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A shift from memorable to transformative experiences is taking place in the emerging transformation economy. Experiences constitute the essence of the tourism industry. While the literature has recognized the link between sustainability and local food, how local food affects tourists’ perceived sustainability, service experience, satisfaction, and advocacy is little known. This paper contributes to filling this research gap by examining the relationship between local food and sustainability at Spanish destinations within the transformative service theoretical framework. We conducted a questionnaire on 1476 Spanish tourists to show that service experience, perceived sustainability, and local food, are fundamental to any tourist destination strategy. Data reveal that perceived sustainability is a determining factor of tourists’ service experience at the destination, and the perception of local food reinforces perceived sustainability. Moreover, tourists’ service experience significantly and positively affects satisfaction and, consequently, advocacy. The significance of safe experience as an additional dimension of the service experience is also shown. This paper contributes to the transformative service literature in the field of tourism by demonstrating the enhancing role of local food over visitors’ sustainable experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major motivation for international travel is to experience cross-cultural interactions. Such interactions may occur outside the typical travel milieus. They can even take place prior to the actual travel to impact travel intentions. This paper focuses on cross-cultural encounters between the members of a community and the diaspora from a potential host destination who live among them. The research investigates the willingness of individuals in the community to travel to the diaspora members' home country for the first time after having established relationships with them. Affect control theory and relational exchange theory are incorporated into a structural equation model to examine these relationships – focusing on natives of India living in the United States. The study identifies individual warmth and trust formed between the Indian diaspora and their American acquaintances as highly significant factors that could impact the latter's travel intentions – that is, the willingness of Americans who have not visited India to consider traveling there to further experience the Indian culture. The study provides insights into sustaining the diaspora communities' cultural identities and underscores their intuitive role as cultural ambassadors outside their countries of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper ascertains how small accommodation firms can contribute to sustainability by creating shared value (CSV) through adapting their product. A sequential mixed methods approach was adopted including interviews with small accommodation providers and an online survey from domestic leisure tourists. Results demonstrate that adapting the accommodation product through implementing local food initiatives and messages positively influences guests’ sustainable behaviour through their willingness to purchase local food, resulting in value creation for various stakeholders including local community and businesses in the region. Adapting the product will also increase guests’ satisfaction with their stay, yielding economic profits for the accommodation providers. Nevertheless, fostering a supportive environment through institutional systems and inter-firm relations is crucial for CSV to function as an effective strategy for these small firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introduction to the special issue, we identify the key tensions underpinning the challenge of developing indicators of sustainable tourism, and use the papers submitted to the special issue to exemplify these tensions. The paper questions why it is that we need to measure sustainable tourism, the risk of becoming too focussed on measurement itself and losing sight of what is really important to sustainability. We consider who it is that should be undertaking the measurement of sustainable tourism and offer evidence of the way that societal power can be rebalanced by the kind of research inclusivity that controlling data collection brings. Determining the spatial boundaries has been a long-held tension between wanting data specificity and achieving wider comparability and engagement from policy makers and other stakeholders, while technological and methodological advances may allow for more progress to be made in addressing the weaknesses of measuring sustainable tourism. The paper questions whether indicators have led to any significant policy change, or whether the changes that have come are the result of indicators serving to create more sustainably literate stakeholders, more informed discussions and so a climate more receptive to taking decisions in support of a more sustainable tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper aims to identify and explore the interlinkages between sustainable tourism research and the study of economics with the goal of identifying main themes and gaps in the economics of sustainable tourism. It contributes to identifying the unique perspective that economics has contributed and can still contribute towards the sustainable tourism discourse. This review article retrieved and analysed 5593 papers using scientometric analysis. The findings indicate that economic theory and/or methods have had a clear influence on some, but not all clusters of sustainable tourism research. Clusters that are dominated by economic theory and methods include economic growth, climate change, the sharing economy and evolutionary framework. Current themes in economics, including migration, declining labour shares and rising inequality have not attracted attention in sustainable tourism research. Additionally, a much clearer focus on inter- and intragenerational effects, shadow prices and dealing with externalities deserves further scrutiny. Gaps also exist in terms of laboratory studies, field experimental studies and the application of behavioural economics. This article also launches the special issue – the Economics of Sustainable Tourism – which includes ten blind-peer-reviewed papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAlthough gender and sustainability have been topics of discussion in international discourse since 1980, little has been done to connect the two. While one of the United Nations Sustainable Goals UNSDGs (5) places a strong emphasis on gender equality, the sustainable tourism paradigm fails to examine it from a social perspective. This paper examines the relationships between gender, religion and tourism and makes the case for the creation of travel destinations that uphold gender equity. The research employs narrative interviews conducted with Muslim women while travelling in the UK to explore how their travel experiences are influenced by their gender and religion. This is a field work study based on in-depth interviews with 21 participants who shared their behaviour, perceptions and feelings related to their trip. The results demonstrate that gender and religion influence the views and experiences of female Muslim tourists in the UK and indicate qualities that female Muslim tourists may seek in a destination that are consistent with their Muslim identity. The results also point to some positive and transformative learning that endured after the trip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the tourism industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes in international travel. This paper draws on interviews with 51 women working in the tourism sector in Tanzania and examines gendered impacts of the pandemic on their welfare, which instigated or accelerated entrepreneurial activities as an attempt to protect women's incomes and security. Women in the study adopted one of three entrepreneurial strategies: they (re)committed to the tourism industry, working on developing their own skills and business ideas; they diversified their business interests to have a 'Plan B' in addition to tourism to safeguard against future crises; or they moved away from tourism altogether, focusing instead on other less volatile sectors. The crisis caused by the pandemic exposed tourism as a risky business and a gamble for many women, who are considering leaving the