Dr Ya-Yen Sun
Associate Professor
School of Business
+61 7 344 32004
Researcher biography
Dr Sun's research addresses tourism sustainability, focusing on economic impacts and environmental footprinting. Her work on tourism economic impacts is to use the input-output modelling to provide quantitative estimates on jobs, income and GDP with respect to changes in national tourism policy, market development or special events and disasters. In addition, she also works on the environmental perspectives of travel behaviour, quantifying the tourism carbon footprint and tourism water footprint. She successfully constructed and analysed tourism impacts for individual countries (Taiwan, China, Japan, United States, and New Zealand) and provided the first detailed estimate of the global travel impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
She worked closely with federal and local administers, including Statistics Norway, Indonesia Ministry of Finance, Taiwan Ministry of the Interior Construction Agency, Taiwan Forestry Bureau, and the US National Park Service. Her research projects include cases with national tourism carbon emission inventory, tourism employment vulnerability, tourism marketing programs, and national park management.
Dr Sun has published in top academic journals including Nature Climate Change, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research and Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Before joining UQ from Taiwan in 2018, She had 9 consecutive research projects with the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (equivalence to Australia Research Council), and 4 governmental grants. Dr Sun is currently the lead CI of the ARC Discovery Project that will set up the global tourism carbon emissions database and identify enablers for tourism decarbonization.
Publications
Book Chapter
Sun, Ya-Yen (2022). Carbon Footprint. Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing: Volumes 1-4. (pp. 411-414) Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.. doi: 10.4337/9781800377486.carbon.footprint
Journal Articles
Guix, Mireia, Babakhani, Nazila and Sun, Ya-Yen (2024). Doing all we can? Destination management organizations’ net-zero pledges and their decarbonization plans. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-21. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2024.2357377
Zhou, Wanru, Faturay, Futu, Driml, Sally and Sun, Ya-Yen (2024). Meta-analysis of the climate change-tourism demand relationship. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2024.2354882
Goean, Eduard Romulus, Font, Xavier, Xiong, Yu, Becken, Susanne, Chenoweth, Jonathan L., Fioramonti, Lorenzo, Higham, James, Jaiswal, Amit Kumar, Sadhukhan, Jhuma, Sun, Ya-Yen, Treiblmaier, Horst, Xia, Senmao and Zhou, Xun (2024). Using the blockchain to reduce carbon emissions in the visitor economy. Sustainability, 16 (10) 4000. doi: 10.3390/su16104000
Gössling, Stefan, Humpe, Andreas and Sun, Ya-Yen (2024). Are emissions from global air transport significantly underestimated?. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-14. doi: 10.1080/13683500.2024.2337281
Gössling, Stefan, Humpe, Andreas and Sun, Ya-Yen (2024). On track to net-zero? Large tourism enterprises and climate change. Tourism Management, 100 104842, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104842
Reiner, Vivienne, Pathirana, Navoda Liyana, Sun, Ya-Yen, Lenzen, Manfred and Malik, Arunima (2024). Wish You Were Here? The Economic Impact of the Tourism Shutdown from Australia’s 2019-20 ‘Black Summer’ Bushfires. Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, 8 (1), 1-21. doi: 10.1007/s41885-024-00142-8
Humpe, Andreas, Sun, Ya-Yen and Gössling, Stefan (2023). Cruise emissions and economic feasibility of biofuels. Annals of Tourism Research, 103 103666. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2023.103666
Sun, Ya-Yen, Gossling, Stefan and Babakhani, Nazila (2023). Macro-scale decarbonisation of tourism: insights from Australia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2023.2242608
Gössling, Stefan, Balas, Martin, Mayer, Marius and Sun, Ya-Yen (2023). A review of tourism and climate change mitigation: the scales, scopes, stakeholders and strategies of carbon management. Tourism Management, 95 104681, 1-18. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104681
