Sustainable Tourism and Degrowth: Searching for a Path to Societal Well-Being

Tourism has long been seen as a positive phenomenon that meets the needs of visitors, provides income, creates jobs, raises the living standards of local people, and develops destinations. This one-sided perception of the positive effects of tourism and highlighting just its ability to generate revenues and create jobs has led to the support of its quantitative growth, increasing the number of visitors and efforts to maximize its economic benefits. It is more than obvious that the mass and uncontrolled growth of tourism will hit the limits of the destination and negative effects begin to occur, although the principles of sustainable development have been already known for more than three decades. There is a need to examine the truly essence of sustainable tourism, its real application into praxis, and its ability to ensure a more sustainable tourism sector. Moreover, it is desirable to more explore the issue of the degrowth concept and to try to implement its principles into tourism development. The aim of the paper is to analyze the shift in the tourism paradigm from the needs of visitors to the living space of local inhabitants. According to the literature review focused on sustainable development, tourism degrowth, and local inhabitants in tourism destinations, the article analyzes the crossing needs and opinions of local inhabitants and visitors in a mature destination—the High Tatras in Slovakia with the intention to find out how tourism development should change in order to create a better living space for local inhabitants and be aware of the principles of sustainable development.