Page 109 - EER-2-1

Explora: Environment

and Resource

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
The influence of the carbon neutrality goal on

tourists’ low-carbon tourism behavior intention
in space tourism

Linghui Liang and Kang-Lin Peng*

Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau, Macau SAR, China

Abstract

China’s carbon neutrality goals and the emergence of the space tourism industry have
raised increasing environmental concerns. Fostering the awareness of low-carbon
practices is vital for industry sustainability and enhanced competitiveness. The existing
literature underscores how state policies, such as the dual carbon goal, which aims to
peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,
drive motivations to go green, shaping public intentions toward low-carbon travel.
The contemporary focus is on various dual carbon factors influencing low-carbon
tourism, although research on motivations, awareness, and behavioral intentions in
space remains limited. To address this gap, this study aims to evaluate how the carbon
neutrality goal impacts low-carbon tourism motivation, awareness, and behavioral
intentions based on the event system theory. The study employed quantitative
*Corresponding author: methods and examined the constructs and causality of low-carbon tourism. After
Kang-Lin Peng performing a literature review, we constructed a research model to explore the
(klpeng@cityu.edu.mo) relationship between low-carbon space tourism and behavioral intentions with
Citation: Liang L, Peng K. The mediation constructs of carbon neutrality goal, motivation, and awareness. Statistical
influence of the carbon neutrality Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and MPLUS were employed in data analysis.
goal on tourists’ low-carbon
tourism behavior intention in space The data were analyzed using SPSS and MPLUS software, and various mathematical
tourism. Explora Environ Resour. and statistical methods such as reliability analysis, validity analysis, factor analysis,
2025;2(1):3655. correlation analysis, common method variance analysis, and structural equation
doi: 10.36922/eer.3655
modeling were used to analyze the survey data. Findings suggest positive effects of the
Received: May 14, 2024 carbon neutrality goal, low-carbon travel motivation (LCM), and low-carbon tourism
Revised: June 17, 2024 awareness (LCA) among tourists. The present study affirms the influential role of the
carbon neutrality goal in space tourism and the mediating effects of LCM and LCA
Accepted: June 27, 2024
in positively affecting sustainable space tourism intention. This study also suggests
Published online: March 3, 2025 that cooperation among governmental entities, tourism authorities, businesses, and
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). tourists is vital to advancing sustainable space tourism practices.
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Space tourism; Carbon neutrality goal; Motivation; Awareness; Behavioral
License, permitting distribution, intention
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Space tourism is “the movement of people for leisure purposes beyond the Earth’s
1,2
affiliations. atmosphere.” This form of tourism encompasses various segments, including terrestrial

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/eer.3655