environmental impacts of tourism in the uk

UK lawmakers to count environmental cost of mass tourism

Tourism can have big impacts on the environment and local communities. Image:  REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

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British lawmakers said on Thursday they would count the environmental cost of mass tourism amid warnings that leisure trips pose an ever greater threat to the planet.

Fast-growing tourism accounts for about 5% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide while floods of visitors are damaging a host of hot spots, said the Environmental Audit Committee, which scrutinises the impact of government policy on the environment.

From queues up Everest to cruisers crowding Venice, 'must-see' landmarks are increasingly imperilled by their very popularity. And that's before the spew of emissions from planes, trains and automobiles is taken into account.

"Now that summer is here, families are looking forward to a well-earned holiday," committee chairwoman Mary Creaghin said in a statement. "But when we book a cruise, flights or visit a popular tourist destination, it's easy to forget about the environmental impact our holidays are having."

A study last year found that a global boom in tourism was complicating the drive to slow climate change, with flights the biggest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Some 1.4 billion people were international tourists in 2018, 6% up on the year before, as cheap flights and easy connections help fuel mass tourism, according to the World Tourism Organization, a United Nations agency.

Britain makes billions of pounds from overseas visitors - drawn by everything from royal intrigue to cutting-edge culture.

But the cost is also steep, with deep division over whether to expand London Heathrow, already Europe's busiest airport.

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Environmentally-sensitive tourism could boost economic growth and protect the environment, the lawmakers said, but in many cases "overtourism" had harmed people and their landmarks.

Thailand has said it will close access to Maya Bay, which featured in the hit film "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for four months a year after visitors damaged coral reefs.

Cities from Italy's Venice to Malaysia's George Town have also seen protests over the huge influxes of tourists, which can cause damage, boost rents and drive out local life.

The committee said it would consider whether the government should support sustainable tourism, if it should take more responsibility for the impact of British visitors' actions abroad, and how sustainable travel could help cut emissions.

Action is urgent to monitor the impact of tourism and protect treasured destinations, said Ben Lynam from the Travel Foundation, a charity that encourages sustainable tourism.

"No one benefits from getting to a point where things are so bad that you have to actually close attractions down," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

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Is the green revolution an opportunity for uk tourism.

25 August 2021

By Darren Ashworth and Rory Stracey

International tourism accounts for 5% of the world's CO₂, according to the United Nations, but even before the Covid-19 travel restrictions clipped wings, the industry was already seeing a rise in climate-conscious travellers.

Trip Advisor and Visit England now have green accreditation schemes so people can easily find sustainable accommodation and attractions, and the Michelin Guide has introduced a green star for environmentally friendly restaurants.

“Green tourism is on the radar now, particularly for the younger generation. Having good sustainability credentials helps to build customer goodwill, and it's a differentiator from the competition,” says Darren Ashworth, Partner at Trowers & Hamlins.

Could the UK’s hospitality industry capitalise from the rise of environment-conscious domestic tourism, and how might this demand be leveraged?

“For a start, there is an inherent greenness to holidaying in the UK because you don’t get on a plane,” says Rory Stracey, Partner at Trowers & Hamlins.

There's a feel-good factor that comes with green tourism; people do want to stay in sustainable hotels and eat sustainably.”

The image of holidaying in the UK is changing. While you can still find static caravan parks and sticks of rock, there is a growing demand for more quality accommodation, emphasising sustainability and locally sourced food.

And it’s not just the hotels and restaurants which are going green, there is an emphasis on sustainable tourist attractions and activities. Cornwall’s Eden Project was the trailblazer and continues to be. This year work has started on a geothermal energy project to heat the biomes and feed energy back into the National Grid. It's also planning to build an eco-hotel.

A new scheme in Cornwall is the Celsius Project which got planning permission in May. It will be built on a cleaned-up landfill and will be the world’s first geothermal rum distillery combining sustainable tourism with local produce.

Will the lack of guaranteed sunshine be a fly in the ointment for the UK’s tourism offer?

Perhaps. But bad weather can be turned to tourism’s advantage. Sports such as wind and kite surfing need blowy conditions, and there is a growing trend among hardier types for wild swimming all year round.

As well as sporting activities, Ashworth thinks culture can play a big part in the appeal of UK tourism.

It's about finding unique experiences and being immersed in the culture, and there is niche culture to explore all around the country. It’s about the authenticity of individual places, challenging the perceptions and playing to strengths by offering something new and unique,” he says.

It all comes down to how holidays in the UK are branded and marketed. Ashworth thinks linking eco-hotels or resorts with local culture is a missing piece of the UK tourism brand. “Think of Manchester’s music heritage and the industrial revolution, there is so much to explore, but combining that messaging with sustainable travel options needs more work,” he says. Home-grown tourism faces other challenges too; making it appealing all year round so it is economically and ecologically sustainable.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for UK eco-tourism is to ensure it doesn’t develop at the expense of local communities.

The demand to develop new quality accommodation in UK holiday destinations is high. This, combined with the advent of platforms like Airbnb, has pushed up house and land prices, making homes unaffordable for many locals.

As a result, local councils in popular beach towns such as St Ives have introduced restrictions on new build accommodation which is used as holiday accommodation.

Stracey says: “It’s a real challenge trying to sell in your development to a local community and drawing the link with the economic benefits of tourism spend.”

With a lot of travel restrictions still in place, this year will no doubt be a good one for home-grown tourism. However, longer-term, with the right product and right marketing, the UK’s tourism industry could capitalise on more environmentally conscious holidaymakers.

Hotels going green

There is a growing trend in tourist hotspots and the UK’s cities to build new hotels sustainably and run them with minimal environmental impact.

In Cornwall, eco-hotel The Scarlet was built to high sustainability standards. Materials were vetted for environmental impact and miles travelled to the site, pre-fabrication and concrete produced from waste clay were used. Research went into the local wildlife to make sure construction didn’t have an adverse effect.

“Locally sourced products and trades were used as much as possible for example, local artists were used for interior features,” says Ivy Acorda, Senior Associate at Trowers & Hamlins.

The hotel is operated with the same locally sourced, minimal waste and environmental impact philosophy.

The Pig Hotel chain, which operates across the south of England, goes one step further and grows its own fruit and veg for the ultimate in locally sourced.

UK city hotels are also going green. The Helmsley Group is planning a net-zero carbon emissions hotel in York. It will include solar panels, air-source heat pumps and a green wall. The hotel is being built on the site of a car park but will offer no car parking when it is complete.

Technology will increasingly play a big part in helping hotels minimise their environmental impact, from gathering data and monitoring waste and energy to smart hotel rooms, which turn everything off automatically when guests go out.

However, building new sustainably is only part of the challenge; there is a huge amount of existing hotel stock that doesn’t meet the same high sustainability standards. Pressure to invest in green refurbishment will grow as demand from eco-tourism grows as well as the need to meet the Government's environmental targets.

Planning plays a part in the green tourism agenda

Demand is the carrot for the tourism industry to be greener, but there is also a stick, the UK Government has a target of reaching net-zero by 2050.

“The Government can set policy which impacts how construction is carried out, and the types of materials used, and likewise local Government is starting to drive the sustainability agenda through planning policy,” Acorda.

Indeed, local councils are increasingly looking for development that minimises environmental impact and offers economic and social value.

For the latter, green tourism can be both a positive and negative. For example, hospitality which focuses on locally sourced products and produce, can boost local businesses, but the flip side can be rising residential values, which price local people out of the market and the dominance of low-paid, seasonal jobs.

Perhaps more palatable for UK tourism hotspots like the South West and East of England are glamping sites. While static caravans can be a permanent blot on the landscape, glamping facilities offer a more sustainable, temporary solution.

Glamping, a portmanteau of ‘glamourous’ and ‘camping’, involves semi-permanent tents, good facilities (your own loo, for example) and plenty of on-site activities.

Permitted development rights (PDR), which stipulates that land can be put to any use (with limitations) for 56 days of the year, has boosted glamping opportunities.

But with PDR there is a danger that giving free rein to land use ultimately risks destroying the beauty of the landscape, which is what attracted people to the area in the first place.

Ashworth, says: “There is a balance to be struck. Traditionally the planning system has been in place to ensure that any tourism growth proposals are considered in a measured way so that the environmental impacts are minimised.”

Darren Ashworth

Rory Stracey

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"When we book a cruise, flights or visit a popular tourist destination, it's easy to forget about the environmental impact our holidays are having"

By Acacia Redding

LONDON, July 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - British lawmakers said on Thursday they would count the environmental cost of mass tourism amid warnings that leisure trips pose an ever greater threat to the planet.

Fast-growing tourism accounts for about 5% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide while floods of visitors are damaging a host of hot spots, said the Environmental Audit Committee, which scrutinises the impact of government policy on the environment.

From queues up Everest to cruisers crowding Venice, 'must-see' landmarks are increasingly imperilled by their very popularity. And that's before the spew of emissions from planes, trains and automobiles is taken into account.

"Now that summer is here, families are looking forward to a well-earned holiday," committee chairwoman Mary Creaghin said in a statement. "But when we book a cruise, flights or visit a popular tourist destination, it's easy to forget about the environmental impact our holidays are having."

A study last year found that a global boom in tourism was complicating the drive to slow climate change, with flights the biggest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Some 1.4 billion people were international tourists in 2018, 6% up on the year before, as cheap flights and easy connections help fuel mass tourism, according to the World Tourism Organization, a United Nations agency.

Britain makes billions of pounds from overseas visitors - drawn by everything from royal intrigue to cutting-edge culture.

But the cost is also steep, with deep division over whether to expand London Heathrow, already Europe's busiest airport.

Environmentally-sensitive tourism could boost economic growth and protect the environment, the lawmakers said, but in many cases "overtourism" had harmed people and their landmarks.

Thailand has said it will close access to Maya Bay, which featured in the hit film "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for four months a year after visitors damaged coral reefs.

Cities from Italy's Venice to Malaysia's George Town have also seen protests over the huge influxes of tourists, which can cause damage, boost rents and drive out local life.

The committee said it would consider whether the government should support sustainable tourism, if it should take more responsibility for the impact of British visitors' actions abroad, and how sustainable travel could help cut emissions.

Action is urgent to monitor the impact of tourism and protect treasured destinations, said Ben Lynam from the Travel Foundation, a charity that encourages sustainable tourism.

"No one benefits from getting to a point where things are so bad that you have to actually close attractions down," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

(Reporting by Acacia Redding; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

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The role of tourism in sustainable development.

• Robert B. Richardson Robert B. Richardson Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.387
• Published online: 25 March 2021

Sustainable development is the foundational principle for enhancing human and economic development while maintaining the functional integrity of ecological and social systems that support regional economies. Tourism has played a critical role in sustainable development in many countries and regions around the world. In developing countries, tourism development has been used as an important strategy for increasing economic growth, alleviating poverty, creating jobs, and improving food security. Many developing countries are in regions that are characterized by high levels of biological diversity, natural resources, and cultural heritage sites that attract international tourists whose local purchases generate income and support employment and economic development. Tourism has been associated with the principles of sustainable development because of its potential to support environmental protection and livelihoods. However, the relationship between tourism and the environment is multifaceted, as some types of tourism have been associated with negative environmental impacts, many of which are borne by host communities.

The concept of sustainable tourism development emerged in contrast to mass tourism, which involves the participation of large numbers of people, often in structured or packaged tours. Mass tourism has been associated with economic leakage and dependence, along with negative environmental and social impacts. Sustainable tourism development has been promoted in various ways as a framing concept in contrast to these economic, environmental, and social impacts. Some literature has acknowledged a vagueness of the concept of sustainable tourism, which has been used to advocate for fundamentally different strategies for tourism development that may exacerbate existing conflicts between conservation and development paradigms. Tourism has played an important role in sustainable development in some countries through the development of alternative tourism models, including ecotourism, community-based tourism, pro-poor tourism, slow tourism, green tourism, and heritage tourism, among others that aim to enhance livelihoods, increase local economic growth, and provide for environmental protection. Although these models have been given significant attention among researchers, the extent of their implementation in tourism planning initiatives has been limited, superficial, or incomplete in many contexts.

The sustainability of tourism as a global system is disputed among scholars. Tourism is dependent on travel, and nearly all forms of transportation require the use of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels for energy. The burning of fossil fuels for transportation generates emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change, which is fundamentally unsustainable. Tourism is also vulnerable to both localized and global shocks. Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to localized shocks include the impacts of natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and civil unrest. Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to global shocks include the impacts of climate change, economic crisis, global public health pandemics, oil price shocks, and acts of terrorism. It is clear that tourism has contributed significantly to economic development globally, but its role in sustainable development is uncertain, debatable, and potentially contradictory.

