characteristics of tourism and travel

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Chapter 1. History and Overview

1.1 What is Tourism?

Before engaging in a study of tourism , let’s have a closer look at what this term means.

Definition of Tourism

There are a number of ways tourism can be defined, and for this reason, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) embarked on a project from 2005 to 2007 to create a common glossary of terms for tourism. It defines tourism as follows:

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which imply tourism expenditure (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2008).

Using this definition, we can see that tourism is not just the movement of people for a number of purposes (whether business or pleasure), but the overall agglomeration of activities, services, and involved sectors that make up the unique tourist experience.

Tourism, Travel, and Hospitality: What are the Differences?

It is common to confuse the terms tourism , travel , and hospitality or to define them as the same thing. While tourism is the all-encompassing umbrella term for the activities and industry that create the tourist experience, the UNWTO (2020) defines travel as the activity of moving between different locations often for any purpose but more so for leisure and recreation (Hall & Page, 2006). On the other hand, hospitality can be defined as “the business of helping people to feel welcome and relaxed and to enjoy themselves” (Discover Hospitality, 2015, p. 3). Simply put, the hospitality industry is the combination of the accommodation and food and beverage groupings, collectively making up the largest segment of the industry (Go2HR, 2020). You’ll learn more about accommodations and F & B in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 , respectively.

Definition of Tourist and Excursionist

Building on the definition of tourism, a commonly accepted description of a tourist is “someone who travels at least 80 km from his or her home for at least 24 hours, for business or leisure or other reasons” (LinkBC, 2008, p.8). The United Nations World Tourism Organization (1995) helps us break down this definition further by stating tourists can be:

• Domestic (residents of a given country travelling only within that country)
• Inbound (non-residents travelling in a given country)
• Outbound (residents of one country travelling in another country)

Excursionists  on the other hand are considered same-day visitors (UNWTO, 2020). Sometimes referred to as “day trippers.” Understandably, not every visitor stays in a destination overnight. It is common for travellers to spend a few hours or less to do sightseeing, visit attractions, dine at a local restaurant, then leave at the end of the day.

The scope of tourism, therefore, is broad and encompasses a number of activities and sectors.

Spotlight On: United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible “for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism” (UNWTO, 2014b). Its membership includes 159 countries and over 500 affiliates such as private companies, research and educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations. It promotes tourism as a way of developing communities while encouraging ethical behaviour to mitigate negative impacts. For more information, visit the UNWTO website .

NAICS: The North American Industry Classification System

Given the sheer size of the tourism industry, it can be helpful to break it down into broad industry groups using a common classification system. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was jointly created by the Canadian, US, and Mexican governments to ensure common analysis across all three countries (British Columbia Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, 2013a). The tourism-related groupings created using NAICS are (in alphabetical order):

• Accommodation
• Food and beverage services (commonly known as “F & B”)
• Recreation and entertainment
• Transportation
• Travel services

These industry groups (also commonly known as sectors) are based on the similarity of the “labour processes and inputs” used for each (Government of Canada, 2013). For instance, the types of employees and resources required to run an accommodation business whether it be a hotel, motel, or even a campground are quite similar. All these businesses need staff to check in guests, provide housekeeping, employ maintenance workers, and provide a place for people to sleep. As such, they can be grouped together under the heading of accommodation. The same is true of the other four groupings, and the rest of this text explores these industry groups, and other aspects of tourism, in more detail.

It is typical for the entire tourist experience to involve more than one sector. The combination of sectors that supply and distribute the needed tourism products, services, and activities within the tourism system is called the Tourism Supply Chain. Often, these chains of sectors and activities are dependent upon each other’s delivery of products and services. Let’s look at a simple example below that describes the involved and sometimes overlapping sectoral chains in the tourism experience:

Before we seek to understand the five tourism sectors in more detail, it’s important to have an overview of the history and impacts of tourism to date.

Long Descriptions

Figure 1.2 long description: Diagram showing the tourism supply chain. This includes the phases of travel and the sectors and activities involved during each phase.

There are three travel phases: pre-departure, during travel, and post-departure.

Pre-departure, tourists use the travel services and transportation sectors.

During travel, tourists use the travel services, accommodations, food and beverage, recreation and entertainment, and transportation sectors.

Post-departure, tourists use the transportation sector.

[Return to Figure 1.2]

Media Attributions

• Front Desk by Staying LEVEL is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence .

Tourism according the the UNWTO is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes.

UN agency responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable, and universally accessible tourism worldwide.

Moving between different locations for leisure and recreation.

The accommodations and food and beverage industry groupings.

someone who travels at least 80 km from his or her home for at least 24 hours, for business or leisure or other reasons

A same-day visitor to a destination. Their trip typically ends on the same day when they leave the destination.

A way to group tourism activities based on similarities in business practices, primarily used for statistical analysis.

Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC - 2nd Edition Copyright © 2015, 2020, 2021 by Morgan Westcott and Wendy Anderson, Eds is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Ethics, culture and social responsibility.

• Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
• Accessible Tourism

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The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences, bring unique opportunities but also complex challenges for the tourism sector.

“Tourism policies and activities should be conducted with respect for the artistic, archaeological and cultural heritage, which they should protect and pass on to future generations; particular care should be devoted to preserving monuments, worship sites, archaeological and historic sites as well as upgrading museums which must be widely open and accessible to tourism visits”

UN Tourism Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics

Article 7, paragraph 2

This webpage provides UN Tourism resources aimed at strengthening the dialogue between tourism and culture and an informed decision-making in the sphere of cultural tourism. It also promotes the exchange of good practices showcasing inclusive management systems and innovative cultural tourism experiences .  

About Cultural Tourism

According to the definition adopted by the UN Tourism General Assembly, at its 22nd session (2017), Cultural Tourism implies “A type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions”. UN Tourism provides support to its members in strengthening cultural tourism policy frameworks, strategies and product development . It also provides guidelines for the tourism sector in adopting policies and governance models that benefit all stakeholders, while promoting and preserving cultural elements.

Recommendations for Cultural Tourism Key Players on Accessibility 

UN Tourism , Fundación ONCE and UNE issued in September 2023, a set of guidelines targeting key players of the cultural tourism ecosystem, who wish to make their offerings more accessible.

The key partners in the drafting and expert review process were the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) . The ICOMOS experts’ input was key in covering crucial action areas where accessibility needs to be put in the spotlight, in order to make cultural experiences more inclusive for all people.

This guidance tool is also framed within the promotion of the ISO Standard ISO 21902 , in whose development UN Tourism had one of the leading roles.

Download here the English and Spanish version of the Recommendations.

Compendium of Good Practices in Indigenous Tourism

The report is primarily meant to showcase good practices championed by indigenous leaders and associations from the Region. However, it also includes a conceptual introduction to different aspects of planning, management and promotion of a responsible and sustainable indigenous tourism development.

The compendium also sets forward a series of recommendations targeting public administrations, as well as a list of tips promoting a responsible conduct of tourists who decide to visit indigenous communities.

For downloads, please visit the UN Tourism E-library page: Download in English - Download in Spanish .

Weaving the Recovery - Indigenous Women in Tourism

This initiative, which gathers UN Tourism , t he World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA) , Centro de las Artes Indígenas (CAI) and the NGO IMPACTO , was selected as one of the ten most promising projects amoung 850+ initiatives to address the most pressing global challenges. The project will test different methodologies in pilot communities, starting with Mexico , to enable indigenous women access markets and demonstrate their leadership in the post-COVID recovery.

This empowerment model , based on promoting a responsible tourism development, cultural transmission and fair-trade principles, will represent a novel community approach with a high global replication potential.

Visit the Weaving the Recovery - Indigenous Women in Tourism project webpage.

Inclusive Recovery of Cultural Tourism

The release of the guidelines comes within the context of the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development 2021 , a UN initiative designed to recognize how culture and creativity, including cultural tourism, can contribute to advancing the SDGs.  

UN Tourism Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 4: Indigenous Communities

Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism

The Recommendations on Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism provide guidance to tourism stakeholders to develop their operations in a responsible and sustainable manner within those indigenous communities that wish to:

• Open up to tourism development, or
• Improve the management of the existing tourism experiences within their communities.

They were prepared by the UN Tourism Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department in close consultation with indigenous tourism associations, indigenous entrepreneurs and advocates. The Recommendations were endorsed by the World Committee on Tourism Ethics and finally adopted by the UN Tourism General Assembly in 2019, as a landmark document of the Organization in this sphere.

Who are these Recommendations targeting?

• Tour operators and travel agencies
• Tour guides
• Indigenous communities
• Other stakeholders such as governments, policy makers and destinations

The Recommendations address some of the key questions regarding indigenous tourism:

Download PDF:

• Recommendations on Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism
• Recomendaciones sobre el desarrollo sostenible del turismo indígena, ESP

UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conferences on Tourism and Culture

The UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conferences on Tourism and Culture bring together Ministers of Tourism and Ministers of Culture with the objective to identify key opportunities and challenges for a stronger cooperation between these highly interlinked fields. Gathering tourism and culture stakeholders from all world regions the conferences which have been hosted by Cambodia, Oman, Türkiye and Japan have addressed a wide range of topics, including governance models, the promotion, protection and safeguarding of culture, innovation, the role of creative industries and urban regeneration as a vehicle for sustainable development in destinations worldwide.

Fourth UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Investing in future generations. Kyoto, Japan. 12-13 December 2019 Kyoto Declaration on Tourism and Culture: Investing in future generations ( English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Japanese )

Third UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture : For the Benefit of All. Istanbul, Türkiye. 3 -5 December 2018 Istanbul Declaration on Tourism and Culture: For the Benefit of All ( English , French , Spanish , Arabic , Russian )

Second UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference’s on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development. Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. 11-12 December 2017 Muscat Declaration on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development ( English , French , Spanish , Arabic , Russian )

First UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference’s on Tourism and Culture: Building a new partnership. Siem Reap, Cambodia. 4-6 February 2015 Siem Reap Declaration on Tourism and Culture – Building a New Partnership Model ( English )

UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage  

The first UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage provides comprehensive baseline research on the interlinkages between tourism and the expressions and skills that make up humanity’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). 

Through a compendium of case studies drawn from across five continents, the report offers in-depth information on, and analysis of, government-led actions, public-private partnerships and community initiatives.

These practical examples feature tourism development projects related to six pivotal areas of ICH: handicrafts and the visual arts; gastronomy; social practices, rituals and festive events; music and the performing arts; oral traditions and expressions; and, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe.

Highlighting innovative forms of policy-making, the UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage recommends specific actions for stakeholders to foster the sustainable and responsible development of tourism by incorporating and safeguarding intangible cultural assets.

UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage

• UN Tourism Study
• Summary of the Study

Studies and research on tourism and culture commissioned by UN Tourism

• Tourism and Culture Synergies, 2018
• UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2012
• Big Data in Cultural Tourism – Building Sustainability and Enhancing Competitiveness (e-unwto.org)

Outcomes from the UN Tourism Affiliate Members World Expert Meeting on Cultural Tourism, Madrid, Spain, 1–2 December 2022

UN Tourism and the Region of Madrid – through the Regional Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sports – held the World Expert Meeting on Cultural Tourism in Madrid on 1 and 2 December 2022. The initiative reflects the alliance and common commitment of the two partners to further explore the bond between tourism and culture. This publication is the result of the collaboration and discussion between the experts at the meeting, and subsequent contributions.

Relevant Links

• 3RD UN Tourism/UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE ‘FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL’

Photo credit of the Summary's cover page:  www.banglanatak.com

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Article contents

The role of tourism in sustainable development.

• Robert B. Richardson Robert B. Richardson Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.387
• Published online: 25 March 2021

Sustainable development is the foundational principle for enhancing human and economic development while maintaining the functional integrity of ecological and social systems that support regional economies. Tourism has played a critical role in sustainable development in many countries and regions around the world. In developing countries, tourism development has been used as an important strategy for increasing economic growth, alleviating poverty, creating jobs, and improving food security. Many developing countries are in regions that are characterized by high levels of biological diversity, natural resources, and cultural heritage sites that attract international tourists whose local purchases generate income and support employment and economic development. Tourism has been associated with the principles of sustainable development because of its potential to support environmental protection and livelihoods. However, the relationship between tourism and the environment is multifaceted, as some types of tourism have been associated with negative environmental impacts, many of which are borne by host communities.

The concept of sustainable tourism development emerged in contrast to mass tourism, which involves the participation of large numbers of people, often in structured or packaged tours. Mass tourism has been associated with economic leakage and dependence, along with negative environmental and social impacts. Sustainable tourism development has been promoted in various ways as a framing concept in contrast to these economic, environmental, and social impacts. Some literature has acknowledged a vagueness of the concept of sustainable tourism, which has been used to advocate for fundamentally different strategies for tourism development that may exacerbate existing conflicts between conservation and development paradigms. Tourism has played an important role in sustainable development in some countries through the development of alternative tourism models, including ecotourism, community-based tourism, pro-poor tourism, slow tourism, green tourism, and heritage tourism, among others that aim to enhance livelihoods, increase local economic growth, and provide for environmental protection. Although these models have been given significant attention among researchers, the extent of their implementation in tourism planning initiatives has been limited, superficial, or incomplete in many contexts.

