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During recent years the tourism sector has been characterized by experiencing continuous growth, as indicated in the latest UNWTO reports (e.g., UNWTO, 2022). Although the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 brought the sector to a near standstill, it has already shown signs of recovery (e.g.: UNWTO, 2023). It is well-known that the development and growth of tourism is both a bringer of economic and social benefits (Blancas et al.,) and of costs to both the socio-cultural and natural environments. For example, tourist destinations can suffer from deterioration in the local flora and fauna, threaten water supplies and can be responsible for other types of environmental degradation, for example, it can cause an increase in both noise and air pollution etc (Juvan and Dolnicar, 2017).
The call to change tourism to mitigate the costs has come from numerous sources not least local residents and the need to make changes has been acknowledged by policy makers, tourism organizations and those in the field of tourism research (Hall, 2019),
The desire to make changes is inexorably influenced by the evolution of society and the policies of many national governments, increasingly oriented towards the need to protect the environment due to the challenges that the future holds as a result of climate change (e.g., Becken et al., 2020). Guidance has emerged from the United Nations in the form of The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which is a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (UN, 2021). Such an ambitious strategy inevitably influences tourism policies because of the sectors’ on-going influence on the natural environment (Gössling, 2021) and the fact that many national economies are inextricably linked with tourism (UNWTO, 2022). Sustainability is not only, therefore, necessary to avoid the degradation of the tourist destinations’ environments, but it is also necessary for the very survival of the sector (Juvan and Dolnicar, 2017). Tourism is reliant on the quality of the environment (Coghlan, 2012; Uyarra, Watkinson and Cote, 2009). A tourist destination with a degraded environment is not attractive and as such loses competitiveness sustainability becomes, then, a key factor for competitiveness (Fernández-Ruano et al., 2022). It should also be noted that many environmental problems are caused by irresponsible human behaviour (Hopkins, 2020). Regulatory solutions have proven insufficient in this respect, so there is also a requirement to focus on tourists to adopt more environmentally friendly behaviour (Dolnicar, 2020).
Therefore, destinations should implement strategies designed to encourage tourists to behave in a more environmentally responsible manner. Several studies have addressed this issue from different perspectives, including: tourist information-provision (Tiefenbeck et al., 2019); how firms can pass on to their clients the savings they make thanks to adopting sustainable practices; games that encourage environmentally friendly behavior among tourists; how to encourage tourists to commit to the desired behaviors; and changing how services are offered (e.g., Baca-Motes et al., 2012; Dolnicar et al., 2019). Other studies have focused on identifying productive techniques to influence human behavior for nature-based tourism, using tourism programs such as ecotourism, green tourism, slow tourism, culture-rich tourism, self-regulated responsible tourism, adventure tourism, reef tourism, regenerative tourism and spiritual tourism, among others, to provide specialist offers (Le Busque, Mingoia, and Litchfield, 2022; Adebayo, 2017; Mihalic, 2016; Coghlan, 2012).
Given the need to address the environmental issues that the planet faces and that can also jeopardize the future of tourism both academics and practitioners should focus on identifying effective strategies that can mitigate the adverse effects of tourism development. At the same time, there is a need to adopt sustainable practices to protect and guarantee the existence of tourism in the long-term (Demeter et al., 2023).
With this background in mind the focus of this special issue is on discussions that seek to understand how destinations foster practices of sustainability that encourage both businesses and tourists to adopt such approaches. As such, this special issue welcomes contributions that identify and evaluate practices that can contribute to making tourism more sustainable. Topics for consideration include, but are not limited to:
- Tourist specialties based on the care and enhancement of natural resources at the destinations, such as ecotourism or adventure tourism.
- Tourism guidelines aimed at reducing resource consumption and/or promoting preference for more environmentally friendly products such as green tourism.
- Types of tourism based on the enhancement of natural, cultural and social resources in a way that is respectful of the conservation of destinations, such as slow tourism, spiritual tourism, rural tourism, wine tourism or culture-rich tourism.
- Proposals aimed at improving or recovering destination resources, such as regenerative tourism or volunteer tourism.
Guest Editors
Ana Polo-Peña, University of Granada, email: [email protected]
Hazel Andrews, Liverpool John Moores University, email: [email protected]
Dolores M. Frías-Jamilena, University of Granada, email: [email protected]
Adenike Adebayo, Liverpool John Moores University, email: [email protected]
Key Deadlines
Submission opening date: December 1st 2023.
Submissions close date: July 31th. 2024.
Email for submissions information: [email protected]
References
Adebayo, A., 2017. Sustainable tourism and cultural landscape management: the case of Idanre Hill, Ondo State, Nigeria. Tourism Today, 16(16/17), pp.43-55.
Baca-Motes, K., Brown, A., Gneezy, A., Keenan, E. A., & Nelson, L. D. (2012), “Commitment and behavior change: Evidence from the field”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 1070–1084.
Blancas, F.J., González, M., Guerrero, F.M., & Lozano, M. (2010), “Indicadores sintéticos de turismo sostenible: una aplicación para los destinos turísticos de Andalucía”, Rect@: Revista Electrónica de Comunicaciones y Trabajos de ASEPUMA, Vol. 11, pp. 85-118.
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