sector. This represents a significant obstacle for the tourism industry's recovery and sustainability and illustrates some of the limitations of tourism entrepreneurship for supporting and empowering women in the Global South. Priority policy areas for supporting women to remain within tourism are identified to help support women entrepreneurs and ensure their skills and enthusiasm contribute to rebuilding and reshaping the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper adds to the theoretical exploration of inter-organisational pro-environmental knowledge transfer in small and medium sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs). It does so by focusing on the role of trust, a concept which has received only scant attention in this context. Drawing on theoretical and empirical research, we argue that the willingness of SMTE managers to engage in the transference of pro-environmental tacit knowledge is based on their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, coupled with the perceived trustworthiness of both the message and social actors involved. It remains a challenge for SMTE managers to receive, absorb and respond to appropriate pro-environmental knowledge, based on organisational needs. The paper makes an important contribution to the work on pro-environmental knowledge transfer in tourism by proposing a model of four key antecedents of trust in the knowledge transfer process – self- efficacy, social norms, credibility of knowledge source and social capital between actors. We identify a future research agenda including the need to assess the weighted impact of each antecedent of trust; establish the influence of tourism networks on trust formation and development; and explore if peer perception intervenes in tacit knowledge transfer between pro-active and reactive SMTE managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper presents an integrative review of how social marketing principles and practices have been conceptualised and applied in tourism studies. A systematic literature search was conducted, which found 41 relevant tourism-related journal articles published from 1971 to January 2024. Thirty-six articles self-identified as social marketing, while five studies did not self-identify as social marketing. Findings show most tourism studies conceptualise social marketing from a downstream or micro- perspective, seeking to influence behaviour change in individual tourists. Studies applying an upstream or systems perspective in tourism are rare, indicating opportunities for future research in tourism to align approaches with contemporary social marketing practice. Often theory and model use are not reported, making it challenging to identify the requisite key success factors for effective social marketing interventions. Not only are the impacts of interventions rarely documented, but they also tend to be short-term. Long-term evaluation of interventions, particularly at the macro-level, is missing. A model of social marketing application in tourism is suggested that integrates approaches across the downstream, community, upstream, and macro- levels. Implications for further utilisation of social marketing to achieve sustainable tourism are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many historic and post-industrial cities, tourism is often positioned as an important component for urban regeneration. Yet, the promise of sustainability and social transformation is often empty as policymakers focus on sustaining tourism over supporting greater social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the pandemic has drawn attention to the unsustainable nature of the neoliberal model of tourism engagement. Due to the paucity of research exploring spatial injustice in urban tourism, this study examines the impact policymaking and governance structures have on urban destinations and the potential inequalities this creates. Drawing on Edward Soja’s approach to Lefebvre’s The Right to the City (1968), this research explores how lessons learned during the pandemic in the tourist-historic city of York, UK, could transform tourism in historic urban spaces. Taking an interpretive case study approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with leading stakeholders to understand the spatial dimensions of the lived experiences of policymaking. The hopeful signs emerging from York’s response to the pandemic demonstrate how communities can reclaim voice to build sustainable and purposeful models of engagement. This paper contributes to our understanding by demonstrating the transformative potential that future policymaking could have for reducing the negative impacts of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy oceans are of great importance in achieving global sustainability, and are thus identified as one of the core Sustainable Development Goals in 'Life below Water' (SDG 14). However, at present, we still face a significant challenge in achieving lay understanding of the influence of the oceans on our lives and the impacts of our behaviour on it. As a key interface, marine ecotourism can support the development of place-based ocean literacy, but this can only be achieved through 'effective partnerships' (SDG 17). This paper examines how stakeholder collaboration can contribute to increased ocean literacy through empirical work on scuba diving in Mallorca, Spain. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted with divers and other key stakeholders (operators, scientists, government, NGOs, and professional associations). Adopting stakeholder models based on pentahelix opportunities for collaboration we analyse the current challenges. The study identified a sector which currently lacks effective partnerships: there is limited systematic transfer of knowledge; staff are poorly trained in interpretation and communication skills; there is weak industry collaboration; and the sector is neglected in government tourism strategy. Consequently, the current structure fails to connect divers to marine issues in the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, suitable conditions for developing effective partnerships are present: motivated staff and suitable facilities; interested authorities; an active network of knowledge production; and a vigilant society. This paper proposes a multi-stakeholder structure to put place-based ocean literacy into practice in order to contribute to the aspirations of improved global ocean awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many ways, the expansion of commercial for-profit, P2P social dining platforms has mirrored those within mobility and accommodation sectors. However its dynamics and impacts have received less consideration to date, with a notable paucity of attention to the hosts of social dining events. The aim of this paper is to address this research lacuna. Through its exploration of the social dining platforms VizEat in Athens and Eatwith in Barcelona, this paper identifies, analyses and compares the social practices of hosts around their social dining events in two key tourist destinations in Europe. Data is gathered through multiple methods from participating in and observing social dining events in each city to interviews with key stakeholders in the P2P social dining process (such as hosts, platform employees and ambassadors). The research reveals how dynamic rules, tools, skills and understandings shape and reshape the performance of hosting social dining events. It exposes tensions and ongoing negotiations between hosts and guests regarding matters of authenticity and privacy, an uneven risk burden between hosts and platforms with regards liability and scant regard for matters of sustainability. As a result there is little alignment between P2P social dining and the goals of sustainable tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The hotel industry is increasingly developing voluntary measures to tackle waste generation, but they fall short of the problems faced by municipal waste services in many tourist destinations. This paper exemplifies how a collaboratively designed waste tariff reform for hotels in a tourism-intensive municipality can achieve a sustainable waste management system through stronger collective action, involving not only the hotel sector but also the city council and waste management companies. The co-created Pay-As-You-Throw tariff meets the demands of the stakeholders by establishing a progressive waste charge that penalizes hotels based on their waste