The sustainability of tourism as a global system is disputed among scholars. Tourism is dependent on travel, and nearly all forms of transportation require the use of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels for energy. The burning of fossil fuels for transportation generates emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change, which is fundamentally unsustainable. Tourism is also vulnerable to both localized and global shocks. Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to localized shocks include the impacts of natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and civil unrest. Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to global shocks include the impacts of climate change, economic crisis, global public health pandemics, oil price shocks, and acts of terrorism. It is clear that tourism has contributed significantly to economic development globally, but its role in sustainable development is uncertain, debatable, and potentially contradictory.

• conservation
• economic development
• environmental impacts
• sustainable development
• sustainable tourism
• tourism development

Introduction

Sustainable development is the guiding principle for advancing human and economic development while maintaining the integrity of ecosystems and social systems on which the economy depends. It is also the foundation of the leading global framework for international cooperation—the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015 ). The concept of sustainable development is often associated with the publication of Our Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED], 1987 , p. 29), which defined it as “paths of human progress that meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Concerns about the environmental implications of economic development in lower income countries had been central to debates about development studies since the 1970s (Adams, 2009 ). The principles of sustainable development have come to dominate the development discourse, and the concept has become the primary development paradigm since the 1990s.

Tourism has played an increasingly important role in sustainable development since the 1990s, both globally and in particular countries and regions. For decades, tourism has been promoted as a low-impact, non-extractive option for economic development, particularly for developing countries (Gössling, 2000 ). Many developing countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy through development of international tourism. Tourism development is increasingly viewed as an important tool in increasing economic growth, alleviating poverty, and improving food security. Tourism enables communities that are poor in material wealth, but rich in history and cultural heritage, to leverage their unique assets for economic development (Honey & Gilpin, 2009 ). More importantly, tourism offers an alternative to large-scale development projects, such as construction of dams, and to extractive industries such as mining and forestry, all of which contribute to emissions of pollutants and threaten biodiversity and the cultural values of Indigenous Peoples.

Environmental quality in destination areas is inextricably linked with tourism, as visiting natural areas and sightseeing are often the primary purpose of many leisure travels. Some forms of tourism, such as ecotourism, can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystem functions in destination areas (Fennell, 2020 ; Gössling, 1999 ). Butler ( 1991 ) suggests that there is a kind of mutual dependence between tourism and the environment that should generate mutual benefits. Many developing countries are in regions that are characterized by high levels of species diversity, natural resources, and protected areas. Such ideas imply that tourism may be well aligned with the tenets of sustainable development.

However, the relationship between tourism and the environment is complex, as some forms of tourism have been associated with negative environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, land use, and food consumption (Butler, 1991 ; Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ; Hunter & Green, 1995 ; Vitousek et al., 1997 ). Assessments of the sustainability of tourism have highlighted several themes, including (a) parks, biodiversity, and conservation; (b) pollution and climate change; (c) prosperity, economic growth, and poverty alleviation; (d) peace, security, and safety; and (e) population stabilization and reduction (Buckley, 2012 ). From a global perspective, tourism contributes to (a) changes in land cover and land use; (b) energy use, (c) biotic exchange and extinction of wild species; (d) exchange and dispersion of diseases; and (e) changes in the perception and understanding of the environment (Gössling, 2002 ).

Research on tourism and the environment spans a wide range of social and natural science disciplines, and key contributions have been disseminated across many interdisciplinary fields, including biodiversity conservation, climate science, economics, and environmental science, among others (Buckley, 2011 ; Butler, 1991 ; Gössling, 2002 ; Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Given the global significance of the tourism sector and its environmental impacts, the role of tourism in sustainable development is an important topic of research in environmental science generally and in environmental economics and management specifically. Reviews of tourism research have highlighted future research priorities for sustainable development, including the role of tourism in the designation and expansion of protected areas; improvement in environmental accounting techniques that quantify environmental impacts; and the effects of individual perceptions of responsibility in addressing climate change (Buckley, 2012 ).

Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries, and it has linkages with many of the prime sectors of the global economy (Fennell, 2020 ). As a global economic sector, tourism represents one of the largest generators of wealth, and it is an important agent of economic growth and development (Garau-Vadell et al., 2018 ). Tourism is a critical industry in many local and national economies, and it represents a large and growing share of world trade (Hunter, 1995 ). Global tourism has had an average annual increase of 6.6% over the past half century, with international tourist arrivals rising sharply from 25.2 million in 1950 to more than 950 million in 2010 . In 2019 , the number of international tourists reached 1.5 billion, up 4% from 2018 (Fennell, 2020 ; United Nations World Tourism Organization [UNWTO], 2020 ). European countries are host to more than half of international tourists, but since 1990 , growth in international arrivals has risen faster than the global average, in both the Middle East and the Asia and Pacific region (UNWTO, 2020 ).

The growth in global tourism has been accompanied by an expansion of travel markets and a diversification of tourism destinations. In 1950 , the top five travel destinations were all countries in Europe and the Americas, and these destinations held 71% of the global travel market (Fennell, 2020 ). By 2002 , these countries represented only 35%, which underscores the emergence of newly accessible travel destinations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim, including numerous developing countries. Over the past 70 years, global tourism has grown significantly as an economic sector, and it has contributed to the economic development of dozens of nations.

Given the growth of international tourism and its emergence as one of the world’s largest export sectors, the question of its impact on economic growth for the host countries has been a topic of great interest in the tourism literature. Two hypotheses have emerged regarding the role of tourism in the economic growth process (Apergis & Payne, 2012 ). First, tourism-led growth hypothesis relies on the assumption that tourism is an engine of growth that generates spillovers and positive externalities through economic linkages that will impact the overall economy. Second, the economic-driven tourism growth hypothesis emphasizes policies oriented toward well-defined and enforceable property rights, stable political institutions, and adequate investment in both physical and human capital to facilitate the development of the tourism sector. Studies have concluded with support for both the tourism-led growth hypothesis (e.g., Durbarry, 2004 ; Katircioglu, 2010 ) and the economic-led growth hypothesis (e.g., Katircioglu, 2009 ; Oh, 2005 ), whereas other studies have found support for a bidirectional causality for tourism and economic growth (e.g., Apergis & Payne, 2012 ; Lee & Chang, 2008 ).

The growth of tourism has been marked by an increase in the competition for tourist expenditures, making it difficult for destinations to maintain their share of the international tourism market (Butler, 1991 ). Tourism development is cyclical and subject to short-term cycles and overconsumption of resources. Butler ( 1980 ) developed a tourist-area cycle of evolution that depicts the number of tourists rising sharply over time through periods of exploration, involvement, and development, before eventual consolidation and stagnation. When tourism growth exceeds the carrying capacity of the area, resource degradation can lead to the decline of tourism unless specific steps are taken to promote rejuvenation (Butler, 1980 , 1991 ).

The potential of tourism development as a tool to contribute to environmental conservation, economic growth, and poverty reduction is derived from several unique characteristics of the tourism system (UNWTO, 2002 ). First, tourism represents an opportunity for economic diversification, particularly in marginal areas with few other export options. Tourists are attracted to remote areas with high values of cultural, wildlife, and landscape assets. The cultural and natural heritage of developing countries is frequently based on such assets, and tourism represents an opportunity for income generation through the preservation of heritage values. Tourism is the only export sector where the consumer travels to the exporting country, which provides opportunities for lower-income households to become exporters through the sale of goods and services to foreign tourists. Tourism is also labor intensive; it provides small-scale employment opportunities, which also helps to promote gender equity. Finally, there are numerous indirect benefits of tourism for people living in poverty, including increased market access for remote areas through the development of roads, infrastructure, and communication networks. Nevertheless, travel is highly income elastic and carbon intensive, which has significant implications for the sustainability of the tourism sector (Lenzen et al., 2018 ).

Concerns about environmental issues appeared in tourism research just as global awareness of the environmental impacts of human activities was expanding. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm in 1972 , the same year as the publication of The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al., 1972 ), which highlighted the concerns about the implications of exponential economic and population growth in a world of finite resources. This was the same year that the famous Blue Marble photograph of Earth was taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft (Höhler, 2015 , p. 10), and the image captured the planet cloaked in the darkness of space and became a symbol of Earth’s fragility and vulnerability. As noted by Buckley ( 2012 ), tourism researchers turned their attention to social and environmental issues around the same time (Cohen, 1978 ; Farrell & McLellan, 1987 ; Turner & Ash, 1975 ; Young, 1973 ).

The notion of sustainable development is often associated with the publication of Our Common Future , the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission (WCED, 1987 ). The report characterized sustainable development in terms of meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987 , p. 43). Four basic principles are fundamental to the concept of sustainability: (a) the idea of holistic planning and strategy making; (b) the importance of preserving essential ecological processes; (c) the need to protect both human heritage and biodiversity; and (d) the need to develop in such a way that productivity can be sustained over the long term for future generations (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ). In addition to achieving balance between economic growth and the conservation of natural resources, there should be a balance of fairness and opportunity between the nations of the world.

Although the modern concept of sustainable development emerged with the publication of Our Common Future , sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management that were developed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries (Blewitt, 2015 ; Grober, 2007 ). Sustainable forest management is concerned with the stewardship and use of forests in a way that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, and regeneration capacity as well as their potential to fulfill society’s demands for forest products and benefits. Building on these ideas, Daly ( 1990 ) offered two operational principles of sustainable development. First, sustainable development implies that harvest rates should be no greater than rates of regeneration; this concept is known as maximum sustainable yield. Second, waste emission rates should not exceed the natural assimilative capacities of the ecosystems into which the wastes are emitted. Regenerative and assimilative capacities are characterized as natural capital, and a failure to maintain these capacities is not sustainable.

Shortly after the emergence of the concept of sustainable development in academic and policy discourse, tourism researchers began referring to the notion of sustainable tourism (May, 1991 ; Nash & Butler, 1990 ), which soon became the dominant paradigm of tourism development. The concept of sustainable tourism, as with the role of tourism in sustainable development, has been interpreted in different ways, and there is a lack of consensus concerning its meaning, objectives, and indicators (Sharpley, 2000 ). Growing interest in the subject inspired the creation of a new academic journal, Journal of Sustainable Tourism , which was launched in 1993 and has become a leading tourism journal. It is described as “an international journal that publishes research on tourism and sustainable development, including economic, social, cultural and political aspects.”

The notion of sustainable tourism development emerged in contrast to mass tourism, which is characterized by the participation of large numbers of people, often provided as structured or packaged tours. Mass tourism has risen sharply in the last half century. International arrivals alone have increased by an average annual rate of more than 25% since 1950 , and many of those trips involved mass tourism activities (Fennell, 2020 ; UNWTO, 2020 ). Some examples of mass tourism include beach resorts, cruise ship tourism, gaming casinos, golf resorts, group tours, ski resorts, theme parks, and wildlife safari tourism, among others. Little data exist regarding the volume of domestic mass tourism, but nevertheless mass tourism activities dominate the global tourism sector. Mass tourism has been shown to generate benefits to host countries, such as income and employment generation, although it has also been associated with economic leakage (where revenue generated by tourism is lost to other countries’ economies) and economic dependency (where developing countries are dependent on wealthier countries for tourists, imports, and foreign investment) (Cater, 1993 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Khan, 1997 ; Peeters, 2012 ). Mass tourism has been associated with numerous negative environmental impacts and social impacts (Cater, 1993 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Fennell, 2020 ; Ghimire, 2013 ; Gursoy et al., 2010 ; Liu, 2003 ; Peeters, 2012 ; Wheeller, 2007 ). Sustainable tourism development has been promoted in various ways as a framing concept in contrast to many of these economic, environmental, and social impacts.

