The growth of the tourism industry and its effect on resource consumption in Macao SAR, China

Macao, as the world's gaming centre and a tourism city in China, has enjoyed a rapid economic growth over the past decade. However, the consumption of energy, electricity and water resources has also increased significantly. This paper aims at modelling growth patterns of Macao's tourism industry (using a proxy index - gross domestic product, i.e., GDP), the number of inbound tourists, and the consumption of resources using four-parameter logistic models. Correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses were employed to determine the relationships between Macao's GDP, the number of inbound tourists per year, population, energy use, electricity consumption and water consumption during the period 2000-2012. The analysed results showed that Macao's GDP and electricity consumption primarily depended on the number of inbound tourists, while Macao's water consumption depended more heavily on population. Macao's energy use depended on GDP and population. Some suggestions were given for sustainable tourism.