IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i20p11440-d657913.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tourism towards Sustainability and Innovation: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Vasco Santos

    (Departamento de Economia, Gestão, Engenharia Industrial e Turismo (DEGEIT), Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
    CiTUR—Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2520-641 Peniche, Portugal
    ISLA—Instituto Superior de Gestão e Administração, 2000-241 Santarém, Portugal)

  • Maria José Sousa

    (Departamento de Ciência Política e Políticas Públicas (ESPP), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Carlos Costa

    (Departamento de Economia, Gestão, Engenharia Industrial e Turismo (DEGEIT), Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
    Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP), Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal)

  • Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira

    (Departamento de Economia, Gestão, Engenharia Industrial e Turismo (DEGEIT), Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
    Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP), Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
    INESC TEC—Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the progress of tourism towards sustainability and innovation through a systematic literature review summarizing the last five years of research strictly focused on innovation and sustainability applied to tourism. This research comprises a range of theories, practices, methods, and results pursuing innovation and sustainability across different levels, stages, and drivers, and in many tourism contexts. Wide, in-depth, and structured analysis, evaluation, and examination (using the PRISMA and VOSviewer tools) of a final sample of 50 scholarly papers from 27 journals, published between 2017 and the first quarter of 2021, were undertaken. Current publications emphasize qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods, as well as statistical and econometric methods, such as descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. This study categorizes the four major topics identified, sustainability, innovation, sustainable development, and sustainable tourism, which comprised the contextual dimensions and relevant stages of the subject areas examined. This systematic literature review highlights advances and the significantly increasing overall number of papers over recent years. Currently, sustainability is in a more advanced state compared to innovation. The outcomes highlight that the indicators of sustainability and innovation still need further analysis within the tourism context. However, more concrete process indicators are needed for continuous improvement of the front-end of innovation and sustainable tourism. The results help in better understanding the sustainability and innovation process as applied to tourism. In particular, this study explores further direct linkages between sustainability and innovation and tourism, discussing and providing new future directions aligned with the closing remarks as well as a strategic agenda for future action post-COVID-19.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasco Santos & Maria José Sousa & Carlos Costa & Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, 2021. "Tourism towards Sustainability and Innovation: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:20:p:11440-:d:657913
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/20/11440/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/20/11440/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pernille Eskerod & Svend Hollensen & Manuel Francisco Morales-Contreras & Jesús Arteaga-Ortiz, 2019. "Drivers for Pursuing Sustainability through IoT Technology within High-End Hotels—An Exploratory Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Grazia Chiara Elmo & Gabriella Arcese & Marco Valeri & Stefano Poponi & Francesco Pacchera, 2020. "Sustainability in Tourism as an Innovation Driver: An Analysis of Family Business Reality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Dimitris Karagiannis & Theodore Metaxas, 2020. "Sustainable Wine Tourism Development: Case Studies from the Greek Region of Peloponnese," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Angels Niñerola & Maria-Victòria Sánchez-Rebull & Ana-Beatriz Hernández-Lara, 2019. "Tourism Research on Sustainability: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Garay, Lluís & Font, Xavier & Pereira-Moliner, Jorge, 2017. "Understanding sustainability behaviour: The relationship between information acquisition, proactivity and performance," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 418-429.
    6. Blanca García Henche & Erica Salvaj & Pedro Cuesta-Valiño, 2020. "A Sustainable Management Model for Cultural Creative Tourism Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-21, November.
    7. Marc Oliveras-Villanueva & Josep Llach & Jordi Perramon, 2020. "Service Quality in Hospitality and the Sustainability Effect: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Shana Sabbado Flores & Rosa Maria Vieira Medeiros, 2019. "A framework proposal for sustainability management in wine industry," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 13(3/4), pages 348-375.