Much of the early research on sustainable tourism focused on defining the concept, which has been the subject of vigorous debate (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ; Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Inskeep, 1991 ; Liu, 2003 ; Sharpley, 2000 ). Early definitions of sustainable tourism development seemed to fall in one of two categories (Sharpley, 2000 ). First, the “tourism-centric” paradigm of sustainable tourism development focuses on sustaining tourism as an economic activity (Hunter, 1995 ). Second, alternative paradigms have situated sustainable tourism in the context of wider sustainable development policies (Butler, 1991 ). One of the most comprehensive definitions of sustainable tourism echoes some of the language of the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainable development (WCED, 1987 ), emphasizing opportunities for the future while also integrating social and environmental concerns:

Sustainable tourism can be thought of as meeting the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. Sustainable tourism development is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that we can fulfill economic, social and aesthetic needs while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems. (Inskeep, 1991 , p. 461)

Hunter argued that over the short and long terms, sustainable tourism development should

“meet the needs and wants of the local host community in terms of improved living standards and quality of life;

satisfy the demands of tourists and the tourism industry, and continue to attract them in order to meet the first aim; and

safeguard the environmental resource base for tourism, encompassing natural, built and cultural components, in order to achieve both of the preceding aims.” (Hunter, 1995 , p. 156)

Numerous other definitions have been documented, and the term itself has been subject to widespread critique (Buckley, 2012 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Liu, 2003 ). Nevertheless, there have been numerous calls to move beyond debate about a definition and to consider how it may best be implemented in practice (Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Liu, 2003 ). Cater ( 1993 ) identified three key criteria for sustainable tourism: (a) meeting the needs of the host population in terms of improved living standards both in the short and long terms; (b) satisfying the demands of a growing number of tourists; and (c) safeguarding the natural environment in order to achieve both of the preceding aims.

Some literature has acknowledged a vagueness of the concept of sustainable tourism, which has been used to advocate for fundamentally different strategies for tourism development that may exacerbate existing conflicts between conservation and development paradigms (Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Liu, 2003 ; McKercher, 1993b ). Similar criticisms have been leveled at the concept of sustainable development, which has been described as an oxymoron with a wide range of meanings (Adams, 2009 ; Daly, 1990 ) and “defined in such a way as to be either morally repugnant or logically redundant” (Beckerman, 1994 , p. 192). Sharpley ( 2000 ) suggests that in the tourism literature, there has been “a consistent and fundamental failure to build a theoretical link between sustainable tourism and its parental paradigm,” sustainable development (p. 2). Hunter ( 1995 ) suggests that practical measures designed to operationalize sustainable tourism fail to address many of the critical issues that are central to the concept of sustainable development generally and may even actually counteract the fundamental requirements of sustainable development. He suggests that mainstream sustainable tourism development is concerned with protecting the immediate resource base that will sustain tourism development while ignoring concerns for the status of the wider tourism resource base, such as potential problems associated with air pollution, congestion, introduction of invasive species, and declining oil reserves. The dominant paradigm of sustainable tourism development has been described as introverted, tourism-centric, and in competition with other sectors for scarce resources (McKercher, 1993a ). Hunter ( 1995 , p. 156) proposes an alternative, “extraparochial” paradigm where sustainable tourism development is reconceptualized in terms of its contribution to overall sustainable development. Such a paradigm would reconsider the scope, scale, and sectoral context of tourism-related resource utilization issues.

“Sustainability,” “sustainable tourism,” and “sustainable development” are all well-established terms that have often been used loosely and interchangeably in the tourism literature (Liu, 2003 ). Nevertheless, the subject of sustainable tourism has been given considerable attention and has been the focus of numerous academic compilations and textbooks (Coccossis & Nijkamp, 1995 ; Hall & Lew, 1998 ; Stabler, 1997 ; Swarbrooke, 1999 ), and it calls for new approaches to sustainable tourism development (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ; Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Sharpley, 2000 ). The notion of sustainable tourism has been reconceptualized in the literature by several authors who provided alternative frameworks for tourism development (Buckley, 2012 ; Gössling, 2002 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Liu, 2003 ; McKercher, 1993b ; Sharpley, 2000 ).

Early research in sustainable tourism focused on the local environmental impacts of tourism, including energy use, water use, food consumption, and change in land use (Buckley, 2012 ; Butler, 1991 ; Gössling, 2002 ; Hunter & Green, 1995 ). Subsequent research has emphasized the global environmental impacts of tourism, such as greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity losses (Gössling, 2002 ; Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ; Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Additional research has emphasized the impacts of environmental change on tourism itself, including the impacts of climate change on tourist behavior (Gössling et al., 2012 ; Richardson & Loomis, 2004 ; Scott et al., 2012 ; Viner, 2006 ). Countries that are dependent on tourism for economic growth may be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (Richardson & Witkoswki, 2010 ).

The early focus on environmental issues in sustainable tourism has been broadened to include economic, social, and cultural issues as well as questions of power and equity in society (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ; Sharpley, 2014 ), and some of these frameworks have integrated notions of social equity, prosperity, and cultural heritage values. Sustainable tourism is dependent on critical long-term considerations of the impacts; notions of equity; an appreciation of the importance of linkages (i.e., economic, social, and environmental); and the facilitation of cooperation and collaboration between different stakeholders (Elliott & Neirotti, 2008 ).

McKercher ( 1993b ) notes that tourism resources are typically part of the public domain or are intrinsically linked to the social fabric of the host community. As a result, many commonplace tourist activities such as sightseeing may be perceived as invasive by members of the host community. Many social impacts of tourism can be linked to the overuse of the resource base, increases in traffic congestion, rising land prices, urban sprawl, and changes in the social structure of host communities. Given the importance of tourist–resident interaction, sustainable tourism development depends in part on the support of the host community (Garau-Vadell et al., 2018 ).

Tourism planning involves the dual objectives of optimizing the well-being of local residents in host communities and minimizing the costs of tourism development (Sharpley, 2014 ). Tourism researchers have paid significant attention to examining the social impacts of tourism in general and to understanding host communities’ perceptions of tourism in particular. Studies of the social impacts of tourism development have examined the perceptions of local residents and the effects of tourism on social cohesion, traditional lifestyles, and the erosion of cultural heritage, particularly among Indigenous Peoples (Butler & Hinch, 2007 ; Deery et al., 2012 ; Mathieson & Wall, 1982 ; Sharpley, 2014 ; Whitford & Ruhanen, 2016 ).

Alternative Tourism and Sustainable Development

A wide body of published research is related to the role of tourism in sustainable development, and much of the literature involves case studies of particular types of tourism. Many such studies contrast types of alternative tourism with those of mass tourism, which has received sustained criticism for decades and is widely considered to be unsustainable (Cater, 1993 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Fennell, 2020 ; Gursoy et al., 2010 ; Liu, 2003 ; Peeters, 2012 ; Zapata et al., 2011 ). Still, some tourism researchers have taken issue with the conclusion that mass tourism is inherently unsustainable (Sharpley, 2000 ; Weaver, 2007 ), and some have argued for developing pathways to “sustainable mass tourism” as “the desired and impending outcome for most destinations” (Weaver, 2012 , p. 1030). In integrating an ethical component to mass tourism development, Weaver ( 2014 , p. 131) suggests that the desirable outcome is “enlightened mass tourism.” Such suggestions have been contested in the literature and criticized for dubious assumptions about emergent norms of sustainability and support for growth, which are widely seen as contradictory (Peeters, 2012 ; Wheeller, 2007 ).

Models of responsible or alternative tourism development include ecotourism, community-based tourism, pro-poor tourism, slow tourism, green tourism, and heritage tourism, among others. Most models of alternative tourism development emphasize themes that aim to counteract the perceived negative impacts of conventional or mass tourism. As such, the objectives of these models of tourism development tend to focus on minimizing environmental impacts, supporting biodiversity conservation, empowering local communities, alleviating poverty, and engendering pleasant relationships between tourists and residents.

Approaches to alternative tourism development tend to overlap with themes of responsible tourism, and the two terms are frequently used interchangeably. Responsible tourism has been characterized in terms of numerous elements, including

ensuring that communities are involved in and benefit from tourism;

respecting local, natural, and cultural environments;

involving the local community in planning and decision-making;

using local resources sustainably;

behaving in ways that are sensitive to the host culture;

maintaining and encouraging natural, economic, and cultural diversity; and

assessing environmental, social, and economic impacts as a prerequisite to tourism development (Spenceley, 2012 ).

Hetzer ( 1965 ) identified four fundamental principles or perquisites for a more responsible form of tourism: (a) minimum environmental impact; (b) minimum impact on and maximum respect for host cultures; (c) maximum economic benefits to the host country; and (d) maximum leisure satisfaction to participating tourists.

The history of ecotourism is closely connected with the emergence of sustainable development, as it was born out of a concern for the conservation of biodiversity. Ecotourism is a form of tourism that aims to minimize local environmental impacts while bringing benefits to protected areas and the people living around those lands (Honey, 2008 ). Ecotourism represents a small segment of nature-based tourism, which is understood as tourism based on the natural attractions of an area, such as scenic areas and wildlife (Gössling, 1999 ). The ecotourism movement gained momentum in the 1990s, primarily in developing countries in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, and nearly all countries are now engaged in some form of ecotourism. In some communities, ecotourism is the primary economic activity and source of income and economic development.

The term “ecotourism” was coined by Hector Ceballos-Lascuráin and defined by him as “tourism that consists in travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals” (Ceballos-Lascuráin, 1987 , p. 13). In discussing ecotourism resources, he also made reference to “any existing cultural manifestations (both past and present) found in these areas” (Ceballos-Lascuráin, 1987 , p. 14). The basic precepts of ecotourism had been discussed long before the actual use of the term. Twenty years earlier, Hetzer ( 1965 ) referred to a form of tourism “based principally upon natural and archaeological resources such as caves, fossil sites (and) archaeological sites.” Thus, both natural resources and cultural resources were integrated into ecotourism frameworks from the earliest manifestations.

Costa Rica is well known for having successfully integrated ecotourism in its overall strategy for sustainable development, and numerous case studies of ecotourism in Costa Rica appear in the literature (Chase et al., 1998 ; Fennell & Eagles, 1990 ; Gray & Campbell, 2007 ; Hearne & Salinas, 2002 ). Ecotourism in Costa Rica has been seen as having supported the economic development of the country while promoting biodiversity conservation in its extensive network of protected areas. Chase et al. ( 1998 ) estimated the demand for ecotourism in a study of differential pricing of entrance fees at national parks in Costa Rica. The authors estimated elasticities associated with the own-price, cross-price, and income variables and found that the elasticities of demand were significantly different between three different national park sites. The results reveal the heterogeneity characterizing tourist behavior and park attractions and amenities. Hearne and Salinas ( 2002 ) used choice experiments to examine the preferences of domestic and foreign tourists in Costa Rica in an ecotourism site. Both sets of tourists demonstrated a preference for improved infrastructure, more information, and lower entrance fees. Foreign tourists demonstrated relatively stronger preferences for the inclusion of restrictions in the access to some trails.

Ecotourism has also been studied extensively in Kenya (Southgate, 2006 ), Malaysia (Lian Chan & Baum, 2007 ), Nepal (Baral et al., 2008 ), Peru (Stronza, 2007 ), and Taiwan (Lai & Nepal, 2006 ), among many other countries. Numerous case studies have demonstrated the potential for ecotourism to contribute to sustainable development by providing support for biodiversity conservation, local livelihoods, and regional development.

Community-Based Tourism

Community-based tourism (CBT) is a model of tourism development that emphasizes the development of local communities and allows for local residents to have substantial control over its development and management, and a major proportion of the benefits remain within the community. CBT emerged during the 1970s as a response to the negative impacts of the international mass tourism development model (Cater, 1993 ; Hall & Lew, 2009 ; Turner & Ash, 1975 ; Zapata et al., 2011 ).

Community-based tourism has been examined for its potential to contribute to poverty reduction. In a study of the viability of the CBT model to support socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation in Nicaragua, tourism was perceived by participants in the study to have an impact on employment creation in their communities (Zapata et al., 2011 ). Tourism was seen to have had positive impacts on strengthening local knowledge and skills, particularly on the integration of women to new roles in the labor market. One of the main perceived gains regarding the environment was the process of raising awareness regarding the conservation of natural resources. The small scale of CBT operations and low capacity to accommodate visitors was seen as a limitation of the model.

Spenceley ( 2012 ) compiled case studies of community-based tourism in countries in southern Africa, including Botswana, Madagascar, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In this volume, authors characterize community-based and nature-based tourism development projects in the region and demonstrate how community participation in planning and decision-making has generated benefits for local residents and supported conservation initiatives. They contend that responsible tourism practices are of particular importance in the region because of the rich biological diversity, abundant charismatic wildlife, and the critical need for local economic development and livelihood strategies.

In Kenya, CBT enterprises were not perceived to have made a significant impact on poverty reduction at an individual household level, in part because the model relied heavily on donor funding, reinforcing dependency and poverty (Manyara & Jones, 2007 ). The study identified several critical success factors for CBT enterprises, namely, awareness and sensitization, community empowerment, effective leadership, and community capacity building, which can inform appropriate tourism policy formulation in Kenya. The impacts of CBT on economic development and poverty reduction would be greatly enhanced if tourism initiatives were able to emphasize independence, address local community priorities, enhance community empowerment and transparency, discourage elitism, promote effective community leadership, and develop community capacity to operate their own enterprises more efficiently.