generation intensity, defined as the ratio between waste flows and size. In addition, a competition system is introduced by imposing penalties (or rewards) according to whether the waste generation intensity is above (or below) the sector average during the settlement period, incentivizing waste prevention, recycling and encouraging long-term investment in sustainable waste management. The tariff is consistent with the principles of the EU’s Circular Economy Package and offers hotels a competitive advantage, while ensuring a progressive waste charging system and waste management cost recovery. Empirical results of the co-created tariff show a reduction in waste generation intensity and signs of increased recycling rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commodification of hot spring bathing reflects a diversification of alternative modalities for healing and leisure. It also presents challenges for the development of sustainable tourism. However, whether and how tourist activities generate environmental challenges at hot spring destinations has received scant attention from scholars. Situated in the increasing contributions that practice theories make to tourism and sustainability studies, this paper argues that a practice theoretical perspective is essential for understanding the escalating demand for hot spring water and resources at tourist destinations. Employing ethnographic approaches in a hot spring town in China, we identify three patterns of hot spring bathing performances: public foot bathing in the town square, commodified bathing in resort hotels, and private bathing in households or B&B rooms. The (re)configurations of cultural conventions, tourist facilities, socially shared knowledge and skills across spaces produce alternative patterns of water consumption. The co-existence of multiple ways of performing hot spring bathing brings to the fore the complexities of sustainability issues in tourism, going beyond infrastructural efficiency or tourist values. The paper concludes in elaborating on how practice theories and studies of tourist bathing benefit each other, and could inform policy interventions for sustainable tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced employment in the Spanish tourism sector from a gender perspective and aims to infer its impact on sustainability. We use employment data from 2002 (Q1) to 2020 (Q4) on women and men in the Spanish hospitality sector and employ fractional integration methods to determine the temporary scope of the shock. Our results suggest that the impact of the pandemic will have a permanent effect, unless strong policy measures are adopted to resume pre-crisis trends. We also found that persistence is higher for women's than for men's employment. Therefore, women seem to be more vulnerable to the shocks of COVID-19, making sustainable development of tourism in Spain more difficult. Based on our results, we offer policy recommendations to counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality and tourism sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the roles sustainable tourism indicators (STIs) play in policy making processes at destination level through a three-dimensional framework: 1) instrumental (direct use of information for decision-making), 2) conceptual (awareness raising) and 3) symbolic (legitimate decisions). The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) is taken as a reference system as the only common framework developed by the European Commission to measure and monitor tourism sustainability. Our empirical research follows a three-step approach. Firstly, we analysed ETIS to investigate its potential to be linked to tourism policy. Secondly, we took Zuid Limburg, the Netherlands as a case study, to assess the role of ETIS pilot implementation at the destination. Finally, we performed a comparative analysis of 11 destinations that have tested ETIS, to better frame the weight of the indicator roles in local policy making processes. We conclude that so far the STIs developed within ETIS have had limited instrumental and symbolic use, while their conceptual role, related to the social learning process resulting from their implementation, can be considered a pre-condition for other roles to emerge. Moreover, the indicators' role within policy making is closely linked to the specific governance context, influencing and being influenced by it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a project involving the design, application, and monitoring of tourism indicators for the sustainable management of local destinations. The aim is to assess the tourism management of destinations and to identify the main drivers of, and barriers to, sustainable management, through: a quantitative assessment based on indicator calculations to assess the degree of sustainability of the destination; and a qualitative assessment through in-depth interviews with the destinations' managers to assess the performance of tourism management. Results reveal that in recent years the majority of destinations have defined strategic tourism plans; the provision of accessible tourist resources and products has increased; more tourists use public transport; policies to minimize light and noise have expanded; and more beaches and ports have been awarded the blue flag symbol. Despite these improvements, a general decrease in traditional economic variables is identified (e.g. spending per tourist, and average length of stay), as well as in certified accommodation (e.g. DGQA, EMAS, EU Ecolabel and Biosphere). Time constraints and limited human and technical resources are the main obstacles to the introduction of more long-term, sustainable planned measures. However, the research shows that improvements are achieved when local managers receive support from higher-level public bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is a hot topic in our current society, and its effective measurement continues to be a challenge for researchers and practitioners. This issue is especially important, and at the same time delicate, in tourist destinations, where the interests of very diverse stakeholders intersect. In this paper, a novel combination of methodologies is proposed to treat this problem comprehensively. This methodology includes a) the identification of the interest groups, as well as the determination of the relationships between them; b) the collection and treatment of their opinions on the sustainability of the destination; and c) incorporating these opinions into a method for constructing composite sustainability indicators. The method used also incorporates two interesting features. On the one hand, it allows considering limits (or targets) for the different indicators considered. On the other hand, it allows the construction of synthetic indicators with different compensation levels, in accordance with the weak and strong sustainability paradigms. For illustrative purposes, the methodology is applied to the Costa del Sol (Spain), making use of a pre-existing system of indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is based on territorial intelligence (TI) and its application to the sustainability of tourist destinations. The TI focus is viewed as being suited to dealing with the problems of tourist destinations, as well as the integrating nature of different aspects of their reality. The aim of this research is to design a System of Smart Coastal Destination Indicators (SD-Coast) that allows the level achieved by a destination to be measured and a comparison in time and space to be made. The selected study scope comprises 14 destinations on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The tool proposed for the evaluation of territorial intelligence in coastal destinations is based on the generation of standards that enable the measurement and explanation of variables to be clearly delineated. For this purpose, 30 indicators are considered, covered by six dimensions (Smart Governance, Smart Environment, Universal Access, Smart Business, Smart Technology and Smart Innovation). What most coastal destinations have in common is specialisation in technological advances and the respective application of these advances to long-term sustainability. Yet the municipalities in question are far from being considered a shining example in terms of accessibility or governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diverse forms of environmental problems pose a serious threat to the natural environment. Environmental