    9. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    10. Sérgio Nunes & Philip Cooke, 2021. "New global tourism innovation in a post-coronavirus era," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Angelo Presenza & Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli & Angelo Natalicchio, 2019. "Business Model Innovation for Sustainability. Highlights from the Tourism and Hospitality Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-5, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhuoyue Zhu & Hongming Xie, 2022. "What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know about COVID-19’s Implications on Business Economics? From Bibliometric Analysis to a Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Nora Mehnen & Ingo Mose & Peter Schaal & Frans Sijtsma & José Muñoz-Rojas & Mariia Fedoriak & Per Angelstam, 2023. "Periphery and Integrated Planning: Coping with Rural and Touristic Challenges across Scales in the German Wadden Sea Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Yuxiang Zheng & Kegong Zhang, 2022. "A Study on the Evaluation of Green Innovation Efficiency and Influencing Factors of the Chinese Tourism Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pahrudin Pahrudin & Li-Wei Liu & Shao-Yu Li, 2022. "What Is the Role of Tourism Management and Marketing toward Sustainable Tourism? A Bibliometric Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Riyan Mohammed Sahahiri & Amy L. Griffin & Qian (Chayn) Sun, 2023. "Investigating Ecotourism Opportunities Measurements in a Complex Adaptive System: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Dariusz Jacek Olszewski-Strzyżowski, 2022. "Promotional Activities of Selected National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) in the Light of Sustainable Tourism (Including Sustainable Transport)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    4. Shome, Samik & Hassan, M. Kabir & Verma, Sushma & Panigrahi, Tushar Ranjan, 2023. "Impact investment for sustainable development: A bibliometric analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 770-800.
    5. Chris Roberts & Joel Reynolds & Mary Jo Dolasinski, 2022. "Meta-Analysis of Tourism Sustainability Research: 2019–2021," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.
    6. İlkay Unay-Gailhard & Mark A. Brennen, 2022. "How digital communications contribute to shaping the career paths of youth: a review study focused on farming as a career option," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1491-1508, December.
    7. Mahin Ghafari & Vali Baigi & Zahra Cheraghi & Amin Doosti-Irani, 2016. "The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Iranian Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-10, June.
    8. Elizabeth T Cafiero-Fonseca & Andrew Stawasz & Sydney T Johnson & Reiko Sato & David E Bloom, 2017. "The full benefits of adult pneumococcal vaccination: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, October.
    9. Santos Urbina & Sofía Villatoro & Jesús Salinas, 2021. "Self-Regulated Learning and Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments in Higher Education: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-12, June.
    10. Oded Berger-Tal & Alison L Greggor & Biljana Macura & Carrie Ann Adams & Arden Blumenthal & Amos Bouskila & Ulrika Candolin & Carolina Doran & Esteban Fernández-Juricic & Kiyoko M Gotanda & Catherine , 2019. "Systematic reviews and maps as tools for applying behavioral ecology to management and policy," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 30(1), pages 1-8.
    11. Nadine Desrochers & Adèle Paul‐Hus & Jen Pecoskie, 2017. "Five decades of gratitude: A meta‐synthesis of acknowledgments research," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(12), pages 2821-2833, December.
    12. Maryono, Maryono & Killoes, Aditya Marendra & Adhikari, Rajendra & Abdul Aziz, Ammar, 2024. "Agriculture development through multi-stakeholder partnerships in developing countries: A systematic literature review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    13. Alene Sze Jing Yong & Yi Heng Lim & Mark Wing Loong Cheong & Ednin Hamzah & Siew Li Teoh, 2022. "Willingness-to-pay for cancer treatment and outcome: a systematic review," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(6), pages 1037-1057, August.
    14. Xue-Ying Xu & Hong Kong & Rui-Xiang Song & Yu-Han Zhai & Xiao-Fei Wu & Wen-Si Ai & Hong-Bo Liu, 2014. "The Effectiveness of Noninvasive Biomarkers to Predict Hepatitis B-Related Significant Fibrosis and Cirrhosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-16, June.
    15. Vicente Miñana-Signes & Manuel Monfort-Pañego & Javier Valiente, 2021. "Teaching Back Health in the School Setting: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Katarzyna Grzybowska, 2022. "In Search of Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 in Small-Medium Enterprises—A State of the Art Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    17. Obsa Urgessa Ayana & Jima Degaga, 2022. "Effects of rural electrification on household welfare: a meta-regression analysis," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 209-261, June.
    18. Caloffi, Annalisa & Colovic, Ana & Rizzoli, Valentina & Rossi, Federica, 2023. "Innovation intermediaries' types and functions: A computational analysis of the literature," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    19. García-Poole, Chloe & Byrne, Sonia & Rodrigo, María José, 2019. "How do communities intervene with adolescents at psychosocial risk? A systematic review of positive development programs," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 194-209.
    20. José María López-Sanz & Azucena Penelas-Leguía & Pablo Gutiérrez-Rodríguez & Pedro Cuesta-Valiño, 2021. "Sustainable Development and Consumer Behavior in Rural Tourism—The Importance of Image and Loyalty for Host Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:20:p:11440-:d:657913. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.