Pro-Poor Tourism

Pro-poor tourism is a model of tourism development that brings net benefits to people living in poverty (Ashley et al., 2001 ; Harrison, 2008 ). Although its theoretical foundations and development objectives overlap to some degree with those of community-based tourism and other models of AT, the key distinctive feature of pro-poor tourism is that it places poor people and poverty at the top of the agenda. By focusing on a very simple and incontrovertibly moral idea, namely, the net benefits of tourism to impoverished people, the concept has broad appeal to donors and international aid agencies. Harnessing the economic benefits of tourism for pro-poor growth means capitalizing on the advantages while reducing negative impacts to people living in poverty (Ashley et al., 2001 ). Pro-poor approaches to tourism development include increasing access of impoverished people to economic benefits; addressing negative social and environmental impacts associated with tourism; and focusing on policies, processes, and partnerships that seek to remove barriers to participation by people living in poverty. At the local level, pro-poor tourism can play a very significant role in livelihood security and poverty reduction (Ashley & Roe, 2002 ).

Rogerson ( 2011 ) argues that the growth of pro-poor tourism initiatives in South Africa suggests that the country has become a laboratory for the testing and evolution of new approaches toward sustainable development planning that potentially will have relevance for other countries in the developing world. A study of pro-poor tourism development initiatives in Laos identified a number of favorable conditions for pro-poor tourism development, including the fact that local people are open to tourism and motivated to participate (Suntikul et al., 2009 ). The authors also noted a lack of development in the linkages that could optimize the fulfilment of the pro-poor agenda, such as training or facilitation of local people’s participation in pro-poor tourism development at the grassroots level.

Critics of the model have argued that pro-poor tourism is based on an acceptance of the status quo of existing capitalism, that it is morally indiscriminate and theoretically imprecise, and that its practitioners are academically and commercially marginal (Harrison, 2008 ). As Chok et al. ( 2007 ) indicate, the focus “on poor people in the South reflects a strong anthropocentric view . . . and . . . environmental benefits are secondary to poor peoples’” benefits (p. 153).

Harrison ( 2008 ) argues that pro-poor tourism is not a distinctive approach to tourism as a development tool and that it may be easier to discuss what pro-poor tourism is not than what it is. He concludes that it is neither anticapitalist nor inconsistent with mainstream tourism on which it relies; it is neither a theory nor a model and is not a niche form of tourism. Further, he argues that it has no distinctive method and is not only about people living in poverty.

Slow Tourism

The concept of slow tourism has emerged as a model of sustainable tourism development, and as such, it lacks an exact definition. The concept of slow tourism traces its origin back to some institutionalized social movements such as “slow food” and “slow cities” that began in Italy in the 1990s and spread rapidly around the world (Fullagar et al., 2012 ; Oh et al., 2016 , p. 205). Advocates of slow tourism tend to emphasize slowness in terms of speed, mobility, and modes of transportation that generate less environmental pollution. They propose niche marketing for alternative forms of tourism that focus on quality upgrading rather than merely increasing the quantity of visitors via the established mass-tourism infrastructure (Conway & Timms, 2010 ).

In the context of the Caribbean region, slow tourism has been promoted as more culturally sensitive and authentic, as compared to the dominant mass tourism development model that is based on all-inclusive beach resorts dependent on foreign investment (Conway & Timms, 2010 ). Recognizing its value as an alternative marketing strategy, Conway and Timms ( 2010 ) make the case for rebranding alternative tourism in the Caribbean as a means of revitalizing the sector for the changing demands of tourists in the 21st century . They suggest that slow tourism is the antithesis of mass tourism, which “relies on increasing the quantity of tourists who move through the system with little regard to either the quality of the tourists’ experience or the benefits that accrue to the localities the tourist visits” (Conway & Timms, 2010 , p. 332). The authors draw on cases from Barbados, the Grenadines, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago to characterize models of slow tourism development in remote fishing villages and communities near nature preserves and sea turtle nesting sites.

Although there is a growing interest in the concept of slow tourism in the literature, there seems to be little agreement about the exact nature of slow tourism and whether it is a niche form of special interest tourism or whether it represents a more fundamental potential shift across the industry. Conway and Timms ( 2010 ) focus on the destination, advocating for slow tourism in terms of a promotional identity for an industry in need of rebranding. Caffyn ( 2012 , p. 77) discusses the implementation of slow tourism in terms of “encouraging visitors to make slower choices when planning and enjoying their holidays.” It is not clear whether slow tourism is a marketing strategy, a mindset, or a social movement, but the literature on slow tourism nearly always equates the term with sustainable tourism (Caffyn, 2012 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Oh et al., 2016 ). Caffyn ( 2012 , p. 80) suggests that slow tourism could offer a “win–win,” which she describes as “a more sustainable form of tourism; keeping more of the economic benefits within the local community and destination; and delivering a more meaningful and satisfying experience.” Research on slow tourism is nascent, and thus the contribution of slow tourism to sustainable development is not well understood.

Impacts of Tourism Development

The role of tourism in sustainable development can be examined through an understanding of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism. Tourism is a global phenomenon that involves travel, recreation, the consumption of food, overnight accommodations, entertainment, sightseeing, and other activities that simultaneously intersect the lives of local residents, businesses, and communities. The impacts of tourism involve benefits and costs to all groups, and some of these impacts cannot easily be measured. Nevertheless, they have been studied extensively in the literature, which provides some context for how these benefits and costs are distributed.

Economic Impacts of Tourism

The travel and tourism sector is one of the largest components of the global economy, and global tourism has increased exponentially since the end of the Second World War (UNWTO, 2020 ). The direct, indirect, and induced economic impact of global travel accounted for 8.9 trillion U.S. dollars in contribution to the global gross domestic product (GDP), or 10.3% of global GDP. The global travel and tourism sector supports approximately 330 million jobs, or 1 in 10 jobs around the world. From an economic perspective, tourism plays a significant role in sustainable development. In many developing countries, tourism has the potential to play a unique role in income generation and distribution relative to many other industries, in part because of its high multiplier effect and consumption of local goods and services. However, research on the economic impacts of tourism has shown that this potential has rarely been fully realized (Liu, 2003 ).

Numerous studies have examined the impact of tourism expenditure on GDP, income, employment, and public sector revenue. Narayan ( 2004 ) used a computable general equilibrium model to estimate the economic impact of tourism growth on the economy of Fiji. Tourism is Fiji’s largest industry, with average annual growth of 10–12%; and as a middle-income country, tourism is critical to Fiji’s economic development. The findings indicate that an increase in tourism expenditures was associated with an increase in GDP, an improvement in the country’s balance of payments, and an increase in real consumption and national welfare. Evidence suggests that the benefits of tourism expansion outweigh any export effects caused by an appreciation of the exchange rate and an increase in domestic prices and wages.

Seetanah ( 2011 ) examined the potential contribution of tourism to economic growth and development using panel data of 19 island economies around the world from 1990 to 2007 and revealed that tourism development is an important factor in explaining economic performance in the selected island economies. The results have policy implications for improving economic growth by harnessing the contribution of the tourism sector. Pratt ( 2015 ) modeled the economic impact of tourism for seven small island developing states in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean. In most states, the transportation sector was found to have above-average linkages to other sectors of the economy. The results revealed some advantages of economies of scale for maximizing the economic contribution of tourism.

Apergis and Payne ( 2012 ) examined the causal relationship between tourism and economic growth for a panel of nine Caribbean countries. The panel of Caribbean countries includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The authors use a panel error correction model to reveal bidirectional causality between tourism and economic growth in both the short run and the long run. The presence of bidirectional causality reiterates the importance of the tourism sector in the generation of foreign exchange income and in financing the production of goods and services within these countries. Likewise, stable political institutions and adequate government policies to ensure the appropriate investment in physical and human capital will enhance economic growth. In turn, stable economic growth will provide the resources needed to develop the tourism infrastructure for the success of the countries’ tourism sector. Thus, policy makers should be cognizant of the interdependent relationship between tourism and economic growth in the design and implementation of economic policy. The mixed nature of these results suggest that the relationship between tourism and economic growth depends largely on the social and economic context as well as the role of tourism in the economy.

The economic benefits and costs of tourism are frequently distributed unevenly. An analysis of the impact of wildlife conservation policies in Zambia on household welfare found that households located near national parks earn higher levels of income from wage employment and self-employment than other rural households in the country, but they were also more likely to suffer crop losses related to wildlife conflicts (Richardson et al., 2012 ). The findings suggest that tourism development and wildlife conservation can contribute to pro-poor development, but they may be sustainable only if human–wildlife conflicts are minimized or compensated.

Environmental Impacts of Tourism

The environmental impacts of tourism are significant, ranging from local effects to contributions to global environmental change (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). Tourism is both dependent on water resources and a factor in global and local freshwater use. Tourists consume water for drinking, when showering and using the toilet, when participating in activities such as winter ski tourism (i.e., snowmaking), and when using swimming pools and spas. Fresh water is also needed to maintain hotel gardens and golf courses, and water use is embedded in tourism infrastructure development (e.g., accommodations, laundry, dining) and in food and fuel production. Direct water consumption in tourism is estimated to be approximately 350 liters (L) per guest night for accommodation; when indirect water use from food, energy, and transport are considered, total water use in tourism is estimated to be approximately 6,575 L per guest night, or 27,800 L per person per trip (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). In addition, tourism contributes to the pollution of oceans as well as lakes, rivers, and other freshwater systems (Gössling, 2002 ; Gössling et al., 2011 ).

The clearing and conversion of land is central for tourism development, and in many cases, the land used for tourism includes roads, airports, railways, accommodations, trails, pedestrian walks, shopping areas, parking areas, campgrounds, vacation homes, golf courses, marinas, ski resorts, and indirect land use for food production, disposal of solid wastes, and the treatment of wastewater (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). Global land use for accommodation is estimated to be approximately 42 m 2 per bed. Total global land use for tourism is estimated to be nearly 62,000 km 2 , or 11.7 m 2 per tourist; more than half of this estimate is represented by land use for traffic infrastructure.

Tourism and hospitality have direct and indirect links to nearly all aspects of food production, preparation, and consumption because of the quantities of food consumed in tourism contexts (Gössling et al., 2011 ). Food production has significant implications for sustainable development, given the growing global demand for food. The implications include land conversion, losses to biodiversity, changes in nutrient cycling, and contributions to greenhouse emissions that are associated with global climate change (Vitousek et al., 1997 ). Global food use for tourism is estimated to be approximately 39.4 megatons 1 (Mt), about 38% than the amount of food consumed at home. This equates to approximately 1,800 grams (g) of food consumed per tourist per day.

Although tourism has been promoted as a low-impact, nonextractive option for economic development, (Gössling, 2000 ), assessments reveal that such pursuits have a significant carbon footprint, as tourism is significantly more carbon intensive than other potential areas of economic development (Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Tourism is dependent on energy, and virtually all energy use in the tourism sector is derived from fossil fuels, which contribute to global greenhouse emissions that are associated with global climate change. Energy use for tourism has been estimated to be approximately 3,575 megajoules 2 (MJ) per trip, including energy for travel and accommodations (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). A previous estimate of global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from tourism provided values of 1.12 gigatons 3 (Gt) of CO 2 , amounting to about 3% of global CO 2 -equivalent (CO 2 e) emissions (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). However, these analyses do not cover the supply chains underpinning tourism and do not therefore represent true carbon footprints. A more complete analysis of the emissions from energy consumption necessary to sustain the tourism sector would include food and beverages, infrastructure construction and maintenance, retail, and financial services. Between 2009 and 2013 , tourism’s global carbon footprint is estimated to have increased from 3.9 to 4.5 GtCO 2 e, four times more than previously estimated, accounting for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Lenzen et al., 2018 ). The majority of this footprint is exerted by and within high-income countries. The rising global demand for tourism is outstripping efforts at decarbonization of tourism operations and as a result is accelerating global carbon emissions.

Social Impacts of Tourism

The social impacts of tourism have been widely studied, with an emphasis on residents’ perceptions in the host community (Sharpley, 2014 ). Case studies include research conducted in Australia (Faulkner & Tideswell, 1997 ; Gursoy et al., 2010 ; Tovar & Lockwood, 2008 ), Belize (Diedrich & Garcia-Buades, 2008 ), China (Gu & Ryan, 2008 ), Fiji (King et al., 1993 ), Greece (Haralambopoulos & Pizam, 1996 ; Tsartas, 1992 ), Hungary (Rátz, 2000 ), Thailand (Huttasin, 2008 ), Turkey (Kuvan & Akan, 2005 ), the United Kingdom (Brunt & Courtney, 1999 ; Haley et al., 2005 ), and the United States (Andereck et al., 2005 ; Milman & Pizam, 1988 ), among others. The social impacts of tourism are difficult to measure, and most published studies are mainly concerned with the social impacts on the host communities rather than the impacts on the tourists themselves.