• conservation
• economic development
• environmental impacts
• sustainable development
• sustainable tourism
• tourism development

Introduction

Sustainable development is the guiding principle for advancing human and economic development while maintaining the integrity of ecosystems and social systems on which the economy depends. It is also the foundation of the leading global framework for international cooperation—the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015 ). The concept of sustainable development is often associated with the publication of Our Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED], 1987 , p. 29), which defined it as “paths of human progress that meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Concerns about the environmental implications of economic development in lower income countries had been central to debates about development studies since the 1970s (Adams, 2009 ). The principles of sustainable development have come to dominate the development discourse, and the concept has become the primary development paradigm since the 1990s.

Tourism has played an increasingly important role in sustainable development since the 1990s, both globally and in particular countries and regions. For decades, tourism has been promoted as a low-impact, non-extractive option for economic development, particularly for developing countries (Gössling, 2000 ). Many developing countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy through development of international tourism. Tourism development is increasingly viewed as an important tool in increasing economic growth, alleviating poverty, and improving food security. Tourism enables communities that are poor in material wealth, but rich in history and cultural heritage, to leverage their unique assets for economic development (Honey & Gilpin, 2009 ). More importantly, tourism offers an alternative to large-scale development projects, such as construction of dams, and to extractive industries such as mining and forestry, all of which contribute to emissions of pollutants and threaten biodiversity and the cultural values of Indigenous Peoples.

Environmental quality in destination areas is inextricably linked with tourism, as visiting natural areas and sightseeing are often the primary purpose of many leisure travels. Some forms of tourism, such as ecotourism, can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystem functions in destination areas (Fennell, 2020 ; Gössling, 1999 ). Butler ( 1991 ) suggests that there is a kind of mutual dependence between tourism and the environment that should generate mutual benefits. Many developing countries are in regions that are characterized by high levels of species diversity, natural resources, and protected areas. Such ideas imply that tourism may be well aligned with the tenets of sustainable development.

However, the relationship between tourism and the environment is complex, as some forms of tourism have been associated with negative environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, land use, and food consumption (Butler, 1991 ; Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ; Hunter & Green, 1995 ; Vitousek et al., 1997 ). Assessments of the sustainability of tourism have highlighted several themes, including (a) parks, biodiversity, and conservation; (b) pollution and climate change; (c) prosperity, economic growth, and poverty alleviation; (d) peace, security, and safety; and (e) population stabilization and reduction (Buckley, 2012 ). From a global perspective, tourism contributes to (a) changes in land cover and land use; (b) energy use, (c) biotic exchange and extinction of wild species; (d) exchange and dispersion of diseases; and (e) changes in the perception and understanding of the environment (Gössling, 2002 ).

Research on tourism and the environment spans a wide range of social and natural science disciplines, and key contributions have been disseminated across many interdisciplinary fields, including biodiversity conservation, climate science, economics, and environmental science, among others (Buckley, 2011 ; Butler, 1991 ; Gössling, 2002 ; Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Given the global significance of the tourism sector and its environmental impacts, the role of tourism in sustainable development is an important topic of research in environmental science generally and in environmental economics and management specifically. Reviews of tourism research have highlighted future research priorities for sustainable development, including the role of tourism in the designation and expansion of protected areas; improvement in environmental accounting techniques that quantify environmental impacts; and the effects of individual perceptions of responsibility in addressing climate change (Buckley, 2012 ).

Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries, and it has linkages with many of the prime sectors of the global economy (Fennell, 2020 ). As a global economic sector, tourism represents one of the largest generators of wealth, and it is an important agent of economic growth and development (Garau-Vadell et al., 2018 ). Tourism is a critical industry in many local and national economies, and it represents a large and growing share of world trade (Hunter, 1995 ). Global tourism has had an average annual increase of 6.6% over the past half century, with international tourist arrivals rising sharply from 25.2 million in 1950 to more than 950 million in 2010 . In 2019 , the number of international tourists reached 1.5 billion, up 4% from 2018 (Fennell, 2020 ; United Nations World Tourism Organization [UNWTO], 2020 ). European countries are host to more than half of international tourists, but since 1990 , growth in international arrivals has risen faster than the global average, in both the Middle East and the Asia and Pacific region (UNWTO, 2020 ).

The growth in global tourism has been accompanied by an expansion of travel markets and a diversification of tourism destinations. In 1950 , the top five travel destinations were all countries in Europe and the Americas, and these destinations held 71% of the global travel market (Fennell, 2020 ). By 2002 , these countries represented only 35%, which underscores the emergence of newly accessible travel destinations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim, including numerous developing countries. Over the past 70 years, global tourism has grown significantly as an economic sector, and it has contributed to the economic development of dozens of nations.

Given the growth of international tourism and its emergence as one of the world’s largest export sectors, the question of its impact on economic growth for the host countries has been a topic of great interest in the tourism literature. Two hypotheses have emerged regarding the role of tourism in the economic growth process (Apergis & Payne, 2012 ). First, tourism-led growth hypothesis relies on the assumption that tourism is an engine of growth that generates spillovers and positive externalities through economic linkages that will impact the overall economy. Second, the economic-driven tourism growth hypothesis emphasizes policies oriented toward well-defined and enforceable property rights, stable political institutions, and adequate investment in both physical and human capital to facilitate the development of the tourism sector. Studies have concluded with support for both the tourism-led growth hypothesis (e.g., Durbarry, 2004 ; Katircioglu, 2010 ) and the economic-led growth hypothesis (e.g., Katircioglu, 2009 ; Oh, 2005 ), whereas other studies have found support for a bidirectional causality for tourism and economic growth (e.g., Apergis & Payne, 2012 ; Lee & Chang, 2008 ).

The growth of tourism has been marked by an increase in the competition for tourist expenditures, making it difficult for destinations to maintain their share of the international tourism market (Butler, 1991 ). Tourism development is cyclical and subject to short-term cycles and overconsumption of resources. Butler ( 1980 ) developed a tourist-area cycle of evolution that depicts the number of tourists rising sharply over time through periods of exploration, involvement, and development, before eventual consolidation and stagnation. When tourism growth exceeds the carrying capacity of the area, resource degradation can lead to the decline of tourism unless specific steps are taken to promote rejuvenation (Butler, 1980 , 1991 ).

The potential of tourism development as a tool to contribute to environmental conservation, economic growth, and poverty reduction is derived from several unique characteristics of the tourism system (UNWTO, 2002 ). First, tourism represents an opportunity for economic diversification, particularly in marginal areas with few other export options. Tourists are attracted to remote areas with high values of cultural, wildlife, and landscape assets. The cultural and natural heritage of developing countries is frequently based on such assets, and tourism represents an opportunity for income generation through the preservation of heritage values. Tourism is the only export sector where the consumer travels to the exporting country, which provides opportunities for lower-income households to become exporters through the sale of goods and services to foreign tourists. Tourism is also labor intensive; it provides small-scale employment opportunities, which also helps to promote gender equity. Finally, there are numerous indirect benefits of tourism for people living in poverty, including increased market access for remote areas through the development of roads, infrastructure, and communication networks. Nevertheless, travel is highly income elastic and carbon intensive, which has significant implications for the sustainability of the tourism sector (Lenzen et al., 2018 ).

Concerns about environmental issues appeared in tourism research just as global awareness of the environmental impacts of human activities was expanding. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm in 1972 , the same year as the publication of The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al., 1972 ), which highlighted the concerns about the implications of exponential economic and population growth in a world of finite resources. This was the same year that the famous Blue Marble photograph of Earth was taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft (Höhler, 2015 , p. 10), and the image captured the planet cloaked in the darkness of space and became a symbol of Earth’s fragility and vulnerability. As noted by Buckley ( 2012 ), tourism researchers turned their attention to social and environmental issues around the same time (Cohen, 1978 ; Farrell & McLellan, 1987 ; Turner & Ash, 1975 ; Young, 1973 ).

The notion of sustainable development is often associated with the publication of Our Common Future , the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission (WCED, 1987 ). The report characterized sustainable development in terms of meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987 , p. 43). Four basic principles are fundamental to the concept of sustainability: (a) the idea of holistic planning and strategy making; (b) the importance of preserving essential ecological processes; (c) the need to protect both human heritage and biodiversity; and (d) the need to develop in such a way that productivity can be sustained over the long term for future generations (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ). In addition to achieving balance between economic growth and the conservation of natural resources, there should be a balance of fairness and opportunity between the nations of the world.

Although the modern concept of sustainable development emerged with the publication of Our Common Future , sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management that were developed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries (Blewitt, 2015 ; Grober, 2007 ). Sustainable forest management is concerned with the stewardship and use of forests in a way that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, and regeneration capacity as well as their potential to fulfill society’s demands for forest products and benefits. Building on these ideas, Daly ( 1990 ) offered two operational principles of sustainable development. First, sustainable development implies that harvest rates should be no greater than rates of regeneration; this concept is known as maximum sustainable yield. Second, waste emission rates should not exceed the natural assimilative capacities of the ecosystems into which the wastes are emitted. Regenerative and assimilative capacities are characterized as natural capital, and a failure to maintain these capacities is not sustainable.

Shortly after the emergence of the concept of sustainable development in academic and policy discourse, tourism researchers began referring to the notion of sustainable tourism (May, 1991 ; Nash & Butler, 1990 ), which soon became the dominant paradigm of tourism development. The concept of sustainable tourism, as with the role of tourism in sustainable development, has been interpreted in different ways, and there is a lack of consensus concerning its meaning, objectives, and indicators (Sharpley, 2000 ). Growing interest in the subject inspired the creation of a new academic journal, Journal of Sustainable Tourism , which was launched in 1993 and has become a leading tourism journal. It is described as “an international journal that publishes research on tourism and sustainable development, including economic, social, cultural and political aspects.”

The notion of sustainable tourism development emerged in contrast to mass tourism, which is characterized by the participation of large numbers of people, often provided as structured or packaged tours. Mass tourism has risen sharply in the last half century. International arrivals alone have increased by an average annual rate of more than 25% since 1950 , and many of those trips involved mass tourism activities (Fennell, 2020 ; UNWTO, 2020 ). Some examples of mass tourism include beach resorts, cruise ship tourism, gaming casinos, golf resorts, group tours, ski resorts, theme parks, and wildlife safari tourism, among others. Little data exist regarding the volume of domestic mass tourism, but nevertheless mass tourism activities dominate the global tourism sector. Mass tourism has been shown to generate benefits to host countries, such as income and employment generation, although it has also been associated with economic leakage (where revenue generated by tourism is lost to other countries’ economies) and economic dependency (where developing countries are dependent on wealthier countries for tourists, imports, and foreign investment) (Cater, 1993 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Khan, 1997 ; Peeters, 2012 ). Mass tourism has been associated with numerous negative environmental impacts and social impacts (Cater, 1993 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Fennell, 2020 ; Ghimire, 2013 ; Gursoy et al., 2010 ; Liu, 2003 ; Peeters, 2012 ; Wheeller, 2007 ). Sustainable tourism development has been promoted in various ways as a framing concept in contrast to many of these economic, environmental, and social impacts.

Much of the early research on sustainable tourism focused on defining the concept, which has been the subject of vigorous debate (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ; Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Inskeep, 1991 ; Liu, 2003 ; Sharpley, 2000 ). Early definitions of sustainable tourism development seemed to fall in one of two categories (Sharpley, 2000 ). First, the “tourism-centric” paradigm of sustainable tourism development focuses on sustaining tourism as an economic activity (Hunter, 1995 ). Second, alternative paradigms have situated sustainable tourism in the context of wider sustainable development policies (Butler, 1991 ). One of the most comprehensive definitions of sustainable tourism echoes some of the language of the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainable development (WCED, 1987 ), emphasizing opportunities for the future while also integrating social and environmental concerns:

Sustainable tourism can be thought of as meeting the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. Sustainable tourism development is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that we can fulfill economic, social and aesthetic needs while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems. (Inskeep, 1991 , p. 461)

Hunter argued that over the short and long terms, sustainable tourism development should

“meet the needs and wants of the local host community in terms of improved living standards and quality of life;

satisfy the demands of tourists and the tourism industry, and continue to attract them in order to meet the first aim; and

safeguard the environmental resource base for tourism, encompassing natural, built and cultural components, in order to achieve both of the preceding aims.” (Hunter, 1995 , p. 156)

Numerous other definitions have been documented, and the term itself has been subject to widespread critique (Buckley, 2012 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Liu, 2003 ). Nevertheless, there have been numerous calls to move beyond debate about a definition and to consider how it may best be implemented in practice (Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Liu, 2003 ). Cater ( 1993 ) identified three key criteria for sustainable tourism: (a) meeting the needs of the host population in terms of improved living standards both in the short and long terms; (b) satisfying the demands of a growing number of tourists; and (c) safeguarding the natural environment in order to achieve both of the preceding aims.

