Abstract
This study examines sustainable tourism products in tourism destinations. Based on concepts of sustainable product design, our study proposes a framework for sustainable tourism products by adapting an existing Design for Sustainability Framework to consider and analyze the characteristics and themes of sustainable (tourism) products as well as their impact and scope. Using a pragmatic qualitative approach, 15 semi-structured interviews with destination managers from the German-speaking Alpine region formed the empirical basis of the study. The results emphasize key themes and multiple characteristics associated with sustainable tourism products in tourist destinations, addressing all sustainability components and design innovation levels. This study is the first to apply existing sustainable product design concepts to destination contexts and discuss their applicability for sustainable tourism products. For practitioners, this study provides support for the development of sustainable tourism products and contributes to a better understanding of the effects and levels of these products as well as sustainability marketing.
Highlights
The tourism industry is an important part of the world economy [1,2] and contributes significantly to economic development in all kinds of areas [3,4,5]
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7957 sustainable product design concepts such as the Development for Sustainability (D4S), our study addresses this gap and the following research questions: Which characteristics and themes of sustainable tourism products are considered important by destination managers?
In order to depict the results in terms of the research objective, the quotes of the individual categories were carefully selected to highlight which themes and characteristics seemed to be crucial for sustainable tourism products amongst the interviewees
Summary
The tourism industry is an important part of the world economy [1,2] and contributes significantly to economic development in all kinds of areas [3,4,5]. Sustainable tourism is essentially a multifunctional set of processes that has evolved with views of protecting the environment, preserving culture(s), and promoting social justice, while offering opportunities for responsible economic development, increasing employment and quality of life, and developing local infrastructure [11,12,13]. The promotion and support of sustainable tourism and, if necessary, the establishment of appropriate legal frameworks is seen as important and is being facilitated by different institutions (e.g., World Tourism Organization [14]). Primary and secondary tourism products are decisive motivational factors for tourists’ travel decisions and of central importance for tourism destinations as key components of sustainable tourism [15]
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