sustainability is the foremost topic in the contemporary tourism and hospitality industry. Environmentally-sustainable consumer behavior is an important aspect of environmental protection, which eventually benefits the society. In order to better understand environmentally-sustainable consumption and promote environmentally responsible consumer behavior, this research provides a sound conceptualization of environmentally-sustainable consumer behavior, and presents a systematic review and perspective on theories (theory of reasoned action, norm activation theory, theory of planned behavior, model of goal-directed behavior, and value-belief-norm theory) established in tourism and environmental psychology. In addition, this study introduces the essential drivers of environmentally-sustainable consumer behavior (green image, pro-environmental behavior in everyday life, environmental knowledge, green product attachment, descriptive social norm, anticipated pride and guilt, environmental corporate social responsibility, perceived effectiveness, connectedness to nature, and green value). Lastly, this paper provides the values of the latest studies on the special issue of environmental sustainability and consumer behavior in tourism and hospitality. This study as an introductory paper along with other articles in this special section help enable a collaboration platform across tourism and hospitality fields in pursuit of universal goals for promoting pro-environmental consumption and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism sector is often characterized by precarious working conditions. With the aim of promoting sustainable business practices and addressing labour concerns, many tourism service providers are keen to set and enforce sustainability standards in their value chains. However, there is a contested debate on the local impacts of voluntary standards. This paper focuses on tourism labour and investigates how sustainability standards can contribute to capability building and social upgrading processes at the firm-level. It argues that most research on sustainability standards has analysed the "visible" outcomes of standard implementations while a process-based perspective is largely missing. The paper addresses this gap through a novel approach and makes both theoretical and empirical contributions. Conceptually, it integrates the dynamic capabilities approach into global value chain (GVC) research. This enhances current conceptualisations of capabilities and the understanding of upgrading processes within GVCs. Empirically, the paper investigates the South African standard "Fair Trade in Tourism" through a longitudinal, mixed-methods research design that extended over a period of eight years. The findings show how sustainability standards in tourism can contribute to capability building and upgrading at the firm-level. The paper concludes by arguing that policy makers should better resource local standard-setting organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares two Arctic cruise destinations – Ísafjörður in Iceland, and Qaqortoq in Greenland – focusing on stakeholders' perceptions of the sustainability of cruise tourism, and how they are managing the development of the industry in the context of imbalances in power between place-bound local stakeholders and global cruise lines. Drawing on interviews with local stakeholders, the paper argues that destination development stage and the relative importance of land-based tourism frame the ways in which stakeholders perceive the sustainability of cruise tourism. While there were differences in the emphasis placed on environmental, socio-cultural and economic aspects of sustainability in each destination, there were similarities in the ways in which stakeholders conceptualised relations between the different aspects in terms of trade-offs and competition, together with a lack of a holistic perspective and concern about economic dependence on global cruise lines. The findings suggest that intergovernmental agreements are needed to address regulatory issues and that national coordination may help to improve collaboration between destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper explores theoretical linkages between scientific tourism and sustainability outcomes within indigenous communities. Drawing on sustainability science, boundary work theory, indigenous knowledge, and decolonial frameworks, we present a typology of scientific tourism situations mapped according to the degree in which they allow co-production of solutions that combine indigenous and scientific knowledge. This paper is based on the premise that co-produced solutions are essential for sustainability outcomes and they require effective boundary organizations capable of translating and coordinating across cultural paradigms. Two approaches to scientific tourism that can facilitate sustainability outcomes, particularly in indigenous communities, are proposed. The first approach is endogenous to the academy and requires cognition of knowledge plurality and researcher reflexivity. The second is exogenous to the academy and entails boundary organizations as well as tools and strategies necessary for horizontal co-production. Implications for future scholarship on scientific tourism in marginalized and/or global south communities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conceptualizes labour mobility in the tourism and hospitality industry within the context of a developing country. Previous conceptualizations of labour mobility in the tourism and hospitality industry are unable to adequately represent specific economic and socio-cultural settings that may shape the mobility of tourism and hospitality labour in non-western developing countries. Interview data for the study on which this paper is based were collected from Kathmandu, Nepal in two phases in 2015/2016 and 2019, and analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. The study identifies a pervasive phenomenon of 'necessity-induced (im)mobility' that either discourages or encourages mobility among tourism and hospitality workers. Several factors highlighted by this study show that the way mobility is perceived and executed by tourism and hospitality workers in developing counties, such as Nepal, is in stark contrast to how it is perceived in western and developed nations. This study has also identified several issues that may have implications for the sustainable supply of qualified labour (with higher education qualifications and skills) in the tourism and hospitality industry, particularly in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domains of transport and tourism exist and operate together and apart from one another. They have complex, interesting but also largely unsustainable relationships. Despite this, research into sustainable tourism has often focused on that which is stationary, without due consideration of the wide-ranging implications of tourism-mobilities. Conventional conceptualisations of tourism-transport are often limited to the tourist's travel to, and occasionally around, tourism destinations – neglecting the various ways that actors, objects and policies are all (made) mobile. As an introduction to the special issue on 'Innovative Approaches to Sustainable Transport, Mobilities and Tourism', this paper adopts a broad framing of innovation to encourage research in new directions. After thinking through the role of innovation in sustainable tourism-transport, the paper points to some key, inter-related themes in transport and mobilities; dominant mobility systems (auto/aero-mobilities), the sustainable mobility paradigm and mobility justice. Following this, a number of potential research themes are identified which may help to galvanise sustainable tourism-transport scholarship: first, where, why, for whom, and with what implications immobilities occur in tourism-transport; second, tourism-transport beyond anthropocentrism; third, the social embeddedness of technological innovations; and fourth, intersections of work and labour for tourism-transport. These directions – and others besides - may contribute to, and potentially accelerate, transitions towards tourism-transport sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Favourable media coverage and the New Zealand space agency's focus on commercial opportunities, positioned within the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment that is also responsible for tourism, provides a basis for a