Some literature has acknowledged a vagueness of the concept of sustainable tourism, which has been used to advocate for fundamentally different strategies for tourism development that may exacerbate existing conflicts between conservation and development paradigms (Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Liu, 2003 ; McKercher, 1993b ). Similar criticisms have been leveled at the concept of sustainable development, which has been described as an oxymoron with a wide range of meanings (Adams, 2009 ; Daly, 1990 ) and “defined in such a way as to be either morally repugnant or logically redundant” (Beckerman, 1994 , p. 192). Sharpley ( 2000 ) suggests that in the tourism literature, there has been “a consistent and fundamental failure to build a theoretical link between sustainable tourism and its parental paradigm,” sustainable development (p. 2). Hunter ( 1995 ) suggests that practical measures designed to operationalize sustainable tourism fail to address many of the critical issues that are central to the concept of sustainable development generally and may even actually counteract the fundamental requirements of sustainable development. He suggests that mainstream sustainable tourism development is concerned with protecting the immediate resource base that will sustain tourism development while ignoring concerns for the status of the wider tourism resource base, such as potential problems associated with air pollution, congestion, introduction of invasive species, and declining oil reserves. The dominant paradigm of sustainable tourism development has been described as introverted, tourism-centric, and in competition with other sectors for scarce resources (McKercher, 1993a ). Hunter ( 1995 , p. 156) proposes an alternative, “extraparochial” paradigm where sustainable tourism development is reconceptualized in terms of its contribution to overall sustainable development. Such a paradigm would reconsider the scope, scale, and sectoral context of tourism-related resource utilization issues.

“Sustainability,” “sustainable tourism,” and “sustainable development” are all well-established terms that have often been used loosely and interchangeably in the tourism literature (Liu, 2003 ). Nevertheless, the subject of sustainable tourism has been given considerable attention and has been the focus of numerous academic compilations and textbooks (Coccossis & Nijkamp, 1995 ; Hall & Lew, 1998 ; Stabler, 1997 ; Swarbrooke, 1999 ), and it calls for new approaches to sustainable tourism development (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ; Garrod & Fyall, 1998 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Sharpley, 2000 ). The notion of sustainable tourism has been reconceptualized in the literature by several authors who provided alternative frameworks for tourism development (Buckley, 2012 ; Gössling, 2002 ; Hunter, 1995 ; Liu, 2003 ; McKercher, 1993b ; Sharpley, 2000 ).

Early research in sustainable tourism focused on the local environmental impacts of tourism, including energy use, water use, food consumption, and change in land use (Buckley, 2012 ; Butler, 1991 ; Gössling, 2002 ; Hunter & Green, 1995 ). Subsequent research has emphasized the global environmental impacts of tourism, such as greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity losses (Gössling, 2002 ; Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ; Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Additional research has emphasized the impacts of environmental change on tourism itself, including the impacts of climate change on tourist behavior (Gössling et al., 2012 ; Richardson & Loomis, 2004 ; Scott et al., 2012 ; Viner, 2006 ). Countries that are dependent on tourism for economic growth may be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (Richardson & Witkoswki, 2010 ).

The early focus on environmental issues in sustainable tourism has been broadened to include economic, social, and cultural issues as well as questions of power and equity in society (Bramwell & Lane, 1993 ; Sharpley, 2014 ), and some of these frameworks have integrated notions of social equity, prosperity, and cultural heritage values. Sustainable tourism is dependent on critical long-term considerations of the impacts; notions of equity; an appreciation of the importance of linkages (i.e., economic, social, and environmental); and the facilitation of cooperation and collaboration between different stakeholders (Elliott & Neirotti, 2008 ).

McKercher ( 1993b ) notes that tourism resources are typically part of the public domain or are intrinsically linked to the social fabric of the host community. As a result, many commonplace tourist activities such as sightseeing may be perceived as invasive by members of the host community. Many social impacts of tourism can be linked to the overuse of the resource base, increases in traffic congestion, rising land prices, urban sprawl, and changes in the social structure of host communities. Given the importance of tourist–resident interaction, sustainable tourism development depends in part on the support of the host community (Garau-Vadell et al., 2018 ).

Tourism planning involves the dual objectives of optimizing the well-being of local residents in host communities and minimizing the costs of tourism development (Sharpley, 2014 ). Tourism researchers have paid significant attention to examining the social impacts of tourism in general and to understanding host communities’ perceptions of tourism in particular. Studies of the social impacts of tourism development have examined the perceptions of local residents and the effects of tourism on social cohesion, traditional lifestyles, and the erosion of cultural heritage, particularly among Indigenous Peoples (Butler & Hinch, 2007 ; Deery et al., 2012 ; Mathieson & Wall, 1982 ; Sharpley, 2014 ; Whitford & Ruhanen, 2016 ).

Alternative Tourism and Sustainable Development

A wide body of published research is related to the role of tourism in sustainable development, and much of the literature involves case studies of particular types of tourism. Many such studies contrast types of alternative tourism with those of mass tourism, which has received sustained criticism for decades and is widely considered to be unsustainable (Cater, 1993 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Fennell, 2020 ; Gursoy et al., 2010 ; Liu, 2003 ; Peeters, 2012 ; Zapata et al., 2011 ). Still, some tourism researchers have taken issue with the conclusion that mass tourism is inherently unsustainable (Sharpley, 2000 ; Weaver, 2007 ), and some have argued for developing pathways to “sustainable mass tourism” as “the desired and impending outcome for most destinations” (Weaver, 2012 , p. 1030). In integrating an ethical component to mass tourism development, Weaver ( 2014 , p. 131) suggests that the desirable outcome is “enlightened mass tourism.” Such suggestions have been contested in the literature and criticized for dubious assumptions about emergent norms of sustainability and support for growth, which are widely seen as contradictory (Peeters, 2012 ; Wheeller, 2007 ).

Models of responsible or alternative tourism development include ecotourism, community-based tourism, pro-poor tourism, slow tourism, green tourism, and heritage tourism, among others. Most models of alternative tourism development emphasize themes that aim to counteract the perceived negative impacts of conventional or mass tourism. As such, the objectives of these models of tourism development tend to focus on minimizing environmental impacts, supporting biodiversity conservation, empowering local communities, alleviating poverty, and engendering pleasant relationships between tourists and residents.

Approaches to alternative tourism development tend to overlap with themes of responsible tourism, and the two terms are frequently used interchangeably. Responsible tourism has been characterized in terms of numerous elements, including

ensuring that communities are involved in and benefit from tourism;

respecting local, natural, and cultural environments;

involving the local community in planning and decision-making;

using local resources sustainably;

behaving in ways that are sensitive to the host culture;

maintaining and encouraging natural, economic, and cultural diversity; and

assessing environmental, social, and economic impacts as a prerequisite to tourism development (Spenceley, 2012 ).

Hetzer ( 1965 ) identified four fundamental principles or perquisites for a more responsible form of tourism: (a) minimum environmental impact; (b) minimum impact on and maximum respect for host cultures; (c) maximum economic benefits to the host country; and (d) maximum leisure satisfaction to participating tourists.

The history of ecotourism is closely connected with the emergence of sustainable development, as it was born out of a concern for the conservation of biodiversity. Ecotourism is a form of tourism that aims to minimize local environmental impacts while bringing benefits to protected areas and the people living around those lands (Honey, 2008 ). Ecotourism represents a small segment of nature-based tourism, which is understood as tourism based on the natural attractions of an area, such as scenic areas and wildlife (Gössling, 1999 ). The ecotourism movement gained momentum in the 1990s, primarily in developing countries in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, and nearly all countries are now engaged in some form of ecotourism. In some communities, ecotourism is the primary economic activity and source of income and economic development.

The term “ecotourism” was coined by Hector Ceballos-Lascuráin and defined by him as “tourism that consists in travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring, and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals” (Ceballos-Lascuráin, 1987 , p. 13). In discussing ecotourism resources, he also made reference to “any existing cultural manifestations (both past and present) found in these areas” (Ceballos-Lascuráin, 1987 , p. 14). The basic precepts of ecotourism had been discussed long before the actual use of the term. Twenty years earlier, Hetzer ( 1965 ) referred to a form of tourism “based principally upon natural and archaeological resources such as caves, fossil sites (and) archaeological sites.” Thus, both natural resources and cultural resources were integrated into ecotourism frameworks from the earliest manifestations.

Costa Rica is well known for having successfully integrated ecotourism in its overall strategy for sustainable development, and numerous case studies of ecotourism in Costa Rica appear in the literature (Chase et al., 1998 ; Fennell & Eagles, 1990 ; Gray & Campbell, 2007 ; Hearne & Salinas, 2002 ). Ecotourism in Costa Rica has been seen as having supported the economic development of the country while promoting biodiversity conservation in its extensive network of protected areas. Chase et al. ( 1998 ) estimated the demand for ecotourism in a study of differential pricing of entrance fees at national parks in Costa Rica. The authors estimated elasticities associated with the own-price, cross-price, and income variables and found that the elasticities of demand were significantly different between three different national park sites. The results reveal the heterogeneity characterizing tourist behavior and park attractions and amenities. Hearne and Salinas ( 2002 ) used choice experiments to examine the preferences of domestic and foreign tourists in Costa Rica in an ecotourism site. Both sets of tourists demonstrated a preference for improved infrastructure, more information, and lower entrance fees. Foreign tourists demonstrated relatively stronger preferences for the inclusion of restrictions in the access to some trails.

Ecotourism has also been studied extensively in Kenya (Southgate, 2006 ), Malaysia (Lian Chan & Baum, 2007 ), Nepal (Baral et al., 2008 ), Peru (Stronza, 2007 ), and Taiwan (Lai & Nepal, 2006 ), among many other countries. Numerous case studies have demonstrated the potential for ecotourism to contribute to sustainable development by providing support for biodiversity conservation, local livelihoods, and regional development.

Community-Based Tourism

Community-based tourism (CBT) is a model of tourism development that emphasizes the development of local communities and allows for local residents to have substantial control over its development and management, and a major proportion of the benefits remain within the community. CBT emerged during the 1970s as a response to the negative impacts of the international mass tourism development model (Cater, 1993 ; Hall & Lew, 2009 ; Turner & Ash, 1975 ; Zapata et al., 2011 ).

Community-based tourism has been examined for its potential to contribute to poverty reduction. In a study of the viability of the CBT model to support socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation in Nicaragua, tourism was perceived by participants in the study to have an impact on employment creation in their communities (Zapata et al., 2011 ). Tourism was seen to have had positive impacts on strengthening local knowledge and skills, particularly on the integration of women to new roles in the labor market. One of the main perceived gains regarding the environment was the process of raising awareness regarding the conservation of natural resources. The small scale of CBT operations and low capacity to accommodate visitors was seen as a limitation of the model.

Spenceley ( 2012 ) compiled case studies of community-based tourism in countries in southern Africa, including Botswana, Madagascar, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In this volume, authors characterize community-based and nature-based tourism development projects in the region and demonstrate how community participation in planning and decision-making has generated benefits for local residents and supported conservation initiatives. They contend that responsible tourism practices are of particular importance in the region because of the rich biological diversity, abundant charismatic wildlife, and the critical need for local economic development and livelihood strategies.

In Kenya, CBT enterprises were not perceived to have made a significant impact on poverty reduction at an individual household level, in part because the model relied heavily on donor funding, reinforcing dependency and poverty (Manyara & Jones, 2007 ). The study identified several critical success factors for CBT enterprises, namely, awareness and sensitization, community empowerment, effective leadership, and community capacity building, which can inform appropriate tourism policy formulation in Kenya. The impacts of CBT on economic development and poverty reduction would be greatly enhanced if tourism initiatives were able to emphasize independence, address local community priorities, enhance community empowerment and transparency, discourage elitism, promote effective community leadership, and develop community capacity to operate their own enterprises more efficiently.

Pro-Poor Tourism

Pro-poor tourism is a model of tourism development that brings net benefits to people living in poverty (Ashley et al., 2001 ; Harrison, 2008 ). Although its theoretical foundations and development objectives overlap to some degree with those of community-based tourism and other models of AT, the key distinctive feature of pro-poor tourism is that it places poor people and poverty at the top of the agenda. By focusing on a very simple and incontrovertibly moral idea, namely, the net benefits of tourism to impoverished people, the concept has broad appeal to donors and international aid agencies. Harnessing the economic benefits of tourism for pro-poor growth means capitalizing on the advantages while reducing negative impacts to people living in poverty (Ashley et al., 2001 ). Pro-poor approaches to tourism development include increasing access of impoverished people to economic benefits; addressing negative social and environmental impacts associated with tourism; and focusing on policies, processes, and partnerships that seek to remove barriers to participation by people living in poverty. At the local level, pro-poor tourism can play a very significant role in livelihood security and poverty reduction (Ashley & Roe, 2002 ).

