The Role of Life Cycle Approaches in Sustainable Development of Tourism

This chapter introduces the steps in conducting life cycle assessment (LCA). The four steps are goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory analysis (LCI), life cycle impact assessment and interpretation of the results. How system boundary and a functional unit, which are the key elements of the goal and scope definition step, should be defined for each activity, and how a comprehensive LCI can be initiated by tourism enterprises are suggested. The major benefits of LCA and its implications, and how to apply LCA to each tourism activity are provided. LCA results can be used to improve the performance of tourism activities and to inform policy or decision makers. In this chapter, LCA is applied to tourism activities such as accommodations, transportation, restaurants, tour operators and waste disposal facilities. LCA steps and good practices in using LCA to promote sustainable development in tourism can be used as guidance on how to conduct a LCA in the tourism sector.