Studies of residents’ perceptions of tourism are typically conducted using household surveys. In most cases, residents recognize the economic dependence on tourism for income, and there is substantial evidence to suggest that working in or owning a business in tourism or a related industry is associated with more positive perceptions of tourism (Andereck et al., 2007 ). The perceived nature of negative effects is complex and often conveys a dislike of crowding, traffic congestion, and higher prices for basic needs (Deery et al., 2012 ). When the number of tourists far exceeds that of the resident population, negative attitudes toward tourism may manifest (Diedrich & Garcia-Buades, 2008 ). However, residents who recognize negative impacts may not necessarily oppose tourism development (King et al., 1993 ).

In some regions, little is known about the social and cultural impacts of tourism despite its dominance as an economic sector. Tourism is a rapidly growing sector in Cuba, and it is projected to grow at rates that exceed the average projected growth rates for the Caribbean and the world overall (Salinas et al., 2018 ). Still, even though there has been rapid tourism development in Cuba, there has been little research related to the environmental and sociocultural impacts of this tourism growth (Rutty & Richardson, 2019 ).

In some international tourism contexts, studies have found that residents are generally resentful toward tourism because it fuels inequality and exacerbates racist attitudes and discrimination (Cabezas, 2004 ; Jamal & Camargo, 2014 ; Mbaiwa, 2005 ). Other studies revealed similar narratives and recorded statements of exclusion and socioeconomic stratification (Sanchez & Adams, 2008 ). Local residents often must navigate the gaps in the racialized, gendered, and sexualized structures imposed by the global tourism industry and host-country governments (Cabezas, 2004 ).

However, during times of economic crisis, residents may develop a more permissive view as their perceptions of the costs of tourism development decrease (Garau-Vadell et al., 2018 ). This increased positive attitude is not based on an increase in the perception of positive impacts of tourism, but rather on a decrease in the perception of the negative impacts.

There is a growing body of research on Indigenous and Aboriginal tourism that emphasizes justice issues such as human rights and self-empowerment, control, and participation of traditional owners in comanagement of destinations (Jamal & Camargo, 2014 ; Ryan & Huyton, 2000 ; Whyte, 2010 ).

Sustainability of Tourism

A process or system is said to be sustainable to the extent that it is robust, resilient, and adaptive (Anderies et al., 2013 ). By most measures, the global tourism system does not meet these criteria for sustainability. Tourism is not robust in that it cannot resist threats and perturbations, such as economic shocks, public health pandemics, war, and other disruptions. Tourism is not resilient in that it does not easily recover from failures, such as natural disasters or civil unrest. Furthermore, tourism is not adaptive in that it is often unable to change in response to external conditions. One example that underscores the failure to meet all three criteria is the dependence of tourism on fossil fuels for transportation and energy, which are key inputs for tourism development. This dependence itself is not sustainable (Wheeller, 2007 ), and thus the sustainability of tourism is questionable.

Liu ( 2003 ) notes that research related to the role of tourism in sustainable development has emphasized supply-side concepts such as sustaining tourism resources and ignored the demand side, which is particularly vulnerable to social and economic shocks. Tourism is vulnerable to both localized and global shocks. Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to localized shocks include disaster vulnerability in coastal Thailand (Calgaro & Lloyd, 2008 ), bushfires in northeast Victoria in Australia (Cioccio & Michael, 2007 ), forest fires in British Columbia, Canada (Hystad & Keller, 2008 ); and outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom (Miller & Ritchie, 2003 ).

Like most other economic sectors, tourism is vulnerable to the impacts of earthquakes, particularly in areas where tourism infrastructure may not be resilient to such shocks. Numerous studies have examined the impacts of earthquake events on tourism, including studies of the aftermath of the 1997 earthquake in central Italy (Mazzocchi & Montini, 2001 ), the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan (Huan et al., 2004 ; Huang & Min, 2002 ), and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in western Sichuan, China (Yang et al., 2011 ), among others.

Tourism is vulnerable to extreme weather events. Regional economic strength has been found to be associated with lower vulnerability to natural disasters. Kim and Marcoullier ( 2015 ) examined the vulnerability and resilience of 10 tourism-based regional economies that included U.S. national parks or protected seashores situated on the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean coastline that were affected by several hurricanes over a 26-year period. Regions with stronger economic characteristics prior to natural disasters were found to have lower disaster losses than regions with weaker economies.

Tourism is extremely sensitive to oil spills, whatever their origin, and the volume of oil released need not be large to generate significant economic losses (Cirer-Costa, 2015 ). Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to the localized shock of an oil spill include research on the impacts of oil spills in Alaska (Coddington, 2015 ), Brazil (Ribeiro et al., 2020 ), Spain (Castanedo et al., 2009 ), affected regions in the United States along the Gulf of Mexico (Pennington-Gray et al., 2011 ; Ritchie et al., 2013 ), and the Republic of Korea (Cheong, 2012 ), among others. Future research on the vulnerability of tourist destinations to oil spills should also incorporate freshwater environments, such as lakes, rivers, and streams, where the rupture of oil pipelines is more frequent.

Significant attention has been paid to assessing the vulnerability of tourist destinations to acts of terrorism and the impacts of terrorist attacks on regional tourist economies (Liu & Pratt, 2017 ). Such studies include analyses of the impacts of terrorist attacks on three European countries, Greece, Italy, and Austria (Enders et al., 1992 ); the impact of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States (Goodrich, 2002 ); terrorism and tourism in Nepal (Bhattarai et al., 2005 ); vulnerability of tourism livelihoods in Bali (Baker & Coulter, 2007 ); the impact of terrorism on tourist preferences for destinations in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands (Arana & León, 2008 ); the 2011 massacres in Olso and Utøya, Norway (Wolff & Larsen, 2014 ); terrorism and political violence in Tunisia (Lanouar & Goaied, 2019 ); and the impact of terrorism on European tourism (Corbet et al., 2019 ), among others. Pizam and Fleischer ( 2002 ) studied the impact of acts of terrorism on tourism demand in Israel between May 1991 and May 2001 , and they confirmed that the frequency of acts of terrorism had caused a larger decline in international tourist arrivals than the severity of these acts. Most of these are ex post studies, and future assessments of the underlying conditions of destinations could reveal a deeper understanding of the vulnerability of tourism to terrorism.

Tourism is vulnerable to economic crisis, both local economic shocks (Okumus & Karamustafa, 2005 ; Stylidis & Terzidou, 2014 ) and global economic crisis (Papatheodorou et al., 2010 ; Smeral, 2010 ). Okumus and Karamustafa ( 2005 ) evaluated the impact of the February 2001 economic crisis in Turkey on tourism, and they found that the tourism industry was poorly prepared for the economic crisis despite having suffered previous impacts related to the Gulf War in the early 1990s, terrorism in Turkey in the 1990s, the civil war in former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, an internal economic crisis in 1994 , and two earthquakes in the northwest region of Turkey in 1999 . In a study of the attitudes and perceptions of citizens of Greece, Stylidis and Terzidou ( 2014 ) found that economic crisis is associated with increased support for tourism development, particularly out of self-interest. Economic crisis diminishes residents’ concern for environmental issues. In a study of the behavior of European tourists amid an economic crisis, Eugenio-Martin and Campos-Soria ( 2014 ) found that the probability of households cutting back on travel expenditures depends largely on the climate and economic conditions of tourists’ home countries, and households that do reduce travel spending engage in tourism closer to home.

Becken and Lennox ( 2012 ) studied the implications of a long-term increase in oil prices for tourism in New Zealand, and they estimate that a doubling of oil prices is associated with a 1.7% decrease in real gross national disposable income and a 9% reduction in the real value of tourism exports. Chatziantoniou et al. ( 2013 ) investigated the relationship among oil price shocks, tourism variables, and economic indicators in four European Mediterranean countries and found that aggregate demand oil price shocks generated a lagged effect on tourism-generated income and economic growth. Kisswani et al. ( 2020 ) examined the asymmetric effect of oil prices on tourism receipts and the sensitive susceptibility of tourism to oil price changes using nonlinear analysis. The findings document a long-run asymmetrical effect for most countries, after incorporating the structural breaks, suggesting that governments and tourism businesses and organizations should interpret oil price fluctuations cautiously.

Finally, the sustainability of tourism has been shown to be vulnerable to the outbreak of infectious diseases, including the impact of the Ebola virus on tourism in sub-Saharan Africa (Maphanga & Henama, 2019 ; Novelli et al., 2018 ) and in the United States (Cahyanto et al., 2016 ). The literature also includes studies of the impact of swine flu on tourism demand in Brunei (Haque & Haque, 2018 ), Mexico (Monterrubio, 2010 ), and the United Kingdom (Page et al., 2012 ), among others. In addition, rapid assessments of the impacts of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have documented severe disruptions and cessations of tourism because of unprecedented global travel restrictions and widespread restrictions on public gatherings (Gössling et al., 2020 ; Qiu et al., 2020 ; Sharma & Nicolau, 2020 ). Hotels, airlines, cruise lines, and car rentals have all experienced a significant decrease globally because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shock to the industry is significant enough to warrant concerns about the long-term outlook (Sharma & Nicolau, 2020 ). Qiu et al. ( 2020 ) estimated the social costs of the pandemic to tourism in three cities in China (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Wuhan), and they found that most respondents were willing to pay for risk reduction and action in responding to the pandemic crisis; there was no significant difference between residents’ willingness to pay in the three cities. Some research has emphasized how lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic can prepare global tourism for an economic transformation that is needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change (Brouder, 2020 ; Prideaux et al., 2020 ).

It is clear that tourism has contributed significantly to economic development globally, but its role in sustainable development is uncertain, contested, and potentially paradoxical. This is due, in part, to the contested nature of sustainable development itself. Tourism has been promoted as a low-impact, nonextractive option for economic development, particularly for developing countries (Gössling, 2000 ), and many countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy through development of international tourism. Tourism development has been viewed as an important sector for investment to enhance economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food security, and the sector provides an alternative opportunity to large-scale development projects and extractive industries that contribute to emissions of pollutants and threaten biodiversity and cultural values. However, global evidence from research on the economic impacts of tourism has shown that this potential has rarely been realized (Liu, 2003 ).

The role of tourism in sustainable development has been studied extensively and with a variety of perspectives, including the conceptualization of alternative or responsible forms of tourism and the examination of economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism development. The research has generally concluded that tourism development has contributed to sustainable development in some cases where it is demonstrated to have provided support for biodiversity conservation initiatives and livelihood development strategies. As an economic sector, tourism is considered to be labor intensive, providing opportunities for poor households to enhance their livelihood through the sale of goods and services to foreign tourists.

Nature-based tourism approaches such as ecotourism and community-based tourism have been successful at attracting tourists to parks and protected areas, and their spending provides financial support for biodiversity conservation, livelihoods, and economic growth in developing countries. Nevertheless, studies of the impacts of tourism development have documented negative environmental impacts locally in terms of land use, food and water consumption, and congestion, and globally in terms of the contribution of tourism to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases related to transportation and other tourist activities. Studies of the social impacts of tourism have documented experiences of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, race, sex, and national identity.

The sustainability of tourism as an economic sector has been examined in terms of its vulnerability to civil conflict, economic shocks, natural disasters, and public health pandemics. Most studies conclude that tourism may have positive impacts for regional development and environmental conservation, but there is evidence that tourism inherently generates negative environmental impacts, primarily through pollutions stemming from transportation. The regional benefits of tourism development must be considered alongside the global impacts of increased transportation and tourism participation. Global tourism has also been shown to be vulnerable to economic crises, oil price shocks, and global outbreaks of infectious diseases. Given that tourism is dependent on energy, the movement of people, and the consumption of resources, virtually all tourism activities have significant economic, environmental, and sustainable impacts. As such, the role of tourism in sustainable development is highly questionable. Future research on the role of tourism in sustainable development should focus on reducing the negative impacts of tourism development, both regionally and globally.

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Characteristics of the Tourism Industry

The service sector has several typical characteristics, and the tourism sector also shows some of these. These characteristics determine the industry’s scope and the mix of marketing strategies that can be used to increase sales in the industry.

Intangibility

Many tourism products are intangible. The services related to the tourism industry cannot be seen, touched, or felt. The person can experience the tour or related services but does not get any tangible product in hand. Thus travel products like the flight experience, the cruise experience, or the experience of the view are experiences.

The experience can be remembered and enjoyed again. There are tangible components like the hotel bed and food that are products nit they are part of the experience, and they are not the product that the customers seek but the intangible benefits of pleasure and relaxation, etc., that the customer desires. Even those tangible products that are purchased are essential to gain access to the intangible experiential aspects.

Perishability

Perishability means that the product’s life has a deadline, and once the deadline passes, the product is unavailable for sale. All tourism products are perishable, like the capacity of hotels, entry to tourism sites, etc. These cannot be stored till the consumer decides. Thus, the travel services need to be consumed as soon as they are produced.