Rogerson ( 2011 ) argues that the growth of pro-poor tourism initiatives in South Africa suggests that the country has become a laboratory for the testing and evolution of new approaches toward sustainable development planning that potentially will have relevance for other countries in the developing world. A study of pro-poor tourism development initiatives in Laos identified a number of favorable conditions for pro-poor tourism development, including the fact that local people are open to tourism and motivated to participate (Suntikul et al., 2009 ). The authors also noted a lack of development in the linkages that could optimize the fulfilment of the pro-poor agenda, such as training or facilitation of local people’s participation in pro-poor tourism development at the grassroots level.

Critics of the model have argued that pro-poor tourism is based on an acceptance of the status quo of existing capitalism, that it is morally indiscriminate and theoretically imprecise, and that its practitioners are academically and commercially marginal (Harrison, 2008 ). As Chok et al. ( 2007 ) indicate, the focus “on poor people in the South reflects a strong anthropocentric view . . . and . . . environmental benefits are secondary to poor peoples’” benefits (p. 153).

Harrison ( 2008 ) argues that pro-poor tourism is not a distinctive approach to tourism as a development tool and that it may be easier to discuss what pro-poor tourism is not than what it is. He concludes that it is neither anticapitalist nor inconsistent with mainstream tourism on which it relies; it is neither a theory nor a model and is not a niche form of tourism. Further, he argues that it has no distinctive method and is not only about people living in poverty.

Slow Tourism

The concept of slow tourism has emerged as a model of sustainable tourism development, and as such, it lacks an exact definition. The concept of slow tourism traces its origin back to some institutionalized social movements such as “slow food” and “slow cities” that began in Italy in the 1990s and spread rapidly around the world (Fullagar et al., 2012 ; Oh et al., 2016 , p. 205). Advocates of slow tourism tend to emphasize slowness in terms of speed, mobility, and modes of transportation that generate less environmental pollution. They propose niche marketing for alternative forms of tourism that focus on quality upgrading rather than merely increasing the quantity of visitors via the established mass-tourism infrastructure (Conway & Timms, 2010 ).

In the context of the Caribbean region, slow tourism has been promoted as more culturally sensitive and authentic, as compared to the dominant mass tourism development model that is based on all-inclusive beach resorts dependent on foreign investment (Conway & Timms, 2010 ). Recognizing its value as an alternative marketing strategy, Conway and Timms ( 2010 ) make the case for rebranding alternative tourism in the Caribbean as a means of revitalizing the sector for the changing demands of tourists in the 21st century . They suggest that slow tourism is the antithesis of mass tourism, which “relies on increasing the quantity of tourists who move through the system with little regard to either the quality of the tourists’ experience or the benefits that accrue to the localities the tourist visits” (Conway & Timms, 2010 , p. 332). The authors draw on cases from Barbados, the Grenadines, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago to characterize models of slow tourism development in remote fishing villages and communities near nature preserves and sea turtle nesting sites.

Although there is a growing interest in the concept of slow tourism in the literature, there seems to be little agreement about the exact nature of slow tourism and whether it is a niche form of special interest tourism or whether it represents a more fundamental potential shift across the industry. Conway and Timms ( 2010 ) focus on the destination, advocating for slow tourism in terms of a promotional identity for an industry in need of rebranding. Caffyn ( 2012 , p. 77) discusses the implementation of slow tourism in terms of “encouraging visitors to make slower choices when planning and enjoying their holidays.” It is not clear whether slow tourism is a marketing strategy, a mindset, or a social movement, but the literature on slow tourism nearly always equates the term with sustainable tourism (Caffyn, 2012 ; Conway & Timms, 2010 ; Oh et al., 2016 ). Caffyn ( 2012 , p. 80) suggests that slow tourism could offer a “win–win,” which she describes as “a more sustainable form of tourism; keeping more of the economic benefits within the local community and destination; and delivering a more meaningful and satisfying experience.” Research on slow tourism is nascent, and thus the contribution of slow tourism to sustainable development is not well understood.

Impacts of Tourism Development

The role of tourism in sustainable development can be examined through an understanding of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism. Tourism is a global phenomenon that involves travel, recreation, the consumption of food, overnight accommodations, entertainment, sightseeing, and other activities that simultaneously intersect the lives of local residents, businesses, and communities. The impacts of tourism involve benefits and costs to all groups, and some of these impacts cannot easily be measured. Nevertheless, they have been studied extensively in the literature, which provides some context for how these benefits and costs are distributed.

Economic Impacts of Tourism

The travel and tourism sector is one of the largest components of the global economy, and global tourism has increased exponentially since the end of the Second World War (UNWTO, 2020 ). The direct, indirect, and induced economic impact of global travel accounted for 8.9 trillion U.S. dollars in contribution to the global gross domestic product (GDP), or 10.3% of global GDP. The global travel and tourism sector supports approximately 330 million jobs, or 1 in 10 jobs around the world. From an economic perspective, tourism plays a significant role in sustainable development. In many developing countries, tourism has the potential to play a unique role in income generation and distribution relative to many other industries, in part because of its high multiplier effect and consumption of local goods and services. However, research on the economic impacts of tourism has shown that this potential has rarely been fully realized (Liu, 2003 ).

Numerous studies have examined the impact of tourism expenditure on GDP, income, employment, and public sector revenue. Narayan ( 2004 ) used a computable general equilibrium model to estimate the economic impact of tourism growth on the economy of Fiji. Tourism is Fiji’s largest industry, with average annual growth of 10–12%; and as a middle-income country, tourism is critical to Fiji’s economic development. The findings indicate that an increase in tourism expenditures was associated with an increase in GDP, an improvement in the country’s balance of payments, and an increase in real consumption and national welfare. Evidence suggests that the benefits of tourism expansion outweigh any export effects caused by an appreciation of the exchange rate and an increase in domestic prices and wages.

Seetanah ( 2011 ) examined the potential contribution of tourism to economic growth and development using panel data of 19 island economies around the world from 1990 to 2007 and revealed that tourism development is an important factor in explaining economic performance in the selected island economies. The results have policy implications for improving economic growth by harnessing the contribution of the tourism sector. Pratt ( 2015 ) modeled the economic impact of tourism for seven small island developing states in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean. In most states, the transportation sector was found to have above-average linkages to other sectors of the economy. The results revealed some advantages of economies of scale for maximizing the economic contribution of tourism.

Apergis and Payne ( 2012 ) examined the causal relationship between tourism and economic growth for a panel of nine Caribbean countries. The panel of Caribbean countries includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The authors use a panel error correction model to reveal bidirectional causality between tourism and economic growth in both the short run and the long run. The presence of bidirectional causality reiterates the importance of the tourism sector in the generation of foreign exchange income and in financing the production of goods and services within these countries. Likewise, stable political institutions and adequate government policies to ensure the appropriate investment in physical and human capital will enhance economic growth. In turn, stable economic growth will provide the resources needed to develop the tourism infrastructure for the success of the countries’ tourism sector. Thus, policy makers should be cognizant of the interdependent relationship between tourism and economic growth in the design and implementation of economic policy. The mixed nature of these results suggest that the relationship between tourism and economic growth depends largely on the social and economic context as well as the role of tourism in the economy.

The economic benefits and costs of tourism are frequently distributed unevenly. An analysis of the impact of wildlife conservation policies in Zambia on household welfare found that households located near national parks earn higher levels of income from wage employment and self-employment than other rural households in the country, but they were also more likely to suffer crop losses related to wildlife conflicts (Richardson et al., 2012 ). The findings suggest that tourism development and wildlife conservation can contribute to pro-poor development, but they may be sustainable only if human–wildlife conflicts are minimized or compensated.

Environmental Impacts of Tourism

The environmental impacts of tourism are significant, ranging from local effects to contributions to global environmental change (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). Tourism is both dependent on water resources and a factor in global and local freshwater use. Tourists consume water for drinking, when showering and using the toilet, when participating in activities such as winter ski tourism (i.e., snowmaking), and when using swimming pools and spas. Fresh water is also needed to maintain hotel gardens and golf courses, and water use is embedded in tourism infrastructure development (e.g., accommodations, laundry, dining) and in food and fuel production. Direct water consumption in tourism is estimated to be approximately 350 liters (L) per guest night for accommodation; when indirect water use from food, energy, and transport are considered, total water use in tourism is estimated to be approximately 6,575 L per guest night, or 27,800 L per person per trip (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). In addition, tourism contributes to the pollution of oceans as well as lakes, rivers, and other freshwater systems (Gössling, 2002 ; Gössling et al., 2011 ).

The clearing and conversion of land is central for tourism development, and in many cases, the land used for tourism includes roads, airports, railways, accommodations, trails, pedestrian walks, shopping areas, parking areas, campgrounds, vacation homes, golf courses, marinas, ski resorts, and indirect land use for food production, disposal of solid wastes, and the treatment of wastewater (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). Global land use for accommodation is estimated to be approximately 42 m 2 per bed. Total global land use for tourism is estimated to be nearly 62,000 km 2 , or 11.7 m 2 per tourist; more than half of this estimate is represented by land use for traffic infrastructure.

Tourism and hospitality have direct and indirect links to nearly all aspects of food production, preparation, and consumption because of the quantities of food consumed in tourism contexts (Gössling et al., 2011 ). Food production has significant implications for sustainable development, given the growing global demand for food. The implications include land conversion, losses to biodiversity, changes in nutrient cycling, and contributions to greenhouse emissions that are associated with global climate change (Vitousek et al., 1997 ). Global food use for tourism is estimated to be approximately 39.4 megatons 1 (Mt), about 38% than the amount of food consumed at home. This equates to approximately 1,800 grams (g) of food consumed per tourist per day.

Although tourism has been promoted as a low-impact, nonextractive option for economic development, (Gössling, 2000 ), assessments reveal that such pursuits have a significant carbon footprint, as tourism is significantly more carbon intensive than other potential areas of economic development (Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Tourism is dependent on energy, and virtually all energy use in the tourism sector is derived from fossil fuels, which contribute to global greenhouse emissions that are associated with global climate change. Energy use for tourism has been estimated to be approximately 3,575 megajoules 2 (MJ) per trip, including energy for travel and accommodations (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). A previous estimate of global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from tourism provided values of 1.12 gigatons 3 (Gt) of CO 2 , amounting to about 3% of global CO 2 -equivalent (CO 2 e) emissions (Gössling & Peeters, 2015 ). However, these analyses do not cover the supply chains underpinning tourism and do not therefore represent true carbon footprints. A more complete analysis of the emissions from energy consumption necessary to sustain the tourism sector would include food and beverages, infrastructure construction and maintenance, retail, and financial services. Between 2009 and 2013 , tourism’s global carbon footprint is estimated to have increased from 3.9 to 4.5 GtCO 2 e, four times more than previously estimated, accounting for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Lenzen et al., 2018 ). The majority of this footprint is exerted by and within high-income countries. The rising global demand for tourism is outstripping efforts at decarbonization of tourism operations and as a result is accelerating global carbon emissions.

Social Impacts of Tourism

The social impacts of tourism have been widely studied, with an emphasis on residents’ perceptions in the host community (Sharpley, 2014 ). Case studies include research conducted in Australia (Faulkner & Tideswell, 1997 ; Gursoy et al., 2010 ; Tovar & Lockwood, 2008 ), Belize (Diedrich & Garcia-Buades, 2008 ), China (Gu & Ryan, 2008 ), Fiji (King et al., 1993 ), Greece (Haralambopoulos & Pizam, 1996 ; Tsartas, 1992 ), Hungary (Rátz, 2000 ), Thailand (Huttasin, 2008 ), Turkey (Kuvan & Akan, 2005 ), the United Kingdom (Brunt & Courtney, 1999 ; Haley et al., 2005 ), and the United States (Andereck et al., 2005 ; Milman & Pizam, 1988 ), among others. The social impacts of tourism are difficult to measure, and most published studies are mainly concerned with the social impacts on the host communities rather than the impacts on the tourists themselves.

