Conceptualizing Destination Resilience From a Multilevel Perspective

Abstract

The concept of resilience has gained momentum in current tourism research, yet there are still flaws and discrepancies between the many notions applied in the field. These limitations are further evident when we focus on tourist destinations. The aim of this article is to advance the conceptualization of destination resilience through a multilevel perspective (MLP) that frames landscape, regime, niche, and actors as integrated elements of the tourism system. The resulting framework encompasses ecological, socioecological, sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and sociotechnological dimensions reflecting the embeddedness of resilience among heterogeneous and potentially complementary destination stakeholders. It is argued that the use of the MLP advances the understanding of tourism destination planning, particularly in contexts coping with gradual as well as drastic changes due to both demand fluctuations and supply-side disturbances.