Sun, Ya-Yen, Gossling, Stefan and Zhou, Wanru (2022). Does tourism increase or decrease carbon emissions? A systematic review. Annals of Tourism Research, 97 103502, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2022.103502
Sun, Ya-Yen, Gössling, Stefan, Hem, Leif E., Iversen, Nina M., Walnum, Hans Jakob, Scott, Daniel and Oklevik, Ove (2022). Can Norway become a net-zero economy under scenarios of tourism growth?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 363 132414, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132414
Sun, Ya-Yen, Li, Mengyu, Lenzen, Manfred, Malik, Arunima and Pomponi, Francesco (2022). Tourism, job vulnerability and income inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a global perspective. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, 3 (1) 100046, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.annale.2022.100046
Duan, Xiaofang, Zhang, Jinhe, Sun, Ping, Zhang, Honglei, Wang, Chang, Sun, Ya-Yen, Lenzen, Manfred, Malik, Arunima, Cao, Shanshan and Kan, Yue (2022). Carbon emissions of the tourism telecoupling system: Theoretical framework, model specification and synthesis effects. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (10) 5984, 5984. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19105984
Sun, Ya-Yen, Sie, Lintje, Faturay, Futu, Auwalin, Ilmiawan and Wang, Jie (2021). Who are vulnerable in a tourism crisis? A tourism employment vulnerability analysis for the COVID-19 management. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 49, 304-308. doi: 10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.08.014
Heller, Richard F., Sun, Ya-Yen, Guo, Zhe and Malik, Arunima (2021). Comparing carbon emissions between online and in-person study for a cohort of overseas students: a retrospective cohort study. F1000Research, 10 849, 1-6. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.55156.1
Fry, Jacob, Geschke, Arne, Langdon, Sarah, Lenzen, Manfred, Li, Mengyu, Malik, Arunima, Sun, Ya-Yen and Wiedmann, Thomas (2021). Creating multi-scale nested MRIO tables for linking localized impacts to global consumption drivers. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 26 (1) jiec.13165, 281-293. doi: 10.1111/jiec.13165
Demeter, Csilla, Lin, Pei-Chun, Sun, Ya-Yen and Dolnicar, Sara (2021). Assessing the carbon footprint of tourism businesses using environmentally extended input-output analysis. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30 (1), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1924181
Sun, Ya-Yen and Drakeman, Donald (2021). The double-edged sword of wine tourism: the economic and environmental impacts of wine tourism in Australia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30 (4), 1-18. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1903018
Sun, Ya-Yen and Higham, James (2021). Overcoming information asymmetry in tourism carbon management: the application of a new reporting architecture to Aotearoa New Zealand. Tourism Management, 83 104231, 104231. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104231
Sun, Ya-Yen, Lin, Pei-Chun and Higham, James (2020). Managing tourism emissions through optimizing the tourism demand mix: concept and analysis. Tourism Management, 81 104161, 104161. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104161
Sun, Ya-Yen and Drakeman, Donald (2020). Measuring the carbon footprint of wine tourism and cellar door sales. Journal of Cleaner Production, 266 121937, 121937. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121937
Lenzen, Manfred, Li, Mengyu, Malik, Arunima, Pomponi, Francesco, Sun, Ya-Yen, Wiedmann, Thomas, Faturay, Futu, Fry, Jacob, Gallego, Blanca, Geschke, Arne, Gómez-Paredes, Jorge, Kanemoto, Keiichiro, Kenway, Steven, Nansai, Keisuke, Prokopenko, Mikhail, Wakiyama, Takako, Wang, Yafei and Yousefzadeh, Moslem (2020). Global socio-economic losses and environmental gains from the Coronavirus pandemic. PLoS One, 15 (7) e0235654, 1-13. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235654
Fountas, Grigorios, Sun, Ya-Yen, Akizu-Gardoki, Ortzi and Pomponi, Francesco (2020). How do people move around? National data on transport modal shares for 131 countries. World, 1 (1), 34-43. doi: 10.3390/world1010003