developing space tourism industry. There are many possible environmental, cultural, and geo-political consequences to being a space launch state with implications for tourism, sustainability, and tourism branding. The '100% PURE NEW ZEALAND' tourism brand in use since 1999 has received on-going criticism from various sources in response to reports of wide-spread environmental degradation in New Zealand, dairy farm conversions causing nitrate run-off and contamination of waterways, and New Zealand's comparatively high per-capita level of greenhouse gas emissions. The establishment of commercial space launch operations, and the ancillary industrial and service facilities required, opens a new dimension of environmental hazard for New Zealand that has not been considered in the space launch legislation, or any other existing legislation, for regulating the environmental impact of rocket powered high altitude and space vehicles. This paper will examine the environmental, cultural, geopolitical and regulatory issues for New Zealand as a space launch state, and the likely implications for sustainable tourism, tourism branding, and New Zealand as a space tourism destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whale watching has long been marketed as a whale conservation-oriented form of sustainable tourism. However, inappropriate management practices are endangering whales, the marine environment, and the tourist experience. This situation highlights the need for more responsible and sustainable actions to reconcile whale protection with the various demands of tourists. This paper analyses consumers' preferences for socially responsible and green solutions for sustainable whale-watching management in tourism. A discrete choice experiment and a latent class segmentation are utilised to evaluate heterogeneity in tourists' preferences regarding the implementation of various measures of responsible sustainability by the whale-watching firm. Results show that there are two groups of tourists with different preferences and economic values for sustainability policies: sustainability-oriented (34.96%) and consumption-oriented tourists (65.04%). The group of sustainability-oriented tourists have a greater preference for full corporate social responsibility and technologically innovative solutions for locating whale populations, thereby reducing the ecological and environmental impacts. The group of consumption-oriented tourists is more in line with traditional preferences, focusing on the enjoyment of the whale-watching experience through the effective management of crowding effects. Although the sustainability-oriented tourist segment has a smaller market share, the results suggest that there is market potential for increasing responsible sustainability practices in the whale-watching tourism activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts to address undesirable behaviors that trigger backpacker-community conflict have overlooked the nexus between perceived skills development and behavioral enactments. This paper argues that the resolution of the backpacker-community conflict would require greater attention to a win-win exchange process based on sustainable development. It employs both Acquisition-Transaction Utility Theory and Social Exchange Theory to examine the relationship between backpacker perceived skill development during travel and their (un)sustainable behaviors to separate mutually beneficial behaviors from self-centered behavioral outcomes. A novel approach to backpacking literature is applied to investigate the (un)sustainable behaviors that drive the backpackers' perceived skills development. We also uniquely assess the influence of gender and nationality behavioral differences on perceived skills acquisition given the recognized heterogeneity of backpackers. Based on a survey of 400 backpackers in a developing country, the rigorous quantitative analysis showed evidence of a principal-agent problem (i.e. community-backpacker problem) that could be resolved through backpackers advancing sustainable community-centered behaviors. Consequently, this study extends social science theories by formulating a model that addresses a sustainable collective gain of the backpacking exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I provide a critical discussion of gender intersectionality and its relevance for sustainability in tourism, focusing on the intersection between gender and race. I argue that Black women in tourism suffer from a double negation caused by both sexism and racism, but this has received little acknowledgement or critical discussion in studies of sustainable tourism. However, an intersectional approach to gender is vital as it rejects reductionist views of women's experiences in tourism and the attendant power relationships that such an approach (re)produces. I argue that it is through a critical understanding of the importance of an intersectional approach to gender that we can move closer to achieving equity in the development of tourism. My discussion is theoretically underpinned by critical race theory (CRT) and the related logics of Black feminism which I use to highlight the (re)presentation of Black women in tourism. Methodologically I draw on the storytelling technique popularised in CRT to analyse a fictional film – 'Heading South', to explore Black women's elision as agentic beings as well as their (re)presentation as vulnerable and submissive. I argue that such (re)presentations of Black women in tourism popular cultural narratives have material implications for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's tourism entrepreneurship has been identified as fundamental to meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals of both 'gender equality' and 'decent growth and economic growth' but neither entrepreneurship nor sustainability are gender neutral in the tourism industry. Therefore, further research is required into how gender influences sustainable entrepreneurship, providing insights for tourism entrepreneurship policy. In response to a prevalent essentialism in much of the literature, this paper adopts a post-structuralist framework, alongside a mixed-methods approach, to understand the complex role of gender and sustainability at different stages of entrepreneurship. The initial focus is on a survey of 539 tourism students (women and men) which analyses the latent and nascent entrepreneurship stages, while 19 interviews with established tourism entrepreneurs provide further insights into these issues. The analysis focusses especially on the individual characteristics of risk, personal attitudes to entrepreneurship and behavioural control. While broad gender differences are observed, notably in societal perceptions of risk aversion, there is also considerable blurring of the approaches of established entrepreneurs in particular to sustainability and entrepreneurship. If entrepreneurship is to enhance sustainability, policy needs to account for the non-essentialised gendered dimensions that inhibit and enable sustainable tourism entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attendance of Renaissance festival (Faire), an event that recreates historic medieval living, is motivated by identification within a subculture and a strong sense of belonging, providing an interesting insight into the role of culture in influencing pro-sustainability consumption behaviors. This paper compares at home sustainable consumption practices with sustainable consumption travel behaviors within the Renaissance serious leisure community to determine the role social norms play in sustainable consumption behavior. Using a framework that compares normative (routines) and self-enhancing (habits) sustainability behaviors, evidence supports that demographics, specifically levels of education and gender, positively impact sustainable consumption behaviors, and that social norms positively affect Faire visitation. However, while Faire visitation does not affect normative behavior either at home nor while traveling, it does influence self-enhancing sustainability behavior negatively. Finally, social norms, mediated by Faire visitation, indirectly impact self-enhancing behavior both at home and when traveling. While the cultural ethos of festival communities could foster sustainable living more broadly, results suggest that Faire attendance seemed to undermine the likelihood of being sustainable elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how visitor travel-mode