Framework for creating sustainable tourism using systems thinking

Tourism is an entire system of its own, characterized as complex and dynamic, necessitating the need for sustainability considerations. To effectively manage tourism, it is vital to comprehend the underlying system structures and the feedback mechanisms that influence how tourism works over time. Our main purpose is to establish the cause–effect relationship between and among sustainable tourism variables using the tools of systems thinking. In our causal loop diagram, we highlight that ecotourism creates profitable businesses and local jobs, which will motivate stakeholders to practice sustainability thereby driving ecotourism to higher levels. We also underscore that tourist satisfaction would stimulate increased tourist arrivals that will create environmental stress, threatening sustainability. Hence, to ensure sustainability, regulation must mitigate the unintended consequences that undermine sustainability, through community leadership and capacity management.