| Tourism is not only a victim of climate change, but also an important factor that causes climate change. This increased of the active intervention of human autonomy in the natural environment causes the rapid degradation of environmental resources on the earth. At the second session of the international climate change and tourism conference in 2007 in Davos, Switzerland, the official report entitled "Climate Change and Tourism:Responding to the global climate challenge" said that because of tourism and transportation, accommodation and other related activities, the total emissions of carbon dioxide emissions of tourism industry covered from 4% to 6% in the GHG emission in 2006. If we do not take environmental protection measures in the next 30 years, carbon dioxide emissions will increase by 1.5 times, climate change and the impact of the tourism sector will become increasingly evident. The international community has generally recognized that we must implement the sustainable tourism development policies in order to reduce the negative impact of climate changed acused by tourism industry. However, we must find the real impact of climate change and tourism, the key issues or areas in order to develop the tourism-related climate change policies.Firstly, this paper considers that tourism is a social phenomenon of a tourist depaturing from the origin to the destination and returning the origin, a travel process including accommodation, lodging, transportation, traveling, shopping, entertainment which are interrelated and cross-cutting, and a supply chain adapted to the assessment system from the cradle to the grave, based on the literature review of climate change, tourism, carbon emission, low carbon economy and carbon footprint.Secondly, the paper puts forward that tourism carbon footprint has three different definitions, namely, carbon footprint of tourism system, carbon footprint of tourists and carbon footprint of tourism capital, based on life cycle assessment theory and characteristics of tourism industry. With the direction of service confimed, consumption traced, border cleared, region shared, industry specified and operation strengthed, the carbon footprint model of tourism industry is put forward and conversion factors of the model are confirmed, considering that popular carbon footprint models in USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and China.Thirdly, the research target of the paper is confirmed to Zhangjiajie, located in the north-west of Hunan Province, China, which has the first National Forest Park in China, the World Natural Heritage, the World geological park.10 officers from Zhangjiajie Municipal Tourism Tourism Bureau, Wulingyuan Tourism Bureau, Yongding Tourism Bureau and Cili County Tourism Bureau,65 travel agencies in Zhangjiajie (18 international travel agencies and 47 domestic travel agencies),30 tourist hotels in Zhangjiajie and 10 managers of tourism commodity production or sale enterprises are interviewed about energy consumption in tourism industry and 1200 visitors interviewed about their intineraries and key energy consumption from the origin to the destination to the origin with questionnaires by convenient sampling method.Forthly, according to the theory of product of life cycle assessment and tourism carbon footprint calculation principles, the total tourism carbon footprint of Zhangjiajie in 2008 is 6685816.16 kg, appropriately 6 686 tons, in which tourism transportation carbon footprint is 2597673.46kg (38.85%), tourism attractions operating carbon footprint 392725.85kg (5.87%), tourism accommodation carbon footprint 1144316.33kg (17.12%), tourism lodge carbon footprint 1597006.44kg (23.89%), tourism entertainment carbon footprint 716808.29kg (10.72%) and tourism shopping carbon footprint 237285.79kg (3.55%). Otherwhile, according to the multi-shared principle of tourism destinations, Zhangjiajie is responsible for 21066551.83kg, Furong Town for 180339.90kg, Changsha for 676274.61kg, Fenghuang Town for 1082039.38kg, Shaoshan for 405764.77kg, Guilin for 135254.92kg, Wuhan for 225424.87kg, Changde for 45084.97kg, Huaihua for 45084.97kg, Jishou for 45084.97kg, Hengshan for 90169.95kg, Beijing for 45084.97kg, Shanghai for 45084.97kg, Liuzhou for 90169.95kg, Tianjin for 90169.95kg, Shennongjia for 45084.97kg, Yichang for 45084.97kg, and Kaili for 45084.97kg in the transportation carbon footprint between the origins and the destinations.Finally, according to the preceding analysis of carbon footprint of the Zhangjiajie in time and space, some strategies for low carbon tourism sustainable development for Zhangjiajie are put forward, e.x. extending the existing tourist domestic and international itineraries routes and strengthening regional tourism cooperation with neighbour tourism destinations, changeing to the existing structure of tourism products and rooting out the potential within the region, making full use of hotel facilities and promoting energy-saving and emission reduction of the hotels, advocating green and healthy experience in the whole tourism itineries and guiding the control of tourist non-green or healthy behavior in tourism destinations, deepening toursits'understanding of tourism energy consumption and establishing a low-carbon concept of tourism for tourists, and developing low-carbon tourism policies and promoting low-carbon economic development strategy in zhangjiajiejie city.
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