K- pop’s success has resulted in an increase in tourism to South Korea, with fans travelling to the nation to attend concerts and experience K-pop culture. As a result, they contribute to the growth in tourism as well as the pollution created by it.
According to Azam et al. (2018)’s literature review, tourism and pollution can exist together. Their paper focuses on the CO2 emissions from the tourism industry. Notwithstanding the unseen pollution effects of tourism, CO2 emissions are related to the effects of tourism development. The high reliance on energy as a fuel source for transportation is another indication of this. Through domestic energy use, the relationship between tourism development and CO2 emissions is illustrated in the context of economic and transportation operations (Beladi et al., 2009; as cited in Azam et al., 2018). Katircioglu (2014) also mentioned that environmental pollution led by tourism is channelled through the consumption of fuel needed to support the industry.
Considering transportation is such an important aspect of the tourism industry, the quantity of CO2 emissions contributed to the area’s air pollution will then be higher as tourism in the area grows. Furthermore, if the area already has a significant amount of pollution, the additional pollution from tourism can exacerbate environmental degradation. This can be illustrated by doing pollutant budgeting, as it helps to assess the environmental pollution of an area. Whereby if the influx is greater than the outflow of the pollutant, then there will be a net accumulation of the pollutant in the environment. Hence, for example, given that the control volume of the area is a city in Seoul, South Korea, and the pollutant influx consists of the CO2 emissions from the tourism industry on top of the emissions from energy production, vehicle exhaust etc. but if the outflow is lower or insufficient to reduce the pollutant, as such, the CO2 pollutant will then accumulate in the environment. Therefore, tourism growth influenced by K-pop can create environmental pollution and degradation through the emission of CO2.
References:
Azam, M., Alam, M. M. and Hafeez, M. H. (2018). ‘Effect of tourism on environmental pollution: Further evidence from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand’. Journal of Cleaner Production. 190, pp. 330-338.
Katircioglu, S. T. (2014). ‘International tourism, energy consumption, and environmental pollution: The case of Turkey’. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 36, pp. 180-187.