Sun, Ya-Yen, Cadarso, Maria Angeles and Driml, Sally (2020). Tourism carbon footprint inventories: a review of the environmentally extended input-output approach. Annals of Tourism Research, 82 102928, 102928. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.102928
Pomponi, Francesco, Li, Mengyu, Sun, Ya-Yen, Malik, Arunima, Lenzen, Manfred, Fountas, Grigorios, D'Amico, Bernardino, Akizu-Gardoki, Ortzi and Luque Anguita, Maria (2020). A novel method for estimating emissions reductions caused by the restriction of mobility: the case of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 8 (1) acs.estlett.0c00764, 46-52. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00764
Faturay, Futu, Sun, Ya-Yen, Dietzenbacher, Erik, Malik, Arunima, Geschke, Arne and Lenzen, Manfred (2020). Using virtual laboratories for disaster analysis – a case study of Taiwan. Economic Systems Research, 32 (1), 58-83. doi: 10.1080/09535314.2019.1617677
Sun, Ya-Yen and Lin, Pei-Chun (2019). How far will we travel? A global distance pattern of international travel from both demand and supply perspectives. Tourism Economics, 25 (8), 1200-1223. doi: 10.1177/1354816618825216
Sun, Ya-Yen, Lenzen, Manfred and Liu, Bi-Jen (2019). The national tourism carbon emission inventory: its importance, applications and allocation frameworks. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27 (3), 360-379. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1578364
Sun, Ya-Yen and Lin, Zhi-Wei (2018). Move fast, travel slow: the influence of high-speed rail on tourism in Taiwan. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26 (3), 433-450. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2017.1359279
Sun, Ya-Yen (2018). Global value chains and national tourism carbon competitiveness. Journal of Travel Research, 58 (5), 004728751878107-823. doi: 10.1177/0047287518781072
Lenzen, Manfred, Sun, Ya-Yen, Faturay, Futu, Ting, Yuan-Peng, Geschke, Arne and Malik, Arunima (2018). Correction: The carbon footprint of global tourism (Nature Climate Change (2018) DOI: 10.1038/s41558-018-0141-x). Nature Climate Change, 8 (6), 544-544. doi: 10.1038/s41558-018-0192-z
Lenzen, Manfred, Sun, Ya-Yen, Faturay, Futu, Ting, Yuan-Peng, Geschke, Arne and Malik, Arunima (2018). The carbon footprint of global tourism. Nature Climate Change, 8 (6), 522-531. doi: 10.1038/s41558-018-0141-x
Sun, Ya-Yen and Hsu, Ching-Mai (2018). The decomposition analysis of tourism water footprint in Taiwan: revealing decision-relevant information. Journal of Travel Research, 58 (4), 004728751875737-708. doi: 10.1177/0047287518757371
Cang, Shuang, Sun, Ya-Yen and Li, ShiNa (2017). Impact of Taiwan open policy on Chinese tourist satisfaction. Current Issues in Tourism, 20 (11), 1140-1161. doi: 10.1080/13683500.2014.964190
Sun, Ya-Yen and Budruk, Megha (2017). The moderating effect of nationality on crowding perception, its antecedents, and coping behaviours: a study of an urban heritage site in Taiwan. Current Issues in Tourism, 20 (12), 1246-1264. doi: 10.1080/13683500.2015.1089845
Sun, Ya-Yen (2016). Decomposition of tourism greenhouse gas emissions: revealing the dynamics between tourism economic growth, technological efficiency, and carbon emissions. Tourism Management, 55, 326-336. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2016.02.014
Santana-Jimenez, Yolanda, Sun, Ya-Yen, Hernandez, Juan M. and Suarez-Vega, Rafael (2015). The influence of remoteness and isolation in the rural accommodation rental price among eastern and western destinations. Journal of Travel Research, 54 (3), 380-395. doi: 10.1177/0047287513517423
Lie, Yann-Ming, Lin, Pei-Chun and Sun, Ya-Yen (2015). Investigating tourist choice behavior in cruise tourism: an application of the theory of consumption value. Maritime Quarterly, 24 (1), 61-89.
Sun, Ya-Yen (2014). A framework to account for the tourism carbon footprint at island destinations. Tourism Management, 45, 16-27. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.03.015
Sun, Ya-Yen and Pratt, Stephen (2014). The economic, carbon emission, and water impacts of Chinese visitors to Taiwan: eco-efficiency and impact evaluation. Journal of Travel Research, 53 (6), 733-746. doi: 10.1177/0047287513517420
Wu, Chieh-Hsiun, Sun, Ya-Yen and Lin, Pei-Chun (2014). Supply chain flexibility, information technology capability, environmental uncertainty and organizational performance – an empirical study of the liner shipping industry. Maritime Quarterly, 23 (3), 79-107.