choices to festivals are formed and how sustainable travel could be encouraged. The empirical analysis focuses on Hay Festival of Literature and Arts using semi-structured interviews with visitors. Themes and topics explored through the interviews were informed by theories of travel behaviour. Findings highlight a range of external and internal factors influencing visitor travel-mode choices, which are closely interrelated. External factors reflect environmental elements related to the location and type of overnight accommodation, festival location, travel time and quality of public transport services. Internal factors include autonomy in travelling different routes and times, travelling with young children, cost of travel and physical-health and mobility issues. An additional internal factor was routine use of the car and extension of this behaviour when travelling to the festival. Based on the consolidation of the empirical findings, this paper also proposes a new theoretical framework for capturing a more comprehensive understanding of event related travel decisions. To encourage further sustainable travel, festival organisers and policy makers should not only focus exclusively on travel time and cost but consider a wider array of factors that are unique to festivals and their geographic locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an empirical application of some recent developments in the social science of sustainability to understanding sustainable transport behaviour. We analyse talk about holidaymaking taken from interviews with self-defined "eco" or "sustainable" tourists. The focus of this paper explores the ways in which participants understand and reconcile the potential conflict of air transport and the notion of sustainable holidays. We identify a number of discursive strategies participants used to project and maintain positive self-representations in the context of complex, often incompatible constructions of sustainability derived from this particular dilemma. Such strategies are considered as concrete examples of the psychosocial organisation of denial and thus offer discursive barriers to sustainable transport futures. However, the analysis also demonstrates the ways in which some individuals were able to resist or challenge such forms of socially organised denial. The potential implications of these discursive barriers and strategies for sustainable transport futures and the tourism sector are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a grounded theory to explain why some small businesses in tourism adopt sustainable business practices while others do not, even when they share environmental and wider sustainability concerns. It does so based on research undertaken among business owners in Crete. The paper starts by considering studies on sustainability awareness, knowledge and the mechanisms for accepting responsibility. Secondly, it summarises the influence of task difficulty and effort on sustainability self-efficacy. Thirdly, it focuses on social comparisons and vicarious experiences, as a way of learning what is important. Finally, it examines powerlessness due to perceived situational constraints. In so doing, the study finds that self-efficacy helps to explain sustainable attitude formation and the attitude-behaviour gap; it partly shifts the locus of responsibility for an inability to act sustainably away from the individual and towards their context. The paper contributes to the theoretical literature on small businesses and sustainability, and leads to new avenues for policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages the "culture gap" in the sustainable tourism literature by addressing issues of cultural sustainability through an investigation of traditional festivals in Bhutan. Cultural sightseeing is the major motivation for tourism to Bhutan, and religious festivals are among the primary contexts within which local people and tourists interact. Tourism brings forces of modernization and globalization into contact with traditional practices, with various consequences. Based primarily on on-site observation of religious festivals, and interviews with Bhutanese monks and abbots, this paper explores the incursion of modernization into traditional festivals. Bauman's concept of "liquid modernity" is applied to articulate the intertwining of traditional and modern practices and frames of reference in constantly changing ways. This leads to a critical discussion of how the case of Bhutan's festivals reveals the necessity of seeing cultural sustainability in fluid and evolutionary terms, especially in our "liquid modern" times. Foreign tourists and local youth are identified as particular agents of liquid modernism in the religious festivals, bringing perspectives and behaviors that diverge from those of the traditional society within which the meaning and practices of these festivals are rooted, which in turn affects the performance and performers of the dances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-disaster tourism is often perceived as a form of Dark Tourism associated with death, loss and destruction. In Japan, the term Dark Tourism has gained prominence following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. This paper focuses on a community-led approach to post-disaster tourism development, initiated in the coastal area of Minamisanriku and labelled by the locals Blue Tourism. From its inception Blue Tourism incorporated non-dark activities which concentrated on the beauty of nature, social and environmental sustainability and the development of an enriched tourist experience. Its co-creational ethos helped transform some of the negative narratives of loss associated with Dark Tourism into positive accounts of communal renewal and hope. The paper highlights the limitations of Dark Tourism to post-disaster recovery and contributes new insights to the community-based tourism literature. We argue that Blue Tourism is not a type of Dark Tourism but a form of resilience which builds around local place-based practices and traditional community knowledge. Consequently, it is capable of achieving sustainable disaster recovery and tourist satisfaction simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between tourism and climate change is reciprocal. The effects of climate change on tourism are undeniable. However, tourism and climate change are complex and cross-cutting phenomena that enter policy agendas at different moments and with different discourses. This paper analyses the coherence between the policy domains of climate and tourism at the formulation stage of the policy process, focusing on national and regional government levels and the key touristic offer in Spain - that of sun, sea and sand. The proposed method analyses three dimensions within policy documents: frame significance, policy scope and connotation. Results reveal the imbalance between the two policy domains; the lack of concrete actions and stable mechanisms for achieving greater coherence; and the different conceptions of the issue. The paper considers the causal relationships between tourism and climate change, the consequences of mutual impacts, and the temporal dimension of problem framing. This research brings together three fields of knowledge - tourism, climate change and public policies - and suggests enhancing coherence between tourism and climate policies in order to address the sustainability of tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines stakeholder engagement in the collaborative marketing of community-based tourism enterprises (CBTEs). The study explored the various collaborative marketing approaches shaped by diverse stakeholders’ perspectives on ways to achieve the sustainable development of CBTEs in Vietnam. The results of 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews from three CBTEs in Vietnam showed that three collaborative marketing approaches were prevailed among CBTE stakeholders and were categorised as commercial viability-driven, community development-driven and balanced approaches. The approaches’ differences were reflected in the marketing objectives to achieve CBTE sustainability, the central linkages of CBTE collaborative marketing, and the facilitators of stakeholder collaboration. The research found a knowledge gap between researchers and research participants and divergent perspectives among different categories of research participants regarding marketing and CBTE sustainability. This paper implies the role of