The Impact of Tourism on Carbon Emissions and Ecological Footprint in African Countries. Does Democracy Matter?

ABSTRACT Enhancing democracy's moderating role in the impact of tourism on the ecological footprint and CO 2 emissions is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, gaps remain in the literature on tourism economics, economic development, and environmental economics. To bridge this gap, this study analyzes data from 19 African countries between 2003 and 2020 to explore how democracy moderates the relationship between tourism, ecological footprint and CO 2 emissions. To ensure robustness, the analysis employs the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method for cointegrated panels, the panel‐corrected standard errors (PCSE) technique to handle cross‐sectional dependence, and the generalised method of moments (GMM) approach to address endogeneity concerns. The findings indicate that both tourism and democracy contribute to environmental degradation. Furthermore, the results show that the marginal effects of tourism on ecological footprints and CO 2 emissions intensify as democracy levels rise. From a policy perspective, these findings underscore the need for democratically governed African states to adopt stricter environmental regulations and sustainability standards within the tourism sector. As democracy promotes citizen participation, governments should leverage this by engaging local communities and civil society in designing eco‐conscious tourism strategies, including the promotion of green certifications for hotels, investment in low‐carbon transport options, and the integration of environmental impact assessments into tourism planning.