Studies of residents’ perceptions of tourism are typically conducted using household surveys. In most cases, residents recognize the economic dependence on tourism for income, and there is substantial evidence to suggest that working in or owning a business in tourism or a related industry is associated with more positive perceptions of tourism (Andereck et al., 2007 ). The perceived nature of negative effects is complex and often conveys a dislike of crowding, traffic congestion, and higher prices for basic needs (Deery et al., 2012 ). When the number of tourists far exceeds that of the resident population, negative attitudes toward tourism may manifest (Diedrich & Garcia-Buades, 2008 ). However, residents who recognize negative impacts may not necessarily oppose tourism development (King et al., 1993 ).

In some regions, little is known about the social and cultural impacts of tourism despite its dominance as an economic sector. Tourism is a rapidly growing sector in Cuba, and it is projected to grow at rates that exceed the average projected growth rates for the Caribbean and the world overall (Salinas et al., 2018 ). Still, even though there has been rapid tourism development in Cuba, there has been little research related to the environmental and sociocultural impacts of this tourism growth (Rutty & Richardson, 2019 ).

In some international tourism contexts, studies have found that residents are generally resentful toward tourism because it fuels inequality and exacerbates racist attitudes and discrimination (Cabezas, 2004 ; Jamal & Camargo, 2014 ; Mbaiwa, 2005 ). Other studies revealed similar narratives and recorded statements of exclusion and socioeconomic stratification (Sanchez & Adams, 2008 ). Local residents often must navigate the gaps in the racialized, gendered, and sexualized structures imposed by the global tourism industry and host-country governments (Cabezas, 2004 ).

However, during times of economic crisis, residents may develop a more permissive view as their perceptions of the costs of tourism development decrease (Garau-Vadell et al., 2018 ). This increased positive attitude is not based on an increase in the perception of positive impacts of tourism, but rather on a decrease in the perception of the negative impacts.

There is a growing body of research on Indigenous and Aboriginal tourism that emphasizes justice issues such as human rights and self-empowerment, control, and participation of traditional owners in comanagement of destinations (Jamal & Camargo, 2014 ; Ryan & Huyton, 2000 ; Whyte, 2010 ).

Sustainability of Tourism

A process or system is said to be sustainable to the extent that it is robust, resilient, and adaptive (Anderies et al., 2013 ). By most measures, the global tourism system does not meet these criteria for sustainability. Tourism is not robust in that it cannot resist threats and perturbations, such as economic shocks, public health pandemics, war, and other disruptions. Tourism is not resilient in that it does not easily recover from failures, such as natural disasters or civil unrest. Furthermore, tourism is not adaptive in that it is often unable to change in response to external conditions. One example that underscores the failure to meet all three criteria is the dependence of tourism on fossil fuels for transportation and energy, which are key inputs for tourism development. This dependence itself is not sustainable (Wheeller, 2007 ), and thus the sustainability of tourism is questionable.

Liu ( 2003 ) notes that research related to the role of tourism in sustainable development has emphasized supply-side concepts such as sustaining tourism resources and ignored the demand side, which is particularly vulnerable to social and economic shocks. Tourism is vulnerable to both localized and global shocks. Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to localized shocks include disaster vulnerability in coastal Thailand (Calgaro & Lloyd, 2008 ), bushfires in northeast Victoria in Australia (Cioccio & Michael, 2007 ), forest fires in British Columbia, Canada (Hystad & Keller, 2008 ); and outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom (Miller & Ritchie, 2003 ).

Like most other economic sectors, tourism is vulnerable to the impacts of earthquakes, particularly in areas where tourism infrastructure may not be resilient to such shocks. Numerous studies have examined the impacts of earthquake events on tourism, including studies of the aftermath of the 1997 earthquake in central Italy (Mazzocchi & Montini, 2001 ), the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan (Huan et al., 2004 ; Huang & Min, 2002 ), and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in western Sichuan, China (Yang et al., 2011 ), among others.

Tourism is vulnerable to extreme weather events. Regional economic strength has been found to be associated with lower vulnerability to natural disasters. Kim and Marcoullier ( 2015 ) examined the vulnerability and resilience of 10 tourism-based regional economies that included U.S. national parks or protected seashores situated on the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean coastline that were affected by several hurricanes over a 26-year period. Regions with stronger economic characteristics prior to natural disasters were found to have lower disaster losses than regions with weaker economies.

Tourism is extremely sensitive to oil spills, whatever their origin, and the volume of oil released need not be large to generate significant economic losses (Cirer-Costa, 2015 ). Studies of the vulnerability of tourism to the localized shock of an oil spill include research on the impacts of oil spills in Alaska (Coddington, 2015 ), Brazil (Ribeiro et al., 2020 ), Spain (Castanedo et al., 2009 ), affected regions in the United States along the Gulf of Mexico (Pennington-Gray et al., 2011 ; Ritchie et al., 2013 ), and the Republic of Korea (Cheong, 2012 ), among others. Future research on the vulnerability of tourist destinations to oil spills should also incorporate freshwater environments, such as lakes, rivers, and streams, where the rupture of oil pipelines is more frequent.

Significant attention has been paid to assessing the vulnerability of tourist destinations to acts of terrorism and the impacts of terrorist attacks on regional tourist economies (Liu & Pratt, 2017 ). Such studies include analyses of the impacts of terrorist attacks on three European countries, Greece, Italy, and Austria (Enders et al., 1992 ); the impact of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States (Goodrich, 2002 ); terrorism and tourism in Nepal (Bhattarai et al., 2005 ); vulnerability of tourism livelihoods in Bali (Baker & Coulter, 2007 ); the impact of terrorism on tourist preferences for destinations in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands (Arana & León, 2008 ); the 2011 massacres in Olso and Utøya, Norway (Wolff & Larsen, 2014 ); terrorism and political violence in Tunisia (Lanouar & Goaied, 2019 ); and the impact of terrorism on European tourism (Corbet et al., 2019 ), among others. Pizam and Fleischer ( 2002 ) studied the impact of acts of terrorism on tourism demand in Israel between May 1991 and May 2001 , and they confirmed that the frequency of acts of terrorism had caused a larger decline in international tourist arrivals than the severity of these acts. Most of these are ex post studies, and future assessments of the underlying conditions of destinations could reveal a deeper understanding of the vulnerability of tourism to terrorism.

Tourism is vulnerable to economic crisis, both local economic shocks (Okumus & Karamustafa, 2005 ; Stylidis & Terzidou, 2014 ) and global economic crisis (Papatheodorou et al., 2010 ; Smeral, 2010 ). Okumus and Karamustafa ( 2005 ) evaluated the impact of the February 2001 economic crisis in Turkey on tourism, and they found that the tourism industry was poorly prepared for the economic crisis despite having suffered previous impacts related to the Gulf War in the early 1990s, terrorism in Turkey in the 1990s, the civil war in former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, an internal economic crisis in 1994 , and two earthquakes in the northwest region of Turkey in 1999 . In a study of the attitudes and perceptions of citizens of Greece, Stylidis and Terzidou ( 2014 ) found that economic crisis is associated with increased support for tourism development, particularly out of self-interest. Economic crisis diminishes residents’ concern for environmental issues. In a study of the behavior of European tourists amid an economic crisis, Eugenio-Martin and Campos-Soria ( 2014 ) found that the probability of households cutting back on travel expenditures depends largely on the climate and economic conditions of tourists’ home countries, and households that do reduce travel spending engage in tourism closer to home.

Becken and Lennox ( 2012 ) studied the implications of a long-term increase in oil prices for tourism in New Zealand, and they estimate that a doubling of oil prices is associated with a 1.7% decrease in real gross national disposable income and a 9% reduction in the real value of tourism exports. Chatziantoniou et al. ( 2013 ) investigated the relationship among oil price shocks, tourism variables, and economic indicators in four European Mediterranean countries and found that aggregate demand oil price shocks generated a lagged effect on tourism-generated income and economic growth. Kisswani et al. ( 2020 ) examined the asymmetric effect of oil prices on tourism receipts and the sensitive susceptibility of tourism to oil price changes using nonlinear analysis. The findings document a long-run asymmetrical effect for most countries, after incorporating the structural breaks, suggesting that governments and tourism businesses and organizations should interpret oil price fluctuations cautiously.

Finally, the sustainability of tourism has been shown to be vulnerable to the outbreak of infectious diseases, including the impact of the Ebola virus on tourism in sub-Saharan Africa (Maphanga & Henama, 2019 ; Novelli et al., 2018 ) and in the United States (Cahyanto et al., 2016 ). The literature also includes studies of the impact of swine flu on tourism demand in Brunei (Haque & Haque, 2018 ), Mexico (Monterrubio, 2010 ), and the United Kingdom (Page et al., 2012 ), among others. In addition, rapid assessments of the impacts of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have documented severe disruptions and cessations of tourism because of unprecedented global travel restrictions and widespread restrictions on public gatherings (Gössling et al., 2020 ; Qiu et al., 2020 ; Sharma & Nicolau, 2020 ). Hotels, airlines, cruise lines, and car rentals have all experienced a significant decrease globally because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shock to the industry is significant enough to warrant concerns about the long-term outlook (Sharma & Nicolau, 2020 ). Qiu et al. ( 2020 ) estimated the social costs of the pandemic to tourism in three cities in China (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Wuhan), and they found that most respondents were willing to pay for risk reduction and action in responding to the pandemic crisis; there was no significant difference between residents’ willingness to pay in the three cities. Some research has emphasized how lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic can prepare global tourism for an economic transformation that is needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change (Brouder, 2020 ; Prideaux et al., 2020 ).

It is clear that tourism has contributed significantly to economic development globally, but its role in sustainable development is uncertain, contested, and potentially paradoxical. This is due, in part, to the contested nature of sustainable development itself. Tourism has been promoted as a low-impact, nonextractive option for economic development, particularly for developing countries (Gössling, 2000 ), and many countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy through development of international tourism. Tourism development has been viewed as an important sector for investment to enhance economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food security, and the sector provides an alternative opportunity to large-scale development projects and extractive industries that contribute to emissions of pollutants and threaten biodiversity and cultural values. However, global evidence from research on the economic impacts of tourism has shown that this potential has rarely been realized (Liu, 2003 ).

The role of tourism in sustainable development has been studied extensively and with a variety of perspectives, including the conceptualization of alternative or responsible forms of tourism and the examination of economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism development. The research has generally concluded that tourism development has contributed to sustainable development in some cases where it is demonstrated to have provided support for biodiversity conservation initiatives and livelihood development strategies. As an economic sector, tourism is considered to be labor intensive, providing opportunities for poor households to enhance their livelihood through the sale of goods and services to foreign tourists.

Nature-based tourism approaches such as ecotourism and community-based tourism have been successful at attracting tourists to parks and protected areas, and their spending provides financial support for biodiversity conservation, livelihoods, and economic growth in developing countries. Nevertheless, studies of the impacts of tourism development have documented negative environmental impacts locally in terms of land use, food and water consumption, and congestion, and globally in terms of the contribution of tourism to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases related to transportation and other tourist activities. Studies of the social impacts of tourism have documented experiences of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, race, sex, and national identity.

The sustainability of tourism as an economic sector has been examined in terms of its vulnerability to civil conflict, economic shocks, natural disasters, and public health pandemics. Most studies conclude that tourism may have positive impacts for regional development and environmental conservation, but there is evidence that tourism inherently generates negative environmental impacts, primarily through pollutions stemming from transportation. The regional benefits of tourism development must be considered alongside the global impacts of increased transportation and tourism participation. Global tourism has also been shown to be vulnerable to economic crises, oil price shocks, and global outbreaks of infectious diseases. Given that tourism is dependent on energy, the movement of people, and the consumption of resources, virtually all tourism activities have significant economic, environmental, and sustainable impacts. As such, the role of tourism in sustainable development is highly questionable. Future research on the role of tourism in sustainable development should focus on reducing the negative impacts of tourism development, both regionally and globally.

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1. One megatonne (Mt) is equal to 1 million (10 6 ) metric tons.

2. One megajoule (MJ) is equal to 1 million (10 6 ) joules, or approximately the kinetic energy of a 1-megagram (tonne) vehicle moving at 161 km/h.

3. One gigatonne (Gt) is equal to 1 billion (10 9 ) metric tons.

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The real economic and environmental impact of tourism in Wales

New research helps us understand the true value of tourism in the country.

Prior to their abolition in 2012, regional development agencies in the UK acknowledged that the tourism and leisure sectors were an increasingly important feature in their strategic plans. But in many cases, there was little evidence to support the role of tourism as a major economic driver.

Although there was an increase in demand by agencies for the measurement and monitoring of economic and environmental impact of tourism, the then current models weren't considering all the necessary factors. Existing forms of measurement typically centre upon gross expenditure by tourists, while additional important factors of regional economic performance such as employment or gross value added, were often ignored.

