Does Luxury Indicate Sustainability? An Analysis of the Maldives

The environment of small tourism islands, as climate and coastal resources, make them favourable locations for luxury resorts. However, tourism can cause a threat to these islands’ local environment. Thus, the Maldives government has developed regulations to ensure a balance between resource protection and use. This study examines, from the conceptual framework of sustainable tourism, whether luxury indicates sustainability in the Maldives, that is, if there is a link between luxury and sustainability. To perform this analysis we have studied 91 deluxe and non-deluxe resorts in the Maldives using content analysis methodology. Then we have applied a Principal Components Analysis to determine whether the resorts can be grouped according to their tourist attractions and sustainable activities. Results show that we can not affirm that luxury implies sustainability, but we might conclude that both are possible.
The authors would like to thank participants at the EBEN Re-search Conference 2010 held in Tampere, Finland, and especially Professor Lilian Wanderley of the NHTV, The Netherlands, for all their comments. The Research Conference was attended thanks to the financial support of the Faculty of Business Administration and Management, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.