The Environmental Kuznets Curve, Water Stress, and Tourism: A European Analysis

Abstract

[eng] As global water resources face growing pressures from climate change and populationvgrowth, understanding the factors driving water stress becomes crucial. The tourism sector, one of the fastest-growing economic sectors worldwide, plays a pivotal role in this dynamic, often exacerbating water scarcity in regions with water stress. This paper explores this critical relationship through a theoretical framework based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, introducing, as a novelty, water stress as the dependent variable through the water exploitation index plus (WEI+). The findings support the EKC hypothesis, revealing a non-linear yet diminishing effect of tourism volume—measured by international tourist overnights—on WEI+. This trend may be attributed to the fixed components of tourism-related water consumption and the adoption of water conservation practices by tourism enterprises. The findings also indicate that countries with intensive tourism tend to exhibit a lower EKC intercept compared to those with lower tourism intensity, likely due to heightened pressure on policymakers and businesses to curtail water consumption. By illustrating the varying impacts of tourism on water use across different income levels and regional contexts, this paper highlights the need for adaptive and region-specific strategies for water resource management.