For example, for each flight, there are tickets to seats that the airline has to sell, and the hotel has rooms that need to be rented out every night. Thus tourism services are considered highly perishable. Because the tourist cannot visit the place or stay in the hotel, the opportunity is lost, and the product cannot be stored for the future.

There are several strategies that the industry uses to resolve this issue. One strategy is to overbook. For example, as the airline overbooks the seats for flights anticipating that there will be a certain number of customers that do not board the flight, the overbooking ensures that the flight is fully seated.

Yet another marketing strategy is the setting up of multiple distribution outlets. One example is that flight tickets are available from several sources like an airline office, a tour operator , or even a travel agent. In this way, the perishability of the product reduces. Yet another strategy to encourage consumption is to offer discounts.

The services provided in the tourism industry are intangible and cannot be stored as inventory or stored in any way for future consumption. As explained above, an airline has tickets that need to be sold for every flight, and a hotel has rooms they need to rent for each night. If the airline fails to sell the seats within a particular time, the opportunity to sell the product is lost. The service sector can’t keep inventory like the product-based industry.

Heterogeneity

The products offered by the tourism industry are not homogeneous. The services provided in the sector are not standardized. Tourism companies have tried to standardize service delivery by training the staff for efficiency and using quality control to maintain and control standards. Still, because of the human element involved, some differences exist. For example, there are certain products like two days and three-night stay package at a hotel – which is standardized, but the experience of the package when it is consumed is different.

Other factors that lead to differences are that for most services, the consumer must have physical interaction with the service producer, and the consumers have different sets of expectations; therefore, the same product is perceived differently by the consumers. Several external factors affect the tourism experience.

People-Centric

The tourism industry is dependent on people’s interactions from booking to accommodation. As mentioned above, there is a high degree of interaction in the industry at different stages of the experience, from booking the ticket to staying at the hotel to going sightseeing, and so on. The tourism industry is very people-oriented, and several service providers have high contact with the consumers. Some service providers provide excellent contact with the consumers and others have poor. That is why the tourism industry is a people-centric industry,

Inseparability

Many tangible products are produced at one place and time and then consumed in another place at another time. But most travel-related products are both made and consumed at the same time and in the same place. For example, a tourist experiences a wildlife safari while the safari is underway.

Thus, in this case, the production and the consumption are simultaneous. Thus, there is a certain level of interdependence between the producers and the consumers; also, the consumers need to come to the producers to consume the product. It is this interaction between the consumers and the producers which shape the consumer experience.

Demand Fluctuations

Demand fluctuation is one of the major issues that the tourism industry faces. It is an industry that has to deal with seasonal demand fluctuations. Apart from this, it is also influenced by natural or artificial events (like natural disasters) events (like riots, war, etc.) that can affect demand.

Small Business Industry

The Department of Tourism has reported that about 70% of the businesses in the tourism sector employ less than ten employees making this a classic small business industry. The nature of the business and the ease of entry are the primary reasons why it is a small business industry.

Private Sector Driven

The governments usually run marketing campaigns to build tourist interest in the destination as well as the development of the infrastructure (like roads, airports, management of national parks, etc.) but other than that; there is very little assistance that they provide. So the business owner has to design his own tour packages and conduct the tours themselves; thus, they take care of the business themselves.

Decentralized Industry

Several different services fall under the ambit of the tourism industry. Also, there are a number of different service providers offering different services. Apart from this, for different locations, the services and service providers are also different. Thus making the industry very decentralized with players of all sizes.

Related Expertise: Transportation and Logistics , Customer Demand

What Travel and Tourism Consumers Really Want—and Why

September 25, 2019  By  Jean Lee ,  Lara Koslow ,  Greg McRoskey ,  Pranay Jhunjhunwala , and  Jason Guggenheim

There has never been a better time to be a travel consumer, as new brands and innovative offerings continue to emerge all the time. But there has also never been a tougher time to be a travel executive—especially at incumbent companies. Those new offerings? They come from wave after wave of disruptive new entrants. In today’s environment, the traditional approach to understanding consumers—which focuses primarily on demographics and basic behaviors—no longer delivers the level of insight that companies need. Instead, companies need to understand what the underlying factors that influence a purchase decision are and how that decision can change, depending on a consumer’s context at the time of purchase and on the range of options available. Ultimately, companies will be in a better position to grow if they think less about what they’re trying to sell and more about what customers want to buy.

Over the past several years, companies in a number of other industries—most notably Identifying the Sources of Demand to Fuel Growth —have applied this approach, which we call demand-centric growth (DCG) . Increasingly, travel and tourism companies are using DCG to crack the code of a more dynamic market characterized by greatly expanded consumer choice. The concept has broad implications for new products and brands, loyalty programs, M&A, and other key areas of company strategy. For incumbent travel and tourism companies, it offers a clear way to address a tough market that is changing faster than they can.

Traditional Solutions No Longer Work

By most metrics, the travel industry is thriving overall and continues to grow, but the news is not all good. Supply has exploded, due to growth among incumbent companies and recent entrants that offer a wider set of options—some entirely new to the industry. In the cruise industry, supply will outpace demand within the next several years. In the lodging industry, Air­bnb and other shared-economy entrants have changed the rules of the game by putting private apartments and homes on the market, thereby reducing the demand for hotel rooms.

Established companies in all travel and tourism segments—airlines, cruise lines, and hotels—are struggling to tap into new growth or wrest market share away from competitors. They have tried various strategies, with little success so far. Here are some common examples:

• Choosing Quantity over Quality. Some companies have put near-term growth ahead of all other objectives, to the point where they can’t deliver a consistent experience.
• Overrelying on Unsustainable Advantages. Other companies have attempted to aggressively control supply—as when some airlines hold gate slots at airports in order to limit competition—giving themselves a high share of booking customers not because the customers prefer them but because the customers have no choice. It’s only a matter of time before regulations evolve and supply again increases to meet growing demand.
• Stretching the Brand Too Far. Still other companies try to be all things to all consumers—and end up being nothing to anyone because they lack a clear and differentiated position in the market. Think of a resort that offers guests a party scene but also touts family-friendly vacations. It’s hard to satisfy the full range of consumer preferences, especially conflicting ones. Companies that have tried to do so end up not being able to maintain any clear emotional connections to consumers.
• Joining the Race to the Bottom. It’s tempting to gain share by offering price discounts, but that game is expensive and difficult, and it is rarely sustainable. Price wars usually result in lose-lose outcomes—confusing customers and dissolving any nascent brand loyalty when brands inevitably try to recover by raising prices.

The common flaw in these strategies is that they lack a deep understanding of what consumers want, how their needs may vary from one occasion to another, and where they may look to meet their needs. (See Exhibit 1.) Often, customers have more options than companies think. For example, the Delta Shuttle connecting New York, Boston, Washington, and Chicago competes not just with other airlines but also with Amtrak. Airlines in Asia and Europe compete with high-speed rail lines. Cruise lines compete with each other and also with land-based vacations. A hotel company can no longer afford to focus exclu­sively on other hotels as its competition; it must also consider owner-rented homes as potential rivals. Evidently, the traditional frames of reference in travel and tourism are broken.

Clear Advantages from a New Approach: DCG

To understand how consumers make choices on the basis of their real-world frame of reference, companies need to look at customer behavior in a fundamentally new way. Specifically, they need to understand how demand can fuel growth, either by taking market share from competitors or by unlocking new sources of revenue. DCG establishes this broader considera­tion set by examining choices through the lens of demand versus supply. It takes into account the set of underlying consumer needs that companies may or may not be meeting despite the choices consumers make in response to available supply. In a supply-constrained world, for example, travelers flying from a hub city typically turn to the dominant airline—not because they want to, but because the airline’s more convenient flight schedules and connections effectively force them to. Finally, DCG appreciates that consumers’ needs and interests are not static, and it analyzes the unique circumstances that may drive travelers to make different decisions when planning different trips.

The DCG approach has several qualities that incumbent travel and tourism companies will find advantageous:

• Lasting. Unlike demographic-based marketing, DCG helps companies understand how and why individual consumers make their choices about travel, leading to a far more accurate and enduring picture of the market. At times, it can illuminate factors that even consumers themselves can’t articulate. The result is a much more sustainable approach to growth—one that is built on a simple yet comprehensive view of demand.
• Holistic . DCG looks at demand holistically, considering both existing and prospective customers, and both traditional and disruptive competitors. This encourages companies to devise a forward-looking growth strategy grounded not just in what is, but in what could or should be, shedding light on missed opportunities and potential white spaces in the market. In addition, by replacing a traditional brand-based market perspective with an outside-in approach, DCG provides an objective, customer-centric view of where a company stands relative to its competitors.
• Quantifiable. DCG helps companies quantify the opportunities that potential initiatives present, by assessing latent demand and competitive inten­sity. Only through this lens can com­panies understand their potential share of a consumer’s wallet and begin to shape a winning, customer-centric strategy. (See the sidebar “IHG’s New Hotel Brand Addresses an Unmet Need Among Budget-Conscious Travelers.”) By describing the opportunity in terms of actual numbers, DCG brings science to the art.

IHG’s New Hotel Brand Addresses an Unmet Need Among Budget-Conscious Travelers

IHG, the parent company of such hotel brands as InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, and Holiday Inn Express, was looking for new growth in a portfolio that was already strong. Management was concerned about being fully saturated in the company’s largest markets. It used demand-centric growth to identify a clear unmet need among hotel customers: a mass offering that provided reliable quality in the form of a great night’s sleep in a clean, well-designed room at a fair price. (Current alternatives in the market were either at a price point higher than consumers desired for this type of travel or very unreliable in terms of quality and consistency.)

IHG repositioned its existing brands and offerings to minimize overlap, and then invested in the new hotel brand, which it called avid hotels. Key features include: rooms designed for sound sleep, featuring a “best in class” mattress and sleep experience; high-quality, complimentary grab-and-go breakfast with 24/7 bean-to-cup coffee; and public spaces with fresh, modern designs. This brand is designed for travelers who want a hotel stay that finally meets their expectations for the type of hospitality they value most—the basics done exceptionally well—at a per-night rate expected to be about $10 to $15 less than IHG’s industry-leading Holiday Inn Express brand.

IHG launched the new avid hotels brand in September 2017, less than a year after the start of brand development—an accelerated pace in the hotel industry. Today, there are over 170 executed licenses with franchisees to build and open hotels across the US, Canada, and Mexico, and IHG recently announced plans to expand to Germany. Credit Suisse described avid hotels as the “most significant addition to IHG’s brand stable in over 25 years” and upgraded the stock to “outperform” as a result.

• Foundational.  Establishing a baseline understanding of demand gives com­panies a north star and a common language to use in aligning the entire organization. It is not just a consumer strategy but a company strategy. After assessing the demand landscape and analyzing sales volume and brand fit, management might decide to launch a new route or a new service offering, acquire a competitor that has a stronger position relative to that target, or shift investment to areas where a brand may be vulnerable to attack. (See Exhibit 2.) Every touch point in the customer journey should reinforce the brand’s positioning. And the company should align every one of its internal aspects and functions—from pricing to sales and marketing to capacity planning to organizational structure—to execute the strategy successfully.

• Transformational. Finally, DCG helps companies assemble portfolios of complementary brands. As a result, they can determine what the right M&A strategy is, whether to launch a new brand, or how to design their loyalty program. (See the sidebar “Alaska Airlines Integrates a Customer-Centric Merger.”) 

Alaska Airlines Integrates a Customer-Centric Merger

After Alaska Airlines’ parent company bought Virgin America in 2016, it faced some key questions about the post­merger organization. Should it keep Virgin’s brand (licensed from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group) or operate under the 85-year-old Alaska Airlines brand? Should it strive to become a nationally relevant brand or stay focused on the West Coast, where Alaska and Virgin America were both well known? And how should it position the brand vis-à-vis the competition? The stakes were high: the $2.6 billion Virgin America acquisition was costly in relation to Alaska Air Group’s market cap of about $10 billion. As a company that has always centered around the customer, Alaska knew that it couldn’t make these decisions in the boardroom alone. Management needed to understand its customers.

The Alaska management team used demand-centric growth to identify several key insights. First, a deep customer analysis showed that Alaska had industry-­leading customer retention and loyalty once customers got to know the brand, whereas Virgin America was stronger in customer acquisition but somewhat less sustainable long-term. (Virgin America did appeal strongly to some customers, but they were a relatively narrow segment overall.) That led Alaska to announce that the Virgin America brand would be phased out over time; the distinctive red and white aircraft would eventually all display Alaska’s smiling Eskimo. In terms of the route network, Alaska had very strong brand affinity among West Coast travelers, and its customers cared deeply about route coverage in those markets. Armed with these insights, the company ran some economic simulations that pointed to a clear answer: focus on the West Coast.

