Assessing the Sustainability of Tourist Destinations Objectively

What is it about?

Tourism helps to create jobs and employment in a region. Over time, the value created by tourism adds to a place's economy, environment, and society. Sustainable tourism helps to manage the negative effects of tourism. But achieving sustainability driven tourism faces some challenges. The authors of this study looked at 111 popular tourist spots from around the world. They checked how these places create value and sustainable growth for their country. They divided the workings of tourist spots into two steps. In the first step, tourist spots create value through local income and jobs. This is called the self-production step. In the second step, self-production creates sustainable growth for the economy, environment, and its people. This is called the sustainable production step. Next, the authors used a tool to understand the overall performance of the tourism sector. They found that differences in sustainable production between tourist spots are due to two reasons. First are the differences in the process of self-production, or the value they create. Second are the differences in access to technology. Then, the authors used an advanced method to rank the offerings of the tourist spots to sustainable growth. This allowed them to highlight the advantages and drawbacks of each spot.

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Photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash

Photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study lists valuable solutions and future suggestions for improving sustainable tourism. It shows that there is a trade off between generating value and sustainable production. Sustainability policies should put different sectors such as agriculture and finance together. This can create more value for the whole economy. In addition, the given method can measure indicators of tourism in an objective way. In turn, it can help in the improvement of tourist spots. KEY TAKEAWAY: This study measured the performance of key tourist spots from a sustainability perspective. It ranked them using an advanced method and gave solutions on how to improve sustainable tourism. This research relates to the following Sustainable Development Goals: • SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure • SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities