Tourism, sustainable development and the theoretical divide: 20 years on

An anniversary paper written by CTR Deputy Director, Prof. Richard Sharpley (Distinguished University Professor, Wakayama University / Professor, University of Central Lancashire) has been published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
This followed-up his epoch-making paper ¡®Tourism and sustainable development: Exploring the theoretical divide¡¯ which was published 20 years ago and is one of the most read articles in the journal.

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Title

Tourism, sustainable development and the theoretical divide: 20 years on

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Author

Richard Sharpley, Lancashire School of Business & Enterprise, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

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Source

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 28:11, 1932-1946

doi: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1779732

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2020.1779732

*Indexed in Scopus

Journal details: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/14811

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Abstract

A conceptual paper published twenty years ago concluded that sustainable tourism development is an unviable objective. Specifically, it argued that environmentally sound tourism development (sustainable tourism) is essential; sustainable development through tourism, however, is unachievable. Despite continuing alignment between tourism and sustainable development in both academic and policy circles, not only have the intervening two decades proved this argument in practice to be correct, but also there is little evidence of a more sustainable tourism sector. This paper, therefore, returns to the theoretical relationship between tourism and sustainable development, considering more recent transformations in understandings of the concept of development as well as contemporary approaches to sustainable development. Highlighting the controversy surrounding the continuing adherence to economic growth in development policy in general and tourism development in particular, it discusses sustainable de-growth as an alternative approach to development and, in the context of increasing concerns over climate change, the specific implications for tourism.

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Key words

Sustainable tourism, sustainable development, economic growth model, sustainable de-growth