Tourism sector has become one of the largest export items in the globalized world and in turn an item of national income for the countries. However, the globally expanding tourism sector may lead to negative impacts such as environmental degradation, and detrimental effects on social and cultural values despite its positive effects on economic growth, employment, and balance of payments. In the study, we explore the short and long run effects of international tourism and real gross domestic product on environment proxied by carbon dioxide emissions in Mediterranean European states over the period of 1995-2018, using second generation cointegration and causality tests. The short run analysis revealed a one-way causality from real gross domestic product to carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the long run analysis indicated that international tourism had a positive influence on carbon dioxide emissions in Italy and Slovenia and real gross domestic product had a positive influence on carbon dioxide emissions in most of the countries in the sample.