Abstract
This paper traces the history and evolution of sustainable tourism and identifies some critical issues and omissions in this and related approaches such as responsible tourism, ecotourism and pro-poor tourism. The academic, institutional and practical intersections of sustainable tourism and responsible tourism are examined. It reveals that important theoretical and practical considerations around well-being, inclusion, and sustainability have been omitted. A critical look at ecotourism reveals additional concerns, such as a cornucopia of guidelines and principles, without clear ethical justifications to support them. At the same time, academics in this domain have been slow to consider the modernist and neoliberal influences shaping ecotourism and sustainable tourism development, such as through the discourse of ecological modernization. We identify some key omissions, such as the missing ‘body’ in sustainable tourism discourse, lack of critical analysis of postcolonial and dependency issues, and propose re-situating ‘sustainable tourism’ within a micro–macro, local-global systems approach informed by a clear framework of justice and ethics.
Highlights
This timely Special Issue raises challenging questions as well as opportunities for how we might think differently about sustainable tourism
While steady progress has been made on developing strategies and tools to address conservation and sustainability, critical research that tackles aspects such as the interests, values and agendas that shape various approaches to sustainable tourism development has been slow to emerge
We examine the discourses of sustainable development and ecological modernization that are seen to play an influential role in shaping these concepts; (2) To identify and discuss some key issues and omissions that are revealed in the excavation conducted above, including the challenge of address intangible cultural relationships such as human-environmental relationships in ecotourism; (3) To forward some conceptual approaches and practical directions to better situate sustainable tourism within a framework based justice and an ethic of care
Summary
This timely Special Issue raises challenging questions as well as opportunities for how we might think differently about sustainable tourism. Much of tourism research to date has focused on understanding the relationship between human activity and impact—a largely scientific question—and has been strongly influenced by the discourse of sustainable development launched by the Brundtland. (2) To identify and discuss some key issues and omissions that are revealed in the excavation conducted above, including the challenge of address intangible cultural relationships such as human-environmental relationships in ecotourism;. In the context of this Special Issue, it is first important to revisit the origins, development and debates around the key concepts of responsible tourism and sustainable tourism, two enduring and popular approaches to sustainability that have influenced tourism studies
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