This meant that agencies were seriously undervaluing the economic and environmental importance of tourism at both local and regional levels.

In particular, WERU contributed to the development of an assessment framework and criteria which enables government to assess the value of events in an objective and equitable way. This framework has been welcomed by the events industry in Wales, the UK and internationally.

The bigger picture

For nearly 20 years, researchers from our Welsh Economy Research Unit (WERU) have examined the economic contribution that tourism has made in Wales. The team developed a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for the region.

A TSA is the only internationally accepted way of measuring the economic impact of tourism on an economy at a national level. Developed by the UN World Tourism Organisation (WTO), a TSA consists of a series of data tables which allow tourism-related activity to be separated out.

WERU's approach enabled researchers to estimate the economic importance of tourism in Wales in terms of output and employment. This data could then be subdivided by type, for example, the split of domestic and international tourism in the region. Crucially, this was something that had not previously been possible, and was of considerable benefit to the then existing regional development agencies.

An important extension of this work, was to examine the environmental impact of tourism in Wales. By combining data from their new model with existing WERU environmental research, the team were able to apply the methodology to an alternative problem – assessing the economic and environmental impact of individual sporting events. The team also worked closely with Dr Andrea Collins and colleagues from the School of Geography and Planning to link their tourism analysis with Cardiff University research seeking to examine the ecological footprint of different types of events.

Despite event sponsors often flagging the importance of environmental as well as socio-economic legacy components, the environmental impacts of events were difficult to assess, being complex and often occurring over long periods of time. WERU's methods produced some interesting results, not least demonstrating that the potential economic effects were often exaggerated by event organisers.

Although useful, the new TSA had limitations being somewhat static and historical in nature. A Tourism Impact Model (TIM) tool was developed by WERU to answer the future-orientated 'what-if' questions and to consider the indirect effects of tourism.

Input-output tables

These provide a financial picture of an economy, showing domestic and international trade flows between different industries, consumers and government sectors during a particular year. This accounting framework allows for the complex interrelationships between different parts of the economy to be understood.

Changing tourism in Wales

WERU's development of the first TSA for the UK led to their continued involvement with the production of TSAs for Wales. Their research has provided an essential foundation on which national and regional governments have built more established infrastructures for monitoring the effects of tourism that go beyond simple expenditure. Much of this research has been presented and incorporated into the UN World Tourism Organisation.

WERU was also critical in the formation of the Tourism Intelligence Unit within the Office for National Statistics. This led to a more consistent approach in how tourism is measured allowing the UK Government to use TSA results to inform them about the performance of tourism in the country.

WERU were involved in consultation and stakeholder engagement exercises that led to the creation of a dedicated Major Events Unit in the Welsh Government. Impact cases conducted by WERU were used as an evidence base for funding and policy advice to ministers. For example, WERU's research into the economic impact of the Heineken Cup Final was key for funding the event at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

The TIM tool developed by WERU was successfully used when planning and justifying expenditure on a range of projects including:

• the Wales Coast Path
• an impact analysis of Swansea City Football Clubs Premier League Status
• understanding the impact of the Environment for Growth initiative – projects aimed at increasing the outdoor visitor economy in Wales
• various studies for the Environment Agency Wales.

Meet our experts

Professor Calvin Jones

Professor of Economics

Dr Annette Roberts

Reader in Economics

Dr Andrea Collins

Senior Lecturer

Professor Max Munday

Director of Welsh Economy Research Unit

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What's the problem with overtourism?

With visitor numbers around the world increasing towards pre-pandemic levels, the issue of overtourism is once again rearing its head.

When locals in the charming Austrian lakeside village of Hallstatt staged a blockade of the main access tunnel, brandishing placards asking visitors to ‘think of the children’, it highlighted what can happen when places start to feel overrun by tourists. Hallstatt has just 800 residents but has opened its doors to around 10,000 visitors a day — a population increase of over 1,000%. And it’s just one of a growing number of places where residents are up in arms at the influx of travellers.

The term ‘overtourism’ is relatively new, having been coined over a decade ago to highlight the spiralling numbers of visitors taking a toll on cities, landmarks and landscapes. As tourist numbers worldwide return towards pre-pandemic levels, the debate around what constitutes ‘too many’ visitors continues. While many destinations, reliant on the income that tourism brings, are still keen for arrivals, a handful of major cities and sites are now imposing bans, fines, taxes and time-slot systems, and, in some cases, even launching campaigns of discouragement in a bid to curb tourist numbers.

What is overtourism?

In essence, overtourism is too many people in one place at any given time. While there isn’t a definitive figure stipulating the number of visitors allowed, an accumulation of economic, social and environmental factors determine if and how numbers are creeping up.

There are the wide-reaching effects, such as climate change. Coral reefs, like the Great Barrier Reef and Maya Bay, Thailand, made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Beach , are being degraded from visitors snorkelling, diving and touching the corals, as well as tour boats anchoring in the waters. And 2030 transport-related carbon emissions from tourism are expected to grow 25% from 2016 levels, representing an increase from 5% to 5.3% of all man-made emissions, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). More localised issues are affecting locals, too. Renters are being evicted by landlords in favour of turning properties into holiday lets, and house prices are escalating as a result. As visitors and rental properties outnumber local residents, communities are being lost. And, skyrocketing prices, excessive queues, crowded beaches, exorbitant noise levels, damage at historical sites and the ramifications to nature as people overwhelm or stray from official paths are also reasons the positives of tourism can have a negative impact.

Conversely, ‘undertourism’ is a term applied to less-frequented destinations, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic. The economic, social and environmental benefits of tourism aren't always passed on to those with plenty of capacity and, while tourist boards are always keen for visitors to visit their lesser-known attractions, it’s a more sustainable and rewarding experience for both residents and visitors.

What’s the main problem with it?

Overcrowding is an issue for both locals and tourists. It can ruin the experience of sightseeing for those trapped in long queues, unable to visit museums, galleries and sites without advance booking, incurring escalating costs for basics like food, drink and hotels, and faced with the inability to experience the wonder of a place in relative solitude. The absence of any real regulations has seen places take it upon themselves to try and establish some form of crowd control, meaning no cohesion and no real solution.

Justin Francis, co-founder and CEO of Responsible Travel, a tour operator that focuses on more sustainable travel, says “Social media has concentrated tourism in hotspots and exacerbated the problem, and tourist numbers globally are increasing while destinations have a finite capacity. Until local people are properly consulted about what they want and don’t want from tourism, we’ll see more protests.”

A French start up, Murmuration, which monitors the environmental impact of tourism by using satellite data, states that 80% of travellers visit just 10% of the world's tourism destinations, meaning bigger crowds in fewer spots. And, the UNWTO predicts that by 2030, the number of worldwide tourists, which peaked at 1.5 billion in 2019, will reach 1.8 billion,   likely leading to greater pressure on already popular spots and more objection from locals.

Who has been protesting?

Of the 800 residents in the UNESCO-listed village of Hallstatt, around 100 turned out in August to show their displeasure and to push for a cap on daily visitors and a curfew on tour coach arrivals.

Elsewhere, residents in Venice fought long and hard for a ban on cruise ships, with protest flags often draped from windows. In 2021, large cruise ships over 25,000 tonnes were banned from using the main Giudecca Canal, leaving only smaller passenger ferries and freight vessels able to dock.

In France, the Marseille Provence Cruise Club introduced a flow management system for cruise line passengers in 2020, easing congestion around the popular Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde Basilica. A Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) spokesperson said, “Coaches are limited to four per ship during the morning or afternoon at the Basilica to ensure a good visitor experience and safety for residents and local businesses. This is a voluntary arrangement respected by cruise lines.”

While in Orkney, Scotland, residents have been up in arms at the number of cruise ships docking on its shores. At the beginning of 2023, the local council confirmed that 214 cruise ship calls were scheduled for the year, bringing around £15 million in revenue to the islands. Following backlash from locals, the council has since proposed a plan to restrict the number of ships on any day.

What steps are being taken?  

City taxes have become increasingly popular, with Barcelona increasing its nightly levy in April 2023 — which was originally introduced in 2012 and varies depending on the type of accommodation — and Venice expects to charge day-trippers a €5 fee from 2024.

In Amsterdam this summer, the city council voted to ban cruise ships, while the mayor, Femke Halsema, commissioned a campaign of discouragement, asking young British men who planned to have a 'vacation from morals’ to stay away. In Rome, sitting at popular sites, such as the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, has been restricted by the authorities.

And in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, meanwhile, the Narok County governor has introduced on-the-spot fines for off-roading. He also plans to double nightly park fees in peak season.

What are the forecasts for global tourism?  

During the Covid pandemic, tourism was one of the hardest-hit industries — according to UNWTO, international tourist arrivals dropped 72% in 2020. However, traveller numbers have since been rapidly increasing, with double the number of people venturing abroad in the first three months of 2023 than in the same period in 2022. And, according to the World Travel Tourism Council, the tourism sector is expected to reach £7.5 trillion this year, 95% of its pre-pandemic levels.

While the tourism industry is forecast to represent 11.6% of the global economy by 2033, it’s also predicted that an increasing number of people will show more interest in travelling more sustainably. In a 2022 survey by Booking.com, 64% of the people asked said they would be prepared to stay away from busy tourist sites to avoid adding to congestion.

Are there any solutions?  

There are ways to better manage tourism by promoting more off-season travel, limiting numbers where possible and having greater regulation within the industry. Encouraging more sustainable travel and finding solutions to reduce friction between residents and tourists could also have positive impacts. Promoting alternative, less-visited spots to redirect travellers may also offer some benefits.

Harold Goodwin, emeritus professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, says, “Overtourism is a function of visitor volumes, but also of conflicting behaviours, crowding in inappropriate places and privacy. Social anthropologists talk about frontstage and backstage spaces. Tourists are rarely welcome in backstage spaces. To manage crowds, it’s first necessary to analyse and determine the causes of them.

Francis adds: “However, we must be careful not to just recreate the same problems elsewhere. The most important thing is to form a clear strategy, in consultation with local people about what a place wants or needs from tourism.”

As it stands, overtourism is a seasonal issue for a small number of destinations. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, a range of measures are clearly an option depending on the scale of the problem. For the majority of the world, tourism remains a force for good with many benefits beyond simple economic growth.

Related Topics

• OVERTOURISM
• SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

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The Living Coast - Brighton & Hove as a sustainable tourism destination

A £3.7m project to develop sustainable tourism opportunities around the Brighton & Hove region’s natural and cultural resources has shone a light on how the city and surrounding area may reduce the impact that visitors have on the environment.

The 3-year, EU Intereg funded, Bio-Cultural Heritage Tourism Project looked at sustainable tourism over the long term and examined how the impacts of tourism could benefit the area in a positive way – socially, environmentally and economically.

This project was delivered by The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere Partnership. Brighton & Hove is at the centre of The Living Coast, the UK’s only urban Biosphere region.

Our region holds this prestigious, global designation for the quality and value of our natural environment as well as the innovative approach organisations, community groups and residents are taking to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems – climate change and sustainable development.

Sustainable tourism experiences

Key elements of the project were to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the city and surrounding area for the future and help visitors engage with our local heritage by developing new sustainable tourism experiences.  

The project also developed new resources to promote the natural and cultural heritage of The Living Coast for both residents and visitors.

A new ‘Things to do’ section on The Living Coast website  offers inspiration on places and things to discover in a low impact and sustainable way.

Residents can also use this as inspiration to explore and learn more about their local area. For example, The Living Coast by Bike website shows tried and tested cycle routes in the biosphere and beyond.  

The Living Coast directory for businesses

There is also a dedicated section with free resources for local businesses to use. These include a toolkit to help local businesses become more sustainable, as well as marketing material for businesses to use to showcase our region’s natural and cultural heritage.

Businesses that share the values of The Living Coast can also showcase their sustainability credentials by adding themselves to a new sustainable business directory.

Balancing economic and environmental impact

Pre-pandemic Brighton & Hove usually attracted 12 million visitors each year, creating £975 million of economic benefit to the city.

Councillor Martin Osborne, co-chair of the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee said: “Brighton & Hove is one of the most popular visitor destinations in the UK. As a council and a city, we care deeply about our environment. So it’s really important that we found a way of balancing the benefits that it has on our environment.

“We are lucky in Brighton & Hove to be between the stunning coast and South Downs countryside, meaning there are plenty of wonderful natural resources on our doorstep.

“The Bio-Cultural Heritage Tourism Project has highlighted the need to promote more sustainable tourism experiences that both residents and visitors can enjoy and I would encourage everyone to look at the resources produced”

Becoming carbon neutral

The council’s tourism arm, VisitBrighton markets the city as a compact, walkable city and encourages visitors to arrive car-free and explore by bus or bike.

