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Sustainable Tourism in Sensitive Environments: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?

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  • Richard Butler

    (Business School, University of Strathclyde, 199 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, Scotland G4 0QU, UK)

Abstract

Sustainable tourism has become a widely adopted term that has allowed many tourism developments to take place under its rubric that are less than sustainable and have been located in sensitive areas that have not all been suitable for such development. The paper reviews the origin and shortcomings of the concept and some of the implications of the resulting problems. It argues for a more critical review of so-called sustainable forms of tourism and for a focus to shift towards increasing the resilience of destinations, particularly those in sensitive areas, in order to shield them from the effects of inappropriate or excessive tourism development.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Butler, 2018. "Sustainable Tourism in Sensitive Environments: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:1789-:d:149605
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Colin Hunter, 2002. "Sustainable Tourism and the Touristic Ecological Footprint," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 7-20, March.
    2. Ruiz-Ballesteros, Esteban, 2011. "Social-ecological resilience and community-based tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 655-666.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mandeep Mahendru & Vibha Arora & Ravi Chatterjee & Gagan Deep Sharma & Irum Shahzadi, 2024. "From Over-Tourism to Under-Tourism via COVID-19: Lessons for Sustainable Tourism Management," Evaluation Review, , vol. 48(1), pages 177-210, February.
    3. Ahmad Salman & Mastura Jaafar & Diana Mohamad & Mana Khoshkam, 2023. "Understanding Multi-stakeholder Complexity & Developing a Causal Recipe (fsQCA) for achieving Sustainable Ecotourism," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 10261-10284, September.
    4. Guiling Wang & Lei Ye, 2022. "Spatial-Temporal Pattern of Mismatch Degree of High-Quality Tourism Development and Its Formation Mechanism in Taihu Lake Basin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Agnieszka Niezgoda & Marek Nowacki, 2020. "Experiencing Nature: Physical Activity, Beauty and Tension in Tatra National Park—Analysis of TripAdvisor Reviews," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Thomas Dax & Oliver Tamme, 2023. "Attractive Landscape Features as Drivers for Sustainable Mountain Tourism Experiences," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-16, June.
    7. Pilar Espeso-Molinero & María José Pastor-Alfonso, 2020. "Governance, Community Resilience, and Indigenous Tourism in Nahá, Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-20, July.
    8. Deirdre Dragovich & Sunil Bajpai, 2022. "Managing Tourism and Environment—Trail Erosion, Thresholds of Potential Concern and Limits of Acceptable Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, April.
    9. Dirk H. R. Spennemann, 2021. "Groundwater, Graves and Golf: Layers of Heritage Tourism on a Fiji Resort Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-20, May.
    10. Marco Haid & Julia N. Albrecht, 2021. "Sustainable Tourism Product Development: An Application of Product Design Concepts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
    11. Viken, Arvid & Höckert, Emily & Grimwood, Bryan S.R., 2021. "Cultural sensitivity: Engaging difference in tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Heidi Blair & Keith Bosak & Trace Gale, 2019. "Protected Areas, Tourism, and Rural Transition in Aysén, Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-22, December.

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