Sun, Ya-Yen and Wong, Kam-Fai (2014). Stability of input-output coefficients by capacity utilization for short-term tourism demand fluctuation. Tourism Economics, 20 (3), 509-526. doi: 10.5367/te.2013.0294
Sun, Ya-Yen, Rodriguez, Ariel, Wu, Jih-Hwa and Chuang, Shu-Tzu (2013). Why hotel rooms were not full during a hallmark sporting event: the 2009 World Games experience. Tourism Management, 36, 469-479. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2012.09.011
Chuang, S.-T., Weng, M.-J. and Sun, Y.-Y. (2013). Working hours changed and leisure time institutionalized process in Taiwan. Pan-Pacific Management Review, 16 (1), 27-48.
Sun, Jhih-Sian, Sun, Ya-Yen and Yu, Hui-Lung (2011). The economic impact of China-Taiwan ferry-cruise traffic. Journal of Logistics and Shipping Economics, 45, 83-92.
Sun, Ya-Yen, Wong, Kam-Fai and Lai, Hsien-Chung (2010). Statistical properties and survey design of visitor spending using segmentation. Tourism Economics, 16 (4), 807-832. doi: 10.5367/te.2010.0013
Sun, Ya-Yen and Wong, Kam-Fai (2010). An important factor in job estimation: a nonlinear jobs-to-sales ratio with respect to capacity utilization. Economic Systems Research, 22 (4), 427-446. doi: 10.1080/09535314.2010.526595
Sun, Y.-Y. (2010). Visitor consumption of 2009 World Games. City Development, 86-103.
Rodriguez, Ariel, Latkova, Pavlina and Sun, Ya-Yen (2008). The relationship between leisure and life satisfaction: application of activity and need theory. Social Indicators Research, 86 (1), 163-175. doi: 10.1007/s11205-007-9101-y
Sun, Ya-Yen (2007). Adjusting Input-Output models or capacity utilization in service industries. Tourism Management, 28 (6), 1507-1517. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2007.02.015
Sun, Ya-Yen and Stynes, Daniel J. (2006). A note on estimating visitor spending on a per-day/night basis. Tourism Management, 27 (4), 721-725. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2005.04.008
Sun, Ya-Yen (2005). Marginal economic impacts of inbound tourism to Taiwan and policy evaluation. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10 (3), 309-327. doi: 10.1080/10941660500309721
Conference Papers
Sun, Ya-Yen (2024). Tourism carbon divided model-a new approach to promote low-carbon tourism. CAUTHE 2024 Conference Proceedings: Diverse Voices: Creating Change in Tourism, Hospitality and Events, Hobart, TAS, Australia, 6-9 February 2024.
Sun, Ya-Yen, Wang, Jie, Faturay, Futu, Auwalin, Ilmiawan and Sie, Lintje (2022). Road to recovery: Assessing job risk and the impact on the most vulnerable in Indonesia’s pandemic-hit tourism industry. The 17th IRSA International Conference, Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia, 18-19 July 2022. Online:
Research Reports
Sun, Ya-Yen, Guix, Mireia and Babakhani, Nazila (2022). Tourism Carbon Footprint of Scotland. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Sun, Ya-Yen, Auwalin, Ilmiawan, Wang, Jie, Sie, Lintje, Wijanarko, Andri, Sebastian, Eugene, Brown, Helen and Downes, Mary (2021). Road to recovery: assessing job risk and the impact on the most vulnerable in Indonesia’s pandemic-hit tourism industry. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australia-Indonesia Centre.
Newspaper Articles
Sun, Ya-Yen, Futuray, Futu, Auwalin, Ilmiawan, Wang, Jie and Sie, Lintje (2021, 09 08). Tanpa turis di Indonesia; perempuan, pemuda, dan pekerja berpendidikan rendah kehilangan pekerjaan besar-besaran The Conversation
Sun, Ya-Yen, Futuray, Futu, Auwalin, Ilmiawan, Wang, Jie and Sie, Lintje (2021, 09 08). Women, youth and low-education workers bear the worst job losses in Indonesia when there are no tourists The Conversation
Sun, Ya-Yen and Drakeman, Donald (2021, 08 04). Vineyard tourism is a big source of carbon emissions. Want to help? Then buy more wine The Conversation
Malik, Arunima and Sun, Ya-Yen (2018, 07 16). Le tourisme, secteur poids lourd des émissions de CO2 The Conversation
Malik, Arunima and Sun, Ya-Yen (2018, 05 08). The carbon footprint of tourism revealed (it’s bigger than we thought) The Conversation