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Sustainable Tourism in Practice: Promoting or Perverting the Quest for a Sustainable Development?

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  • Carlo Aall

    (Western Norway Research Institute, P.O. Box 163, 6851 Sogndal, Norway)

Abstract

Sustainable tourism has achieved the status of being the superior goal in Norwegian government tourism policy, and is attaining much attention in the international scientific and political discourse on tourism. However, have policies on sustainable tourism and related concepts actually managed to make tourism more sustainable? This article seeks to address this question by first presenting the history of sustainable tourism and related concepts, and specifically analyzing how the triple bottom line approach has influenced the prevailing understanding of the concept of sustainable tourism. The article concludes by claiming that prevailing EU as well as Norwegian national policies aiming to make tourism more sustainable most likely will result in “sustaining tourism” more than actually making tourism more sustainable. The article uses Norway—the “home of the Brundtland report”—as an illustrative case for the discussion.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Aall, 2014. "Sustainable Tourism in Practice: Promoting or Perverting the Quest for a Sustainable Development?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-22, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:5:p:2562-2583:d:35633
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carlo Aall & Ko Koens, 2019. "The Discourse on Sustainable Urban Tourism: The Need for Discussing More Than Overtourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Adrian-Liviu Scutariu & Carmen Nastase & Mihai Popescu, 2016. "Perspectives of Sustainable Development of Tourism in the North-East Region of Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Federica Buffa, 2015. "Young Tourists and Sustainability. Profiles, Attitudes, and Implications for Destination Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-21, October.
    4. Daniela Ruxandra Andrei & Rodica-Manuela Gogonea & Marian Zaharia & Jean-Vasile Andrei, 2014. "Is Romanian Rural Tourism Sustainable? Revealing Particularities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Lingling Chen & Brijesh Thapa & Wei Yan, 2018. "The Relationship between Tourism, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Economic Growth in the Yangtze River Delta, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Liubov Zharova & Natalia Raksha & Anhelina Spitsyna & Olena Karolop & Tetiana Mirzodaieva, 2022. "Development of tourism services in the framework of sustainable development after the COVID-19 pandemic," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 13-30.
    7. Petra Andries & Alain Daou, 2016. "Teaching Case: ViaVia Yogyakarta: Choosing the Right Strategy to Maximize Social Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Santos-Rojo, Cristina & Llopis-Amorós, Malar & García-García, Juan Manuel, 2023. "Overtourism and sustainability: A bibliometric study (2018–2021)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    9. Mashudu Andra Mabibibi & Kaitano Dube & Konanani Thwala, 2021. "Successes and Challenges in Sustainable Development Goals Localisation for Host Communities around Kruger National Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, May.
    10. Else Ragni Yttredal & Nathalie Homlong, 2020. "Perception of Sustainable Development in a Local World Heritage Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Rodica-Manuela Gogonea & Adrian Aurel Baltălungă & Adrian Nedelcu & Daniela Dumitrescu, 2017. "Tourism Pressure at the Regional Level in the Context of Sustainable Development in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Tae-Hyoung Tommy Gim, 2018. "Tourist Satisfaction, Image, and Loyalty from an Interregional Perspective: An Analysis of Neighboring Areas with Distinct Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    13. Kaitano Dube, 2021. "Sustainable Development Goals Localisation in the Hospitality Sector in Botswana and Zimbabwe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, July.
    14. Ren-Fang Chao, 2015. "Development of Slow Tourism Challenge and Operation Architecture: A Case Study on Green Island, Taiwan," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 65(supplemen), pages 351-367, December.
    15. Huihui Feng & Xingpeng Chen & Peter Heck & Hong Miao, 2014. "An Entropy-Perspective Study on the Sustainable Development Potential of Tourism Destination Ecosystem in Dunhuang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-27, December.
    16. Yuetao Yang & Gowhar Ahmad Wani & V. Nagaraj & Mohammad Haseeb & Sameer Sultan & Md. Emran Hossain & Mustafa Kamal & Syed Mehmood Raza Shah, 2023. "Progress in Sustainable Tourism Research: An Analysis of the Comprehensive Literature and Future Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, February.
    17. Ivan Paunović & Verka Jovanović, 2017. "Implementation of Sustainable Tourism in the German Alps: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, February.
    18. Tabita Adamov & Tiberiu Iancu & Elena Peț & Gabriela Popescu & Laura Șmuleac & Andrea Feher & Ramona Ciolac, 2022. "Rural Tourism in Marginimea Sibiului Area—A Possibility of Capitalizing on Local Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Adina Letiţia Negruşa & Valentin Toader & Aurelian Sofică & Mihaela Filofteia Tutunea & Rozalia Veronica Rus, 2015. "Exploring Gamification Techniques and Applications for Sustainable Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-30, August.
    20. Lucimari Acosta Pereira & Pablo Flôres Limberger & Luiz Carlos Da Silva Flores & Melise De Lima Pereira, 2018. "An Empirical Investigation of Destination Branding: The Case of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    21. Fabio Zagonari, 2019. "Multi-Criteria, Cost-Benefit, and Life-Cycle Analyses for Decision-Making to Support Responsible, Sustainable, and Alternative Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-35, February.
    22. Næss, Petter & Xue, Jin & Stefansdottir, Harpa & Steffansen, Rasmus & Richardson, Tim, 2019. "Second home mobility, climate impacts and travel modes: Can sustainability obstacles be overcome?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    23. Karina A. Rus & Ștefan Dezsi & Ovidiu R. Ciascai & Florin Pop, 2022. "Calibrating Evolution of Transformative Tourism: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-40, September.

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