Second, the company looked at the landscape of demand and implemented a new customer strategy centered on the concepts “feel good” and “refreshed”—a differentiating positioning that leverages the strength of both the Alaska Airlines and the Virgin America brands while balancing what existing customers already love with areas for potential innovation.

To activate this strategy, after conducting a robust conjoint analysis with target customers, the company rolled out a campaign with the slogan “Different Works” and reprioritized investments into experiential aspects that airline customers truly care about: feeling good and refreshed. Elements of the campaign included everything from new loyalty policies to bolder entertainment investments to music in airport ticketing and check-in areas. The company also empowered employees to ensure that customer interactions were positive, caring, and true to Alaska’s core.

In 2018 Alaska Airlines—the only legacy US carrier to have avoided bankruptcy throughout its 85-year history—ranked highest in the J.D. Power survey of customer satisfaction among traditional carriers for the 11th consecutive year.

It can also give companies critical guidance on the optimal way to enter a new market. The approach goes beyond assessing the performance of individual brands to show how a portfolio fits together. When brands within a portfolio lack differentiation from one another, parent companies risk confusing customers and cannibalizing sales. (See Exhibit 3.) At the same time, portfolio companies often miss out on clearly identifiable white-space opportunities. Brands compete internally for resources, too, and misaligned incentives often exacerbate disputes. A demand-centric growth approach sets up brands to compete together, rather than against each other.

The travel and tourism industry is ripe for customer-focused innovation—and so far, new entrants are getting there faster. As choices proliferate and consumer behavior becomes more complex, traditional demographic-based marketing will no longer suffice. Incumbent companies can continue to focus on price or supply, and suffer disruption from new entrants, or they can start taking steps to become more customer-centric, starting with developing a better understanding of what truly drives their customers’ decisions. Demand-centric growth provides a foundation for that understanding by clarifying what consumers want at the moment of purchase—and why.

Partner & Director, Customer Centricity

Managing Director & Senior Partner

Partner & Associate Director

Los Angeles

Managing Director & Senior Partner, Travel & Tourism Global Leader

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Travel and tourism in Russia - statistics & facts

Covid-19 impact on russians' travel destinations, impact of the war in ukraine on tourism in russia, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Russia 2019-2023

Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Russia 2019-2023

Tourism spending in Russia 2019-2022, by travel purpose

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Destinations

Leading outbound travel destinations in Russia 2021-2022

Number of outbound tourism trips from Russia 2014-2022

Leading source markets for travel to Russia 2020-2022, by arrivals

Further recommended statistics

• Premium Statistic Countries with the highest outbound tourism expenditure worldwide 2019-2022
• Premium Statistic Travel industry revenue distribution in Russia 2022, by segment
• Premium Statistic Tourism spending in Russia 2019-2022, by travel purpose
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Russia 2019-2023
• Basic Statistic Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Russia 2019-2023

Countries with the highest outbound tourism expenditure worldwide 2019-2022

Countries with the highest outbound tourism expenditure worldwide from 2019 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Travel industry revenue distribution in Russia 2022, by segment

Distribution of travel industry revenue in Russia in 2022, by segment

Travel and tourism spending in Russia from 2019 to 2022, by purpose (in billion U.S. dollars)

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Russia 2019-2023

Total contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) in Russia from 2019 to 2023 (in billion Russian rubles)

Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Russia 2019-2023

Total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Russia from 2019 to 2023 (in million jobs)

Outbound tourism

• Basic Statistic Outbound travel expenditure in Russia 2011-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of outbound tourism trips from Russia 2014-2022
• Premium Statistic Leading outbound travel destinations in Russia 2021-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of outbound tourists from Russia 2022, by territory
• Premium Statistic Outbound tourist flow growth in Russia 2022, by destination
• Premium Statistic European Union (EU) Schengen visas issued in Russia 2010-2023

Outbound travel expenditure in Russia 2011-2022

Outbound travel expenditure in Russia from 2011 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Number of outbound tourism trips from Russia from 2014 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

Number of outbound travel visits from Russia from 2021 to 2022, by destination (in 1,000s)

Number of outbound tourists from Russia 2022, by territory

Number of Russians travelling abroad with tourism purposes in 2022, by territory (in 1,000s)

Outbound tourist flow growth in Russia 2022, by destination

Growth in outbound travelers with tourism purposes from Russia in 2022 compared to 2019, by selected destination

European Union (EU) Schengen visas issued in Russia 2010-2023

Number of Schengen Area visas issued from applications to consulates in Russia from 2010 to 2023*

Inbound and domestic tourism

• Basic Statistic International tourism spending in Russia 2011-2022
• Premium Statistic Leading source markets for travel to Russia 2020-2022, by arrivals
• Basic Statistic Domestic travel spending in Russia 2019-2022
• Basic Statistic Number of nature protected areas in Russia 2015-2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Estimated demand for inbound tourism in Russia Q1 2014-Q3 2023
• Premium Statistic Inbound tourist flow growth in Russia 2020-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of inbound tourist arrivals in Russia 2014-2022

International tourism spending in Russia 2011-2022

Spending of international tourists in Russia from 2011 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Leading inbound tourism markets visiting Russia from 2020 to 2022, by number of trips (in 1,000s)

Domestic travel spending in Russia 2019-2022

Domestic tourism expenditure in Russia from 2019 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Number of nature protected areas in Russia 2015-2022, by type

Number of nature conservation areas in Russia from 2015 to 2022, by type

Estimated demand for inbound tourism in Russia Q1 2014-Q3 2023

Estimated balance of demand for inbound tourism in Russia from 1st quarter 2014 to 3rd quarter 2023

Inbound tourist flow growth in Russia 2020-2023

Year-over-year growth in inbound tourism trips with tourism purposes in Russia from 2020 to 2023

Number of inbound tourist arrivals in Russia 2014-2022

Number of inbound tourism visits to Russia from 2014 to 2022 (in 1,000s)

Travel companies

• Premium Statistic Travel industry organizations distribution in Russia 2022, by segment
• Premium Statistic Number of tourism companies in Russia 2010-2022
• Premium Statistic Most popular travel websites in Russia 2023, by traffic

Travel industry organizations distribution in Russia 2022, by segment

Distribution of travel industry organizations in Russia in 2022, by segment

Number of tourism companies in Russia 2010-2022

Number of travel agencies and reservation service establishments in Russia from 2010 to 2022

Most popular travel websites in Russia 2023, by traffic

Leading travel and tourism websites in Russia in August 2023, by monthly visits (in millions)

Package tours

• Premium Statistic Number of package tours sold in Russia 2014-2021, by type
• Premium Statistic Value of package tours sold in Russia 2014-2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Package tour cost in Russia 2014-2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Most popular travel destinations on package tours in Russia 2022

Number of package tours sold in Russia 2014-2021, by type

Number of package tours sold in Russia from 2014 to 2021, by tourism type (in 1,000s)

Value of package tours sold in Russia 2014-2022, by type

Total value of package tours sold in Russia from 2014 to 2022, by tourism type (in billion Russian rubles)

Package tour cost in Russia 2014-2022, by type

Average cost of a package tour in Russia from 2014 to 2022, by tourism type (in 1,000 Russian rubles)

Most popular travel destinations on package tours in Russia 2022

Number of outbound tourists sent on tours by travel agencies in Russia in 2022, by destination (in 1,000s)

Transportation

• Premium Statistic Number of domestic airline passengers in Russia monthly 2020-2022
• Premium Statistic Passenger traffic growth of airlines in Russia 2021
• Premium Statistic Travel transportation consumer price in Russia 2022, by type

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Year-over-year growth rate in air passengers in Russia in 2021, by carrier

Travel transportation consumer price in Russia 2022, by type

Average consumer price of travel transportation in Russia in 2022, by type (in Russian rubles)

Accommodation

• Basic Statistic Paid travel accommodation services value in Russia 2015-2022
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Number of visitors in hotels and similar accommodation establishments in Russia in 2022, by purpose of travel (in 1,000s)

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Travel behavior

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Reasons to not travel long-haul in Russia 2022

Main reasons for avoiding travel outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Russia from September to December 2022

Intention to travel to Europe in Russia 2019-2022

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Where do you plan to spend your vacation this summer?

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Attitudes towards traveling in Russia as of March 2023

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Travel product online bookings in Russia as of March 2023

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Tourists’ Characteristics, Travel Motivation and Satisfaction

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• Osvaldo Silva 9 ,
• Teresa Medeiros 10 ,
• Ana Isabel Moniz 11 ,
• Licínio Tomás 9 ,
• Sheila Furtado 12 &
• Joaquim Ferreira 13  

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 171))

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Our society is growing older and it is important to develop the senior tourism market. Consumers aged 55 and older are a fastest growing market segment and a major business opportunity. The purpose of this research is to develop and test a model to investigate the characteristics of the senior tourists that affect the factors of travel motivation and travel satisfaction. We intent to explore the existence of statistically significant differences in satisfaction between groups of senior tourists using the same categories. A path analysis is carried out in order to describe direct dependencies among a set of variables. In this study (n=537 senior tourists visiting the Azores islands) a model is proposed to identify the senior tourists’ characteristics which significantly affect each of the dependent variables (motivation factors and satisfaction) and which types of effects explain the association among variables. Travel satisfaction depends both on age group and perception of health status by the senior tourists. New opportunities can be found for both public and private sectors to develop and marketing new tourism products that can attract the right senior market segments.

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Osvaldo Silva & Licínio Tomás

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Teresa Medeiros

CEEAplA, Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Ana Isabel Moniz

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João Vidal de Carvalho

School of Hospitality and Tourism, Polytechnic of Porto, Vila do Conde, Portugal

Dália Liberato

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Silva, O., Medeiros, T., Moniz, A.I., Tomás, L., Furtado, S., Ferreira, J. (2020). Tourists’ Characteristics, Travel Motivation and Satisfaction. In: Rocha, Á., Abreu, A., de Carvalho, J., Liberato, D., González, E., Liberato, P. (eds) Advances in Tourism, Technology and Smart Systems. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 171. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2024-2_38

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These are the top 10 countries for travel and tourism

The US retains its prime position in the World Economic Forum's latest Travel & Tourism Development Index. Image:  Unsplash/EveLazco

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• Pent-up demand after the pandemic is expected to drive passenger numbers back up to pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
• The recovery of the travel and tourism sector since the pandemic has been uneven, however, and some nations are better placed than others to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the future.
• The top three best-placed countries for travel and tourism are the US, Spain and Japan, according to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index.

If you were desperate to get away after the restrictions and enforced staying at home of the pandemic years, you were far from alone.

Global international tourist arrivals are expected to meet pre-pandemic levels in 2024 driven by this pent-up demand. But, the recovery of the travel and tourism sector since the pandemic has not been without challenges. Add to that macroeconomic, geopolitical and environmental factors, which have added pressures on the industry.

These pressures will amplify and evolve over the coming years and, along with the growth of digital technologies and AI, may well force the travel industry to adapt.

Some economies are better placed than others to make these changes, respond to future risks and ensure that travel and tourism is a driver of economic growth and prosperity.

With this in mind, the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) aims to serve as a benchmark for stakeholders to gauge progress, inform decisions and policies, and encourage sustainable and resilient growth.

A mixed recovery in challenging conditions

Europe dominates the top 10 economies for T&T, as ranked by the 2023 index, although the top spot is clinched by the US.

But the index also shows that while 71 of the 119 economies it ranks improved their scores between 2019 and 2023, the average improvement is just 0.7% above pre-pandemic levels.

On the one hand, the rebound in travel and tourism has coincided with rising global air route capacity and connectivity, improved international openness, and increased investment in natural and cultural resources driving tourism. On the other hand, non-leisure demand is still lagging, there are ongoing labour shortages, and air route capacity and connectivity, capital investment and productivity have struggled to keep pace with demand.

This has created a supply and demand imbalance which, along with inflationary pressures, has led to reduced price competitiveness and service disruptions.

Europe and Asia-Pacific have the most favourable conditions

Of the top 30 TTDI scorers in 2023, 26 are high-income countries. Nineteen of them are based in Europe, and seven in Asia Pacific.

These countries benefit from favourable business environments and labour markets, open travel policies, advanced technology adoption, excellent transport and tourism infrastructure, and rich natural, cultural and non-leisure attractions.

As a result, this group of 30 accounted for more than three-quarters of T&T industry GDP in 2022, and 70% of GDP growth between 2020 and 2022.

But although this group is leading the way, many of the above-average improvements in scores come from low- to upper-middle-income countries, including sub-Saharan and North Africa, Eurasia, South America, South Asia, and the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

While many have shown improvements, these less affluent countries still make up the vast majority of below-average scorers in the index. More investment is needed to help increase their share of the market and improve their readiness for future risks and opportunities.