The council has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 . The city has an Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), a popular bikeshare scheme with a new fleet of electric bikes, and an ever-expanding network of cycle paths.

Visitors and residents can reach Stanmer Park, the city’s largest park, by bike, bus or train, and access Wilding Waterhall, a landscape restoration project on the edge of the city by bus, bike or on foot.

For your next sustainable adventure see the ‘Things to Do’ section of The Living Coast website .’

About the Living Coast and the BioCultural Heritage Tourism Project

The Living Coast covers the region from the River Adur in the West to the River Ouse in the east, following the northern boundary of the South Downs National Park and stretching 2 miles offshore.

It is designated by UNESCO to recognise the international importance of the chalk land and seascape and the special habitats and species these contain - and to reflect the sustainable and innovative approach to development and engagement with the natural environment by the communities that live work, visit and learn here.  

The BioCultural Heritage Tourism project was funded by the EU Interreg Channel programme as part of the European Regional Development Fund.

The project was led by Devon County Council, covering The Living Coast Biosphere and North Devon Biosphere in the UK and Marais Audomarois and Iroise Islands and Sea in France.

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A £2.23m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will help restore eastern South Downs rare habitats and lost landscapes, bring history and local cultures to life.

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Tourism United Kingdom

Tourism in numbers - europe.

Europe is the most important tourist region in the world. According to UNWTO, in 2006 nearly 55% of all international tourist arrivals (461 million) were on the “old continent”.Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region are the favourite holiday destinations in Europe. According to UNWTO, in 2006 about 165 million tourists visited these regions (7).

At present, the predominant summer tourist flows in Europe are from north to south, to the coastal zone. However, coastal and mountain tourism are the segments that are most vulnerable to climate change, and the Mediterranean region is the world's most popular holiday region: it attracts some 120 million visitors from northern Europe each year, the largest international flow of tourists on the globe, and their spending is in excess of EUR 100 billion (5).

Vulnerabilities – In general

There are four broad categories of climate change impacts that will affect tourism destinations, their competitiveness and sustainability (6):

• Direct climatic impacts
• Indirect environmental change impacts. Changes in water availability, biodiversity loss, reduced landscape aesthetic, altered agricultural production (e.g., wine tourism), increased natural hazards, coastal erosion and inundation, damage to infrastructure and the increasing incidence of vector-borne diseases will all impact tourism to varying degrees.
• Impacts of mitigation policies on tourist mobility.  Policies that seek to reduce GHG emissions will lead to an increase in transport costs and may foster environmental attitudes that lead tourists to change their travel patterns.
• Indirect societal change impacts. Climate change is thought to pose a risk to future economic growth and to the political stability of some nations. Climate change is considered a national and international security risk that will steadily intensify, particularly under greater warming scenarios. Tourists, particularly international tourists, are averse to political instability and social unrest.

Vulnerabilities - Overview

Apart from the decline in winter sports in Scotland and the potential vulnerability due to variable or extreme weather, all areas of the UK expect climate change to boost tourism, with a longer tourist season and higher visitor numbers. A shift to a more outdoor-oriented lifestyle is also expected (1). In general, climate change may bring, if anything, positive effects for Great Britain (7).

West and Gawith (1) present an overview of expected climate change impacts on several activities for different regions of the United Kingdom, based on several regional scoping studies. The results fortourism, recreation, leisure and lifestyle are listed below.

A blank cell indicates that no specific issues were identified for the region besidesthose noted in the first row.Each region identified and discussed issues differently, so this table might not provide comprehensive coverage of all issues.

Vulnerabilities - Wales

Tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Wales, generating some £1.9 - 2.0 billion in direct visitor spending. This translates to 10% of the jobs in Wales (c.100,000 jobs supported directly and indirectly by tourism) and 7.5% of the GDP. The seaside in Wales retains its position as the leading visitor destination, claiming a consistent 60% of holiday nights (2).

Due to sea level rise the coastal resource is jeopardised by increased sediment transport and erosion, loss of sandy beaches, deterioration of dune/beach interface, loss of paths and loss of land. The predictions that the Welsh summer will become warmer suggest that the long stay, higher spending and discerning tourist will return. Increased tourism in dry summers will place a new demand on the supply of water.

Vulnerabilities - Scotland

Tourism is one of the most important industries in Scotland, employing 1 in 12 of the workforce (1 in 8 in the Highlands and Islands). In 1997, tourists spent nearly £2.7 billion and filled over 13 million bed-nights in Scotland. The increase in temperature throughout the year is likely to improve the attractiveness of Scotland as a destination for most tourist activities, with the exception of winter sports (3). Winter sports, particularly the ski industry which is economically marginal, are perhaps most at risk from winter warming (4). The current level of tourism in Scotland operates within the perceived weather conditions. Some in the industry argue that climate change will have little, if any, impact on tourism (3).

Benefits - UK

Climate change may have a net positive effect on the overall European potential for tourism: up to 59 million bed nights more or some 8% of the total of 777 million nights registered for 2005 in a study on 29 countries (8). Additional potential revenues could be in the order of 4–18 billion euros.

The changes are likely to be unequally spread across Europe, however. The year-round potential for tourism increases most in the northern parts of Europe, including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, and in Austria. In the southern countries, there is evidence for a net loss of potential, although improvements in the spring and autumn seasons are likely to offset a significant share of the deteriorations in summer. In particular Austria and the UK enjoy significant gains in relative terms, whereas Italy and Spain face the largest losses (8).

Adaptation strategies – In general

Climate change is slowly entering into decision-making of a range of tourism stakeholders (e.g., investors, insurance companies, tourism enterprises, governments, and tourists); studies that have examined the climate change risk appraisal of local tourism officials and operators have consistently found relatively low levels of concern and little evidence of long-term strategic planning in anticipation of future changes in climate (6).

There is also some evidence that local tourism operators may be overestimating their adaptive capacity (e.g., capacity to make snow under the warmest scenarios). The incorporation of adaptation to climate change into the collective minds of private and public sector tourism decision-makers (‘mainstreaming’) remains several steps away (6).

The capacity of the tourism sector to adapt to climate change is thought to be relatively high due to its dynamic nature and therefore there will be important opportunities for tourism to reduce the vulnerability of communities to climate change (6).

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for the United Kingdom.

• West and Gawith (2005)
• Farrar and Vaze(2000)
• Kerr et al. (1999)
• Harrison et al. (2005)
• EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)
• UNWTO, UNEP and WHO (2008)
• Deutsche Bank Research (2008)
• Amelung and Moreno (2012)

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Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Sustainable tourism worldwide - statistics & facts

What are the effects of global tourism on the climate, traveler awareness of social and environmental responsibility, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Ecotourism market size worldwide 2022-2028

Tourism-related transport's share of carbon emissions worldwide 2016-2030

Global travelers who believe in the importance of green travel 2023

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Leisure Travel

Global carbon dioxide emissions from energy 1965-2022, by region

Further recommended statistics

Industry overview.

• Premium Statistic Ecotourism market size worldwide 2022-2028
• Premium Statistic Global travelers who believe in the importance of green travel 2023
• Premium Statistic Sustainable initiatives travelers would adopt worldwide 2022, by region
• Premium Statistic Conscious travelers' challenges when traveling in a sustainable manner worldwide 2022

Market size of the ecotourism sector worldwide in 2022, with a forecast for 2028 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Share of travelers that believe sustainable travel is important worldwide in 2023

Sustainable initiatives travelers would adopt worldwide 2022, by region

Main sustainable initiatives travelers are willing to adopt worldwide in 2022, by region

Conscious travelers' challenges when traveling in a sustainable manner worldwide 2022

Challenges of travelers when trying to travel in a sustainable and socially conscious manner worldwide as of March 2022

Environmental impact

• Basic Statistic Global carbon dioxide emissions from energy 1965-2022, by region
• Premium Statistic Tourism-related transport's share of carbon emissions worldwide 2016-2030
• Premium Statistic Carbon footprint of tourism-related transport worldwide 2005-2030
• Premium Statistic Carbon footprint of international tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type
• Premium Statistic Carbon footprint of domestic tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy worldwide from 1965 to 2022, by region (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)

Tourism-related transport's share of carbon emissions worldwide 2016-2030

Share of carbon dioxide emissions coming from tourism-related transport worldwide in 2016, with a forecast for 2030

Carbon footprint of tourism-related transport worldwide 2005-2030

Carbon dioxide emissions from tourism-related transport worldwide in 2005 and 2016, with a forecast for 2030 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)

Carbon footprint of international tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Transport-related emissions from international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2005 and 2016, with a forecast for 2030, by mode of transport (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)

Carbon footprint of domestic tourism transport worldwide 2005-2030, by type

Transport-related emissions from domestic tourist arrivals worldwide in 2005 and 2016, with a forecast for 2030 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide), by mode of transport

International tourism figures

• Premium Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023
• Basic Statistic Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region
• Premium Statistic Countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide 2019-2023
• Premium Statistic Global air traffic - number of flights 2004-2024
• Premium Statistic Global air traffic - scheduled passengers 2004-2022

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 1950 to 2023 (in millions)

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 2005-2023, by region

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 2005 to 2023, by region (in millions)

Countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide 2019-2023

Countries with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide from 2019 to 2023 (in millions)

Global air traffic - number of flights 2004-2024

Number of flights performed by the global airline industry from 2004 to 2023, with a forecasts for 2024 (in millions)

Global air traffic - scheduled passengers 2004-2022

Number of scheduled passengers boarded by the global airline industry from 2004 to 2022 (in millions)

Opinions and behavior

• Premium Statistic Main drivers for visiting a country by people worldwide 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of outbound travelers planning to spend more worldwide 2022, by category
• Premium Statistic Share of global travelers that want to use green lodging in the next year 2016-2022
• Premium Statistic Interest in accommodation with high sustainability standard globally 2023, by country
• Premium Statistic Reasons global travelers stayed in sustainable lodging at least once last year 2022
• Premium Statistic Demand for sustainable hotels by global corporate travel managers 2022

Main drivers for visiting a country by people worldwide 2023

Reasons to visit a country according to respondents worldwide in 2023

Share of outbound travelers planning to spend more worldwide 2022, by category

Share of travelers planning to spend more on trips abroad in selected countries worldwide in 2022, by type of expenditure

Share of global travelers that want to use green lodging in the next year 2016-2022

Distribution of global travelers intending to stay at least once in an eco-friendly or green accommodation when looking at the year ahead from 2016 to 2022

Interest in accommodation with high sustainability standard globally 2023, by country

Share of travelers who look for accommodation with impressive sustainability innovation worldwide as of July 2023, by country

Reasons global travelers stayed in sustainable lodging at least once last year 2022

Main reasons travelers stayed in sustainable accommodation at least once over the past year worldwide in as of February 2022

Demand for sustainable hotels by global corporate travel managers 2022

Importance of hotel sustainability for business travel buyers worldwide as of October 2022

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10 Environmental Impacts That Overtourism Can Have On The World

• Overtourism, or too many tourists in a location, is destroying tourism itself as well as the environment and ecosystems of popular destinations. This can lead to the loss of the very qualities that made a place attractive to tourists in the first place.
• Overtourism contributes to increased carbon emissions due to the high demand for transportation, such as flights, ships, and road vehicles. Travelers can help reduce carbon emissions by booking non-stop flights and opting for eco-friendly modes of transportation like bicycles and public transport.
• The negative impacts of overtourism include the accumulation of plastic waste, destruction of natural ecosystems, sewage problems, greenwashing by hotels, noise pollution, loss of cultural identity, suffering of local businesses, inflation, and overconsumption of resources. Travelers can combat these issues by choosing eco-friendly accommodation, reducing plastic waste, respecting local cultures, supporting local businesses, and being mindful of resource usage.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded in 2019 globally. Today's interconnected world depends on people's ability to travel, interact and explore.

Tourism has come to account for a large part of this travel, and a big chunk of the world economy now depends on it. In this endeavor for economic prosperity, the world seems to have missed a trick in terms of the impact that overtourism can have on society and, more importantly, on the planet.

A simple explanation of overtourism is that there are too many tourists at any given place and time, which is too much for the capacity of the infrastructure that supports it. There isn't an easier way to understand this except that overtourism is destroying tourism. Eventually, people will stop visiting a destination that has been undone through overtourism because the very reason they traveled to that place will no longer exist.

While the positive results of expanding tourism have always been easily measured, the environmental impact of overtourism has just started to be fully understood. Although there is no absolute solution to these issues, it may be time to take a deep dive into how this affects the world and what can be done to combat it. These are some of the many environmental impacts of too many tourists on a place.

