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Sustainable Tourism Issues in European Countries during the Global Pandemic Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Palazzo

    (Department of Political and Communication Studies, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Salerno, Italy)

  • Iza Gigauri

    (School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences, St. Andrew the First-Called Georgian University, Tbilisi 0179, Georgia)

  • Mirela Clementina Panait

    (Department of Cybernetics, Economic Informatics, Finance and Accounting, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești, 100680 Ploiești, Romania
    Institute of National Economy, 050711 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Simona Andreea Apostu

    (Institute of National Economy, 050711 Bucharest, Romania
    Department of Statistics and Econometrics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010552 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Alfonso Siano

    (Department of Political and Communication Studies, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Salerno, Italy)

Abstract

Sustainable economic growth can be achieved through tourism by protecting the environment, maintaining natural resources, creating employment, improving cultural diversity, and recognizing cultural heritage values. The concept of tourism sustainability is gradually growing globally and becoming a dominant aspect in modern business, as companies need to meet stakeholders’ demands regarding environmental management. Sustainable tourism incorporates environmental, social, economic, and cultural issues into operations. The demand for green tourism, ethical consumption, protection of natural resources, and living close to nature is expected to increase. In particular, the latter gains more and more popularity due to the stress caused by the global pandemic and also because values have been re-evaluated at every level of society. In this paper, we explore sustainability in the tourism industry within the international context during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on tourism in 35 European countries for the period between January 2020 and September 2021. We aimed to study the impact of tourism on sustainability based on the Eurostat database, using cluster analysis and descriptive statistics. The results indicate that tourism will recover slightly, even though the pandemic will continue, recording different effects in European countries. Furthermore, we highlight the relationship between income and tourism, the clusters on tourism being significantly different according to income. The results also identify potential recovery options to align this business area with global sustainable development goals, generate effective transformational change, and suggest how to create a viable growth process pushed by a glocal perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Palazzo & Iza Gigauri & Mirela Clementina Panait & Simona Andreea Apostu & Alfonso Siano, 2022. "Sustainable Tourism Issues in European Countries during the Global Pandemic Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:3844-:d:778803
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