Development of an ecological footprint for accommodation facilities in Taroko National Park, Taiwan

This study uses the Ecological Footprint (EF) Model to calculate the EF of different levels of accommodation facilities in Taroko National Park (Taiwan) from 2002 to 2011. The result shows that accommodation food consumption footprint (ACCEFFO), accommodation built-up land footprint (ACCEFBU), and accommodation fossil energy land footprint (ACCEFEN) constitute the major components of the accommodation EF. In 2012, the heat values per bed night were calculated as 405, 176, and 60 MJ for international tourist hotels, boarding apartments, and ordinary hotels, respectively. These findings are in agreement with those of other studies that higher accommodation levels entail higher energy consumption.