Related: Here Are 10 Ways You Can Be Eco-Minded When Visiting National Parks Sustainably

Increased Carbon Emissions

With the increase in tourist travel, more flights, ships, and road vehicles are being produced and used across the world, resulting in higher pollution and carbon emissions. Places that attract visitors from all over the world are battling the impact of higher CO2 levels.

The magnificent Taj Mahal in India is a case in point about how pollution impacts tourism .

Ways To Reduce Carbon Emissions When Traveling

• Among the most to least sustainable modes of transportation , airplanes are definitely one of the "least". It's not always possible to forgo a flight, though, especially if traveling extremely long distances. Booking non-stop flights helps reduce pollution, as each take-off and landing of an airplane increases its carbon emissions.
• Bicycles, public transport, and walking are great alternatives to renting a car. It is a more eco-friendly mode of travel, is cheaper on the pocket, and helps the local economy.

Plastic Waste That Harms Wildlife And Ecosystems

The indiscriminate use of plastic water bottles is sadly a common phenomenon seen in many places, especially warm destinations where people naturally need to stay hydrated more regularly.

It is important to remember that disposable plastic bags and water bottles are non-degradable and will likely end up in landfills. This plastic finds its way to oceans, rivers, and forests, affecting marine life and wildlife, not to mention the blocking of sewage treatment plants.

Ways To Reduce Plastic Waste When Traveling

• When visiting places where tap water isn't drinkable, as is the case in some of the beautiful locations in Africa and Asia, using stainless steel bottles instead of disposable plastic ones is a more eco-friendly choice.
• Eating fresh food instead of plastic-enclosed pre-packaged meals is not only a healthier option, it's also more environmentally friendly.

The Overall Destruction Of Natural Ecosystems

Flora and fauna are usually the first to suffer overtourism in many of the world's popular nature destinations, whether it is beach destinations, wildlife sanctuaries, or areas known for skiing. Environmental issues such as deforestation have further led to the destruction of entire ecosystems, and many times, this situation is irreversible.

Plus, as global warming and mass tourism are irreparably ruining coral reefs due to bleaching and habitat destruction, they are part of a natural system that is slowly becoming extinct. Globetrotters can learn to understand the importance of protecting coral reefs while traveling and how it impacts the environment.

Ways To Reduce Ecosystem Destruction When Traveling

• If travel to such places is done during off-season times, it gives nature time to heal and repair.
• Using eco-friendly modes of travel, such as paddle boats, bicycles, and skis, instead of motorboats, ATVs, and snowmobiles, is a better way to promote eco-friendly tourism and minimize the risk of harm to the environment and ecosystems.
• Try to avoid visiting nature spots that are already suffering from overtourism. In many cases, a place needs to be left alone to recover.
• If hiking, stay on marked trails; taking shortcuts or exploring off designated trails can harm ecosystems.
• Select eco-friendly tour companies that respect the environment when booking experiences like camping, hiking, snorkeling and diving excursions, boat trips, safaris, and other trip types.

Sewage systems all over the world are designed for a certain volume of local and tourist population - and these systems need to be supported through drainage and waste management.

Overtourism, by definition, means that the number has been unmanageably exceeded, and sewage systems are not able to cope with it.

Ways To Reduce The Risk Of Sewage Problems As A Traveler

• Choosing unpopulated or off-beat places that are becoming overridden with tourists is not recommended, as these destinations will not be in the best position to handle large volumes of visitors, eventually resulting in garbage and subsequent diseases and pollution from malfunctioning sewers or outright sewer failure.
• Peak season travel will always test any local infrastructure while also being the most expensive time to travel; therefore, it's best to choose travel times that are off-season to make a better financial and environment-friendly choice.
• Avoid flushing items that are not supposed to be flushed; things like wipes, certain sanitary products, and even toilet paper in some places may cause problems with local sewage systems.

Related: Sustainable Travel: 10 Easy Ways That You Can Be Eco-Friendly During Your Next Vacation

Greenwashing

In the current day, when everyone wants to know what ecotourism is and why it's so important , corporations have jumped on the trend. That's where greenwashing comes in. Greenwashing is a practice where marketing and PR language is intentionally misleading and often used to convince customers that a hotel is better for the planet than it really is. It is also a common assumption that smaller boutique hotels will be greener just because they are smaller, but this isn't necessarily correct.

As such, eco-conscious travelers who want to enjoy an environmentally friendly vacation should check that their accommodation is indeed as eco-friendly as it claims. As an example, Marriott is a big hotel brand that decided to end its use of single-use plastic straws across all of its properties.

Overall, there are plenty of eco-hotels all around the world in most destinations, and many will prove their track record of green and sustainable initiatives by sharing what efforts they effectuate on their website and social media channels. Some even have official eco-status and awards, so these are always good to look for when determining if a hotel is actually eco-friendly.

Ways To Spot Greenwashing And Choose Eco-Friendly Accommodation

• Look for overly flowery "eco" language that doesn't really tell people how a hotel is actually eco-friendly. Environmentally friendly hotels that are genuinely so will show what their green initiatives are and prove how they achieve and maintain them, not just say they're eco. They should practice what they preach.
• See if a hotel has an official green or eco status - some countries, like Sweden and Bonaire, have their own eco-certification for accommodation.

Hotel and homestay owners should read about eco-friendly practices that have a minimal investment criteria to be certified green or eco-friendly.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution can be a nuisance for local residents of a place. Moreover, it has an enormous environmental impact and does very serious damage to animal life, including wildlife. Experts say noise pollution can interfere with breeding cycles and rearing and is even hastening the extinction of some species.

With the craze for wildlife tourism at an all-time high, forests and sanctuaries all over the world have introduced noise abatement policies to protect wildlife.

Ways To Reduce Noise Pollution While Traveling

• Vehicular traffic is the single largest contributor to noise pollution. Using bicycles, carpools, and public transport wherever possible, and most importantly, less honking, especially in areas already marked as silent zones, all go a long way in reducing noise pollution.
• Loud music, especially at night, is very harmful to birds and other small species in both urban and non-urban ecosystems.

Related: The Most Polluted Countries In The World (And The Cleanest)

Loss Of Cultural Identity

Popularity brings in the crowd, and so is the case with tourism. Unfortunately, mass tourism often leads to local businesses feeling the need to change their traditional style of functioning for economic survival, thereby losing their own cultural identities and generating a sense of resentment towards tourists.

Tourists must abide by any such cultural restrictions that can be considered offensive.

Ways To Reduce The Loss Of Cultural Identity And Be A Respectful Traveler

• Research a place before traveling to it; check what the local laws, cultures, and customs are like.
• Learn about the destination's religion, if applicable, and learn more about the cultural norms, attitudes, and practices before visiting. Respect for local cultures and rituals is an important part of good tourism, and tourists must be aware of the local laws and customs.
• Alcohol, nightlife, dress codes, and sometimes even music can be sensitive cultural issues in some parts of the world.

Suffering Local Businesses

As tourism increases at any place, bigger corporations start to come in and set up businesses to cash in the advantage.

It's very likely that small local companies are not able to compete with them, so locally sourced products stop selling. Eventually, small local businesses may be forced to close down due to competition with big brands and corporations that cater to tourists.

Ways To Support Local Businesses While Traveling

• Although this is unlikely to deter overtourism, buying local products will help local small businesses stay afloat and counter some of the ill effects that mass tourism brings - like big corporations moving in and creating competition.
• An example of this would be to eat freshly cooked local food at a locally owned restaurant, cafe, or food stall rather than searching out a meal from a chain or corporation like McDonald's or KFC. Buying food from a local market instead of going to a big supermarket is also a great example of supporting small businesses in the local area.

Small businesses at tourist locations run the risk of being under capacity to deliver for overtourism in terms of financial investment or real estate capacity. Therefore, they often end up either selling out or migrating from the traditional area of work.

Inflation is simply the result of too much demand and too little supply, and this is one of the most immediate but indirect impacts of overtourism on the environment.

In the hyper tourism that started across the world after the COVID-19 pandemic, fast food and takeaway food services reported the sharpest inflation rate in travel and tourism services. Meanwhile, hotels and similar accommodation services also started showing a higher inflation rate than ever before.

What Else To Note About Inflation From Overtourism

• With overtourism, locally available products run short in supply, and so higher imports and cargo services have to be engaged, resulting in higher pollution and more waste.
• Not just government policy but tourists can also help change this equation by making eco-friendly choices while traveling and opting for sustainable and environmentally friendly ways of travel in the world. Lesser pressure of demand will keep prices in check and allow healthy tourism to flourish.

Related: 15 Countries Leading The Way In Environment Care (10 Falling Severely Behind)

The Overconsumption Of Resources

Many countries in Asia and the Mediterranean tend to favor mass tourism without implementing the necessary eco-friendly infrastructure. It is the short-term economic benefit versus long-term environmental damage.

Water, for example, is at the epicenter of human existence, and it is being wasted at an alarming rate. Hotel swimming pools in hot countries that are constantly refilled without recycling to cater to incoming tourists are a classic case in point.

Ways To Minimize Resource Overconsumption

• Wastage is a common result of overtourism, and it adds to an already under-supplied system. Being careful and thoughtful while shopping or consuming to avoid any waste is a big part of being eco-friendly towards the environment. The principle of buying and using only what one needs is a good methodology.
• Try to avoid being tempted by too many salesy deals, like "buy two, get one free", as this can make people more inclined to over-consume (and then potentially waste) resources or goods that aren't necessarily needed.
• Be mindful of water usage while traveling, especially when doing simple everyday tasks like showering, bathing, and brushing teeth (not leaving the tap on while brushing, for instance)

Overtourism and its ill effects in terms of wastage and overconsumption can be controlled by tourists themselves by raising self-awareness and making eco-friendly choices in terms of travel season, choice of transport, and accommodation, as well as consumption of resources.

The future of health systems

Rapid population ageing, tight healthcare budgets, a shortage of health workers and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic are all putting increased pressure on healthcare systems. As OECD countries look to prepare for the future, radical policy change is needed to ensure high-quality care is available to all while keeping spending levels sustainable. 

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Key messages, policy change is needed to care for an ageing population.

As people get older, it becomes more likely that they will need help with day-to-day activities like cooking, cleaning, getting dressed and self-care. This type of support is known as long-term care (LTC). With rapid population ageing, countries need to rethink how systems can promote healthier ageing, improve the quality of care and find new ways to care for people at the end of their lives, while balancing the social adequacy of systems with financial sustainability.

Measuring health system performance

Assessing health system performance is crucial to ensure that health systems meet people’s health needs and preferences and provide high-quality accessible healthcare for all. It helps policy makers to identify areas that require improvement, effectively allocate resources, and measure the progress of key policy objectives.

Health systems must be prepared for future shocks

Health system resilience is the capacity of health systems to proactively foresee, absorb, recover from, and adapt to shocks such as pandemics, climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and cyberthreats. As countries recover from COVID-19, bolstering the overall capacity of health systems is more critical than ever. Health system resilience must be prioritised as one of the key objectives for high-performing health systems.  

Addressing shortages in health workforce

While the supply of health workers has increased over the past few decades in OECD countries, the demand for healthcare has also increased due to population ageing. In order to address health workforce shortages, countries should increase the training of new health professionals, increase staff retention by improving working conditions, and encourage innovation related to work organisation and the use of new technologies to respond efficiently to the growing demand for care.

Population ageing

The rapid population ageing seen across OECD countries will lead to increasing demands on health systems, and a decreasing working-age population to support them. In this context, promoting high quality of care while maintaining sustainable spending levels will present a significant challenge to health systems.

In recent decades, the share of the population aged 65 and over has doubled on average across OECD countries, increasing from less than 9% in 1960 to 18% in 2021. This varies significantly between member countries, with highs of 28.9% in Japan and 23.6% in Italy, compared to just 7.9% in Mexico and 8.8% in Colombia. This trend is expected to continue, with the proportion of the population aged 65 and over set to increase significantly.

Health systems are under financial pressure

The growing pressure on health system budgets reflects a challenging economic climate, with competing priorities squeezing the public funds available for health. This has been exacerbated by high levels of inflation and the increasing demands of an ageing population.

In 2019, prior to the pandemic, OECD countries spent on average 8.8% of GDP on healthcare, a figure relatively unchanged since 2013. By 2021, this proportion had jumped to 9.7%. However, 2022 estimates point to a significant fall to 9.2%, reflecting a reduced need for spending to tackle the pandemic but also the impact of inflation. This increasing pressure on health systems will require major policy change to address in the coming years.

Related publications

Related policy issues

• Ageing and long-term care
• Climate change and health