a knowledge co-production approach to drive the stakeholder engagement in CBTE collaborative marketing for CBTEs’ long-term success. Additionally, this study provides insights into the discussion of marketing for sustainable tourism. Furthermore, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the collaborative approach at the organisational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Te Awa Tupua is an ancestor of the Māori people of Whanganui, and is also the Whanganui River, who in 2017 was formally recognised as a person. While legally conferring personhood upon an element of nature is relatively novel, it recognises a fundamental principle of indigeneity, that all things—human and nonhuman—are related. We explore intersections of peace, justice, and sustainability through Indigenous tourism in case studies of three Māori tourism enterprises on Te Awa Tupua (the Whanganui River). Our paper spotlights three findings. First, that treaty settlements elevate the status of Māori knowledge and contain elements of peace-making and economy-making as decolonising projects of self-determined development. Second, while indigeneity is foundational, we found that syncretism is evident in the sustainability of Māori tourism enterprises. Third, we uncovered a socioecological dissonance in attitudes towards commercial growth, with Māori tourism enterprises opting for slower and lower growth in favour of environmental and community wellbeing. We propose a model of Indigenous tourism called kaupapa tāpoi. We conclude by suggesting that reconciling differences in viewpoints on sustainability and growth between Māori and non-Māori tourism enterprises will require involvement of several institutional actors, starting with Te Awa Tupua. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the neglect of an employment or workforce focus in policy engagement and planning for sustainable tourism. Tourism is of interest here because there is an established role for government and the private sector in policy engagement and strategic planning with respect to product development, infrastructure, marketing and human resource capacity and the focus has increasingly emphasised sustainable goals within this process. The discussion addresses the central role of people and work within concepts of sustainability and sustainable communities and questions why this has been, substantially, ignored in tourism. The paper starts by recognising the interconnectedness of employment in tourism and its workforce concerns with a wide range of inter-linked policy and operational considerations. This, in turn, points to the utility of the sustainable HRM model as a means by which to frame tourism work. Thereafter, this paper introduces new approaches through the proposal of sustainability indicators that have both theoretical and practical policy formation value in relation to the workforce. These sustainable employment capacity, service delivery capacity and service quality capacity with which policy-makers can gauge their readiness for sustainable growth in tourism employment. The research and application implications for this approach are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the prevalence of sustainability discourses across the Global North, for the majority of people abstract issues of sustainability often have a low salience with the realities of travel choices. Researchers examining sustainable tourism recognise that any changes resulting in sustainable performance are likely to come about as a result of shifts in everyday highly routinised social practices, relations and socio-technical structures. Attending to these debates, this paper examines relations between social practice, sustainability and tourism through the rise in foraging tourism in the United Kingdom. Using evidence from interviews and media analysis detailing perspectives of foraging course leaders and attendees, alongside participant observation, the paper records the ways in which foraging experiences are negotiated and accomplished in commercial contexts and what participants “do” with the ideas and practices post-experience. By engaging with debates surrounding the meanings of sustainable tourism, the paper extends understanding of these concepts through the identification of foraging tourism as a facilitator in rethinking everyday practice and discourse. The paper ends by evaluating the potentials of tourism in facilitating sustainable performance and discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated sustainability indicators for tourism (ISIT) address tourism as an element of both economic and socio-ecological systems and as actively integrated in multi-level policy-making and planning. This paper aims to review studies of ISIT in peer-reviewed journals with a focus on methodological approaches. By specifically examining ISIT, this study embraces the interdisciplinary nature of both sustainability science and tourism studies. The results are based on a systematic literature review and categorization of the studies’ academic disciplines, methods and organization of indicators. The results reveal that despite being a relatively young area of study, research on ISIT has developed simultaneously across multiple academic disciplines, and is expanding. There seems to be greater interest in developing new methodologies than applying existing indicator frameworks. Most papers refer to indicators thematically and thus discuss tourism separately in the contexts of environmental, social or economic impact. However, emerging approaches analyze tourism as a system of interconnected components and an element of multi-level policy-making. These approaches emphasize public participation and a continuous redefinition of sustainability challenges in response to changes in socio-ecological systems. Current research on ISIT thus focuses on the interconnectedness of indicators and sustainable development as a dynamic process rather than an end goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its 2013 Green Park Plan, the US National Park Service (NPS) has sought to achieve more sustainable operations at park level. However, a history of top-down governance, research aversion, contentious community relationships, and a move towards neoliberal governance has created numerous challenges to operationalising the sustainability agenda. Using comparative case study methodology, this paper approaches sustainability through a five-pillar framework that incorporates the economy, environment, society, good governance and sound science. Data from three very different parks, and from the newly formed Division of Climate Change and Sustainability at Park Headquarters, is presented. Using the National Mall in Washington, DC, Shenandoah in Virginia, and Big Bend in Texas, the paper highlights many successful sustainability initiatives. A number of serious problems remain, however, including lack of funding, the slow working budget cycle, the need for inter-park knowledge sharing, the need for behavioural change at both national and local management levels, issues surrounding the “whiteness” of the visitor mix, and the nature of park visitation, where driving remains the primary transportation mode. Overall, neo-liberalism is placing increased emphasis on concessionaires to encourage sustainable operations, distancing NPS from its core visitor base and encouraging rising visitation levels with their associated impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using the theoretical lens of social capital, this paper examines the role of small tourist food businesses and their impact on the sustainability of the destination and local food supply chains. The paper analyses the experiences of small business owner-managers highlighting the complex and subtle nature of the socially responsible strategies used to progress sustainability in a tourist destination. The findings show that authentic lifestyles, motivated by intrinsic not just extrinsic rewards, are driving disruptive social change upstream and downstream in the tourist food supply chain. Small food business owner-managers are catalysts for “common” good, and as supporters for ethical and sustainable food chains have considerable local tourism influence and impact. Social capital strengthens their sense of destination ownership and fuels an obligation to protect their fragile tourist resources. The intersection between social capital, authenticity and responsibility among small food businesses in the tourist industry