Progress needed on resilience and equality

The ability of the travel and tourism sector to grow is limited by challenges like tight labour markets, growing fiscal constraints and concerns around health and security conditions. Labour market resilience will be an increasingly important factor for the sector, but issues like equality of job opportunities, workers’ rights and social protection are holding many economies – particularly low- and middle-income ones – back in this area.

As other sectors proceed to decarbonize, the aviation sector could account for a much higher share of global greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century than its 2%-3% share today.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) can reduce the life-cycle carbon footprint of aviation fuel by up to 80%, but they currently make up less than 0.1% of total aviation fuel consumption. Enabling a shift from fossil fuels to SAFs will require a significant increase in production, which is a costly investment.

The Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow (CST) Coalition is a global initiative driving the transition to sustainable aviation fuels as part of the aviation industry’s ambitious efforts to achieve carbon-neutral flying.

The coalition brings together government leaders, climate experts and CEOs from aviation, energy, finance and other sectors who agree on the urgent need to help the aviation industry reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The coalition aims to advance the commercial scale of viable production of sustainable low-carbon aviation fuels (bio and synthetic) for broad adoption in the industry by 2030. Initiatives include a mechanism for aggregating demand for carbon-neutral flying, a co-investment vehicle and geographically specific value-chain industry blueprints.

Learn more about the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition's impact and contact us to find out how you can get involved.

Another major hurdle for the sector is balancing growth with sustainability. Although there has been broad progress in areas like energy sustainability, some progress – like the fall in emissions seen during the pandemic – is likely to only be temporary.

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Where should i change USD to ruble and buy sim card upon arrival my arrival at airport next week. Appreciate your help.

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This post has been removed at the author's request.

Regardless of the airport, the exchange rate will be a total ripoff, buy only minimal amount you will need for your transportation to the city. Exchange the rest in the city.

Make sure to buy your SIM card in an actual cell operator store, with a door and walls and a ceiling. There used to be scammers selling SIM cards from tables at the airports, don't buy from them.

As they’ve became a little bit nit-picky for USD notes lately I would only take USD notes in perfect condition along to Russia. For EUR notes they are a little bit less nit-picky. I would only exchange a small amount at a Russian airport and more in the city as the rates are better in the city. Keep in mind that non-Russian cards are not working in Russia so you should take enough spare money along. Also if you are arriving late in the evening or after midnight when the trains don’t run anymore you should watch out for taxis with tampered taxi meter apps. Better use a taxi app like Yandex Go. For SIM cards I would use an E-SIM like Airalo or CMLink Global. Last year when I went to Russia my CMLink Global SIM card was working when I manually chose Tele2 over 3G. Otherwise buying a Russian SIM card in an airport on arrival or in the city would also be possible.

Thank you so much for your advice. Noted.

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Tidal innovations: Charting the course for coastal urban sustainability

E stuarine cities, as a unique type of coastal city, face distinct development and conservation challenges. Issues such as global warming, sea-level rise, and human activities significantly impact their ecological environments, making them challenging for achieving sustainable development goals.

Academic attention to estuarine cities has been limited, however, with a lack of clear definitions and systematic development models. Due to these challenges, there is a pressing need for in-depth research to explore the unique characteristics and sustainable development strategies of estuarine cities.

Research conducted by Professor Chen Mingxing's team at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the Journal of Geographical Sciences on January 12, 2024. The study utilizes global river and city data and systematically analyzes the geographical and socioeconomic characteristics of 50 representative estuarine cities at the mouth of the great river.

The study identifies the unique natural geographical features of estuarine cities, including low altitude, flat terrain, and abundant biological resources. The climate is favorable, with average annual temperatures between 10°C and 25°C and ample precipitation, resulting in high biological productivity.

Socioeconomically, these cities exhibit significant variations in population size and economic development. Some cities have populations exceeding 10 million, while others have less than 0.1 million. Infrastructure is relatively well-developed, with high transportation network density and significant port throughput.

The research proposes eight characteristic development models for estuarine cities, including open and inclusive city spirit, high-quality livable cities, innovation-driven development, efficient port-city integration, international financial center construction, ecological protection and restoration, active cultural tourism promotion, and international exchanges.

Professor Chen Mingxing stated, "Estuarine cities are frontier regions facing global changes and sustainable development challenges, thus studying the unique geographical and socioeconomic characteristics of these cities is crucial. Our research not only provides theoretical support for the development of estuarine cities but also offers practical guidance for policymakers and urban planners."

The findings of this study have significant implications for the development of global estuarine cities. By understanding the unique characteristics and development models of estuarine cities, policymakers can better formulate sustainable development strategies to promote ecological protection and economic growth in these areas.

In addition, the eight proposed development models offer valuable references for other types of coastal cities, which may further contribute to the achievement of global urban sustainability goals.

More information: Mingxing Chen et al, Geographical features and development models of estuarine cities, Journal of Geographical Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s11442-024-2193-3

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Sober travelers find something to savor in wine country

Mocktail trails, olive oil tours and elevated dining experiences are among the many ways the renowned wine-producing areas of Sonoma, Mendoza and Tuscany are appealing to sober or sober-curious travelers

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Amy Snook knows more about wine than your average traveler. Originally from California, she now lives in the Douro Valley of Portugal, her partner works in the wine industry, and she has visited 47 countries, many of which have celebrated viticulture. But seven years ago, on a trip to Mendoza, a winemaking region in the foothills of Argentina’s Andes Mountains, she opted to abstain from drinking alcohol, a decision she would repeat in future travels.

“It’s such a long flight to Argentina, and I was only there for 10 days,” said Snook, 34, a publishing professional. “I’m aware of how alcohol affects me, and I chose to prioritize feeling amazing every day of the trip over dealing with a hangover.”

During her visit, Snook bicycled between vineyards, reveled in breathtaking scenery, relaxed with spa treatments and engaged with sommeliers and winemakers, coming away with a new appreciation for sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

“The obvious question when you tell someone that you aren’t drinking is, ‘Out of all the places you could go, why travel to wine country?’” she said. “But to me, it makes perfect sense because these regions offer all the perks of luxury travel — wellness amenities, beautiful landscapes and fine dining.”

With 41 percent of Americans seeking to reduce their alcohol intake, according to a consumer-sentiment study released in January by NCSolutions, Snook’s experience is part of a larger trend: the rise of sober-curious or mindful drinking. While sober travel is hardly a new concept, its popularity is surging to new heights — particularly among younger generations — and forcing a reckoning in the wine industry. The 2024 State of the U.S. Wine Industry report, an annual forecast of market conditions and trends written by wine-business analyst Rob McMillan, found that 52 percent of consumers ages 21 to 34 believe that consuming alcohol, even in moderation, is bad for your health.

This trend is reshaping travel to world-class wine destinations like Sonoma County, in California, as well as Tuscany, in Italy, and Mendoza. Blessed with temperate climates, extended growing seasons, fertile soils, rich histories and breathtaking vistas, these renowned wine locales are expanding their offerings to attract drinkers and nondrinkers.

Here are some of the restaurants, tour groups and wineries in those regions that are reinventing the travel experience to be more inclusive of the sober-curious.

Dining in Sonoma

If wine is a true expression of the land, embodying the unique characteristics of its soil, weather and the meticulous craftsmanship of those who cultivate it, can you still forge that connection without drinking?

At Cyrus, a Michelin-starred fine dining destination in Geyserville, California, the answer is a resounding yes. Sonoma County, double the size of neighboring Napa, made conscious decisions to protect and diversify its land use, ensuring grapes as well as agricultural crops were grown. Douglas Keane, Cyrus’ owner and chef, highlights the local harvest by working with small farms and purveyors to source his ingredients. Crosnes — a Chinese artichoke — from Alexander Valley Vineyards gardens, yuzu and finger limes from citrus grower David Levine, and cheese from Andante Dairy have all ended up on Cyrus’ menu.

Also on the menu: Kally, an alcohol-free wine alternative produced with housemade organic verjuice and sourced from Northern California. Served at more than 15 other Michelin-starred restaurants, Kally’s bottles include Early Chardonnay, which is crisp, bright and changes flavor and aroma as it moves across the palate, similar to a fine wine. A tart, vibrant Golden Sparkler has notes of jasmine and citrus, and a floral, fruity Rosé Sparkler offers hints of strawberry and hibiscus.

“Chefs and sommeliers are interested in having precise nonalcoholic pairings. Their food was created to be prepared with sophisticated drinks, not just sparkling water,” said Scott Mitic, who created the beverage along with his wife, Katie.

Customers, too, appreciate having a choice, he said, noting that many of Kally’s most loyal drinkers are wine enthusiasts. “This is not an abstinence movement; it is a moderation movement,” he said.

Cyrus Schultz, wine director and sommelier at Cyrus, aims to create drinks that make sober guests feel just as special, if not more, than those indulging in traditional wine pairings. His nonalcoholic creations include the Rosé Champagne, an effervescent blend of coconut, white sesame, cherry blossom and lime, and the Apple Martini, a sweet, herbaceous concoction of pink lady apple, fennel and mint olive oil.

“The intention is never to mimic alcohol products, but to construct the pairings similarly to how a chef looks at a menu — different textures, temperatures and flavor profiles,” Schultz said.

These efforts are not limited to one restaurant. Chris Vomvolakis, senior manager of consumer public relations at Sonoma County Tourism, said bars, restaurants and wineries across the region are recognizing that it’s not all about wine.

The town of Healdsburg recently created the Mocktail Trail, with eight participating restaurants, and Meadowcroft Wines in the town of Sonoma curated a flight of original zero-proof cocktails. David Messerli, Meadowcroft’s marketing and strategy director, said the winery encourages guests “to discern aromas, flavors and nuances, much like they would with wine.”

“For those opting out of alcohol, we felt there was more we could do,” he said. “People have various reasons for abstaining from alcohol, and no one should feel excluded because of it.”

Women-led luxury in Mendoza

Mendoza, renowned for its malbec wines and stunning Andean landscapes, is no stranger to luxury accouterments, but sober guests? That is a newer phenomenon. “We have definitely noticed an increase in guests seeking nonalcoholic travel options in recent years,” said Victoria Stiles, sales manager at Cavas Wine Lodge, a luxury 18-room hotel set amid a 55-acre vineyard.

At Cavas, wine may be the main attraction, but guests can book spa treatments using vine and grape-seed extracts, join yoga sessions on the private terrace overlooking the Andes and vineyards, and take full-day hiking excursions to Aconcagua Provincial Park, a rugged, mountainous destination that is home to Mount Aconcagua, South America’s highest peak.

Wild Terrains, a certified B-Corp travel company specializing in experiences for women, has planned three days of a 10-day Argentina tour to be sober-inclusive in Mendoza. Built around women-owned businesses, stops include boutique lodging at Entre Cielos, horseback riding in the Andean foothills, home-cooked asado at Estancia Los Chulengos and a private dining experience at Michelin-starred Zonda Cocina de Paisaje. The meal offers special mocktail pairings with distinct flavors like lemon verbena, beets and burro, an herb used to make digestive teas and infusions.

“In Mendoza, our trip centers on talented female winemakers who are pushing boundaries in a historically male-dominated industry,” said Lauren Bates, founder of Wild Terrains. “While these experiences include wine tastings, we want sober travelers to feel intentionally included even if they are skipping the wine tasting.”

Sofia Pescarmona, owner of the Bodega Lagarde vineyard and Zonda Cocina de Paisaje, said that while the restaurant experience aims to showcase their wine, nondrinkers will also appreciate it.

“We truly believe we can offer an elevated experience for those who don’t drink wine by highlighting other seasonal produce grown on our property,” she said.

Tasting olive oil in Tuscany

Wine tastings epitomize indulgence, especially immersed in the heart of Tuscany, when visitors can savor glass after glass of Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Salvatore Ferragamo Jr., CEO of the Il Borro wine estate and grandson of the fashion house’s founder, encourages guests to find other ways to indulge.

“The olive harvests in the autumn produce the region’s spicy, piquant ‘green gold,’” Ferragamo said.

Il Borro, in Tuscany’s Valdarno, is a meticulously restored medieval village that includes 58 suites, three vacation villas, two restaurants, stables, working vineyards and olive groves. Olive oil production began in 1996, following the recovery of varieties like Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino that had long been neglected. Now, after touring some 80 acres of organic groves, guests can engage in a tasting experience of two distinct oils, one full-bodied with floral, fruity and grassy aromas, the other robust, peppery and dark.

Another option, Tuscan Organic Tours, offers immersive daylong experiences that delve into wine and oil but also other rich agricultural offerings. Delicious tours with private transportation highlight tastes and flavors that include Pecorino di Pienza, one of the most renowned Italian cheeses, saffron and fresh pastas. The tours include visits to organic farms, lunches, tastings, and opportunities to participate in cheese-making and saffron harvesting.

Chitnis is a freelance writer. This article appeared in The New York Times.

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