a series of Nominal Group Technique workshops with policymakers and agents of change within the tourism and circular economy space in NI to develop a draft tourism circularity conceptual framework. The draft framework will then be discussed during a consensus workshop with all prior participants, resulting in the in the codesign of a tourism circularity conceptual framework, which will support the narrowing of the circularity gap within NI, and will also be applicable to comparable destinations. Furthermore, this research will provide an academic contribution to circular tourism literature as well as a methodological contribution to co-design research within tourism literature.

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