is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Green practices are becoming the rule in events and tourism, and many event organizers are rebuilding their operations around sustainability management systems. In this process, assessing events' environmental impacts is crucial to define improvement strategies. Recently, researchers have proposed several quantitative methods to conduct the environmental assessment of an event, but some issues prevented their uniformity and generalizability, including the lack of a wide scope of assessment, of multi-event testing and multi-actor perspective. This paper identifies life cycle assessment (LCA) as the most comprehensive methodology and builds a uniform approach to evaluate the environmental impacts of any event. It is based on an innovative model that maps the event life cycle to identify its ecological hotspots in a way that increases transparency, comparability among different events, and accountability of different stakeholders. To generate it, the LCA was conducted in different event case studies within a multi-actor perspective. This was enabled by the collaboration with the municipality of a large European city, leveraging its involvement in many events with multiple roles in their supply network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destination managers frequently describe strategies, plans, or projects in destinations as part of an overall commitment to sustainable development or sustainability in the destination. The meaning of the term sustainability, however, is highly contested in both academia and practice, and it is not at all clear what destination managers mean when they claim to act in the interests of sustainable tourism. This paper assesses the concept of sustainability and its operationalisation by destination managers at the regional destination level. Our international, comparative study examines two destination regions that emphasise nature-based tourism, the Tyrolean Oberland, Austria, and the South Island of New Zealand. Twenty-two high-ranking destination managers representing 20 destinations were interviewed. We demonstrate how colloquial, academic, and applied interpretations of sustainability are tangled and intertwined in day-to-day destination management. The types of destination management interventions that are described as sustainable and the extent to which the economic component of sustainability is prioritised vary strongly across destinations and destination regions. The study results demonstrate that in order to achieve sustainability in destinations, stakeholders need to develop a shared understanding of what constitutes sustainable destination development, and how it can be meaningfully operationalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the adoption of sustainable tourism ideas in a Park Authority's policies over a period of two decades in a developed world, category V protected area. There is only limited research on influences encouraging the inclusion of sustainable tourism ideas in protected area policies, or on relationships between sustainable tourism policies and other policy priorities. The paper departs from an approach which considers sustainable tourism policies in isolation, because potentially they are reformulations or extensions of other previous policies, or else indirect outcomes of other policies. There is assessment of influences on the Park Authority's sustainable tourism policies, and of the co-evolution between sustainable tourism policies and other policies. Such influences as government funding reductions and rising concern for community well-being affected the Authority's adoption of sustainable tourism ideas. Incorporation of sustainable tourism ideas in policies occurred gradually. It involved re-labelling established policies as well as reframing and extending those policies. It was often an indirect outcome of policy developments not focused specifically on sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism-related policies co-evolved with, and through, policies for community well-being, actor participation, and sustainable development. The approach used here is relevant for research on policy co-evolution in other policy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of upheaval and uncertainty justice has come to the fore as a key principle to guide tourism development and policy. Justice is being sought by individuals, groups and societies, as vulnerable individuals and populations seek to be able to protect themselves from longstanding and deeply embedded historical, and new emerging forms of, injustice. In response, this special issue presents a range of theoretical perspectives and empirical insights into justice and tourism. Given the early stage of theory building in this field, tourism researchers are well served by exploring the multi-/inter-/trans-disciplinary knowledge domains in which theories of justice are being addressed. In this paper frame some emerging principles and approaches to justice and tourism as addressed in the special issue, including social justice, equity and rights; inclusiveness and recognition; sustainability and conservation; well-being, belonging and capabilities; posthumanistic justice; and governance and participation. In doing so we outline the wide range of issues and insights for 'just' tourism that demand urgent and rigorous scholarly attention. A nascent new platform of research on justice and ethics is emerging to guide tourism and sustainability. This special issue offers valuable insights and guidance towards this timely and important research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable tourism is a concept widely embraced by managers and planners of tourist destinations. However, it has received little attention in the context of urban tourism, an area of research that has until recently been largely neglected by academics. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable tourism implementation in large cities, by using London as an exploratory case study. Through the collection and analysis of both primary and secondary data (online survey, semi-structured interviews and document analysis), it seeks to explore whether local authorities have implemented policies towards sustainable tourism in the capital. The findings indicate that although the concept of sustainable tourism is perceived as important by policy makers, only a few local authorities in London promote its principles in their policy documents and even fewer have initiatives to put them in practice. Most of these initiatives are isolated activities which address limited aspects of sustainable tourism. The paper concludes that despite some progress made to date, in the current economic climate, growth and development remain the main objectives of governments and local authorities, while social and environmental issues are often left behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourists, workers, and business owners from diverse cultural backgrounds and social positions meet at tourism enclaves. Yet, the spatial layout of most enclaves encourages segregation instead of celebrating and benefiting from this diversity. This paper examines the genesis of enclave tourism boundaries. It proposes boundary-work as a sustainability practice to work out segregating propensities, and transform exclusionary boundaries or make them more permeable. Life story interviews in a Mexican Caribbean enclave revealed segregation's appalling consequences for workers, implicit costs for business owners, and the personal involvement of tourism actors in historical struggles over boundaries. This analysis constitutes a first step to untangle exclusionary propensities and render tourism boundaries more workable from a sustainability governance perspective. The paper explains the need for sustainable tourism research that identifies opportunities to: (1) address traumatic experiences born of discriminatory practices, (2) turn adversarial emotions between workers and business owners into productive collaborations across boundaries, and (3) challenge power asymmetries by providing tourism actors with knowledge about the physical, symbolic, and imaginary dimensions of boundaries. It concludes that the influence of any individual agent is profoundly limited; the transformation of long-standing boundaries demands a deliberate reformulation of sustainable tourism as a multi-dimensional decolonizing force. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]