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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 37039

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Prof. Dr. Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska

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Guest Editor

Department of Urban and Regional Development Studies, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 87-100 Torun, Poland
Interests: geography; demography; tourism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Biegańska

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Guest Editor

Department of Urban and Regional Development Studies, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 87-100 Torun, Poland
Interests: suburbs; urbanization; rural areas; human geography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In today’s world, tourism is an important component of the lives of individuals and social groups. This means that every year, we observe an increase in the number of people taking part in tourism. As a result, the negative impact of tourism on the environment and culture also grows. The answer to these unfavorable phenomena and processes may lie in sustainable tourism which, on the one hand, aims at minimizing the negative impact of tourism and, on the other hand, supports development that brings positive experiences for entities operating in the tourism industry, local residents, and tourists. Of particular importance is that sustainable tourism applies to all forms of tourism in all types of tourist destinations, and its guidelines cover a wide range of aspects of tourism, including environmental, economic, and sociocultural aspects.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization guidelines, sustainable tourism should provide support in three main areas:

- Ensuring optimal use of environmental resources that sustain key ecological processes and help to preserve natural heritage and biodiversity;

- Respecting the sociocultural distinctiveness of local communities, preserving their cultural heritage, but also leading to mutual understanding and tolerance;

- Guaranteeing economic return for all entities involved in the tourism industry and the continuous social and economic development of tourist destinations.

To a certain extent, the already well-established knowledge on sustainable tourism needs to be updated in the light of the extremely dynamic phenomenon of urban tourism. Urban areas are becoming more and more popular destinations, and in view of the observed trends in tourism (4E tourism, increased interest in cognitive tourism, individualization of travel), it is possible to put forward a view that they will further grow in importance. It is therefore necessary to meet numerous challenges in order to mitigate the negative phenomena and consequences of tourist traffic, while at the same time providing an opportunity for the development of sustainable urban tourism.

Only in this way can planned tourism guarantee long-term sustainable development with respect to natural and cultural resources and the satisfaction of all those participating in tourism. As a result, more and more attention is paid to guidelines for sustainable development in tourism planning. This, in turn, causes sustainable tourism to record an unprecedented rise in interest both locally and globally.

Taking into account the above arguments, this Special Issue volume will concern:

- Theoretical and methodological issues concerning sustainable urban tourism;

- A review of studies on sustainable urban tourism;

- Trends in the development of urban tourism against the background of global trends in tourism;

- Tourism in cities of different sizes;

- New forms of urban tourism in the context of sustainable development concepts (culinary, event, cycling, industrial, Cittaslow tourism, etc.);

- Supply and demand in tourist cities in the context of sustainable tourism;

- Planning, management, and economics of urban tourism and sustainable development;

- City promotion/city branding;

- Positive and negative aspects of urban tourism development.

Prof. Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska
Dr. Jadwiga Biegańska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable tourism
urban tourism
human geography
city

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 4105 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Tourism in Cities—Nature Reserves as a ‘New’ City Space for Nature-Based Tourism

by Alicja Gonia and Aleksandra Jezierska-Thöle

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1581; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031581 - 29 Jan 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3720

Abstract

Visible trends in city tourism related to the development of sustainable tourism clearly imply an increase in the significance of green areas and the development of nature-based tourism. Natural areas in cities that ideally fit the assumptions of sustainable tourism are nature reserves—areas where protection of the valuable environment is a priority. This paper aims to highlight that nature reserves are green spots in cities that can be excellent sites for sustainable tourism. The choice of big cities was dictated by the fact that they have the highest requirement for recreational green spaces due to a high concentration of tourist traffic in historic city centres and a clearer need for sustainable forms of tourism. Sixteen nature reserves in five big Polish cities with a population of more than 100,000: Gdańsk, Łódź, Poznań, Toruń, and Warsaw were selected for the study. Field surveys were carried out in nature reserves to see whether basic tourism facilities providing information about nature, supporting education, and conservation of the natural environment existed in the publicly available areas of such reserves. The attractiveness of nature reserves to tourists and their suitability for developing sustainable tourism was evaluated through score-based valuation of the reserves. The valorisation index was used for a synthetic rating and classification of the reserves in terms of attractiveness. The results of surveys imply a possibility of using selected nature reserves in cities for developing sustainable forms of active tourism—in particular hiking and cycling, educational tourism and daily recreational activities of city residents. The sites in question can be regarded as attractive ecotourism products, and as such hold the potential to become a popular destination among tourists and eco-tourists in particular. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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25 pages, 5055 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conditions for Development of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Tourism in the Border Area of the European Union: The Example of the Tri-Border Area of Poland–Belarus–Ukraine

by Renata Anisiewicz

Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13595; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413595 - 9 Dec 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2360

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the conditions for developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of regional tourism at the external border of the European Union, in Poland, and its contact points with two non-Union countries (Belarus, Ukraine). The research used a literature review, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the conditions for the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems, interviews with local ecosystem actors and the author’s own observations. The eastern border of Poland (formerly with the USSR) created a barrier to the socio-economic development of adjacent regions. Their peripheral nature has allowed preserving their precious nature value and multicultural heritage. Currently, this preservation constitutes grounds for sustainably developing the region’s tourism. The primary actors of the tourism-based entrepreneurial ecosystem are local governments, public institutions, non-governmental organisations and entrepreneurs. An impetus for activities thereof was granted by Poland’s accession to the EU and its access to Union funds, which has reinforced tourism infrastructure by contributing to the establishment of new tourism enterprises. Furthermore, the development of tourism in the region could also be favoured by the close neighbourhood of as many as two other countries; however, and unfortunately, the border is still a barrier. Apart from the lack of infrastructure allowing borders crossings, political instability in neighbouring countries—made explicitly visible at the border with Belarus in 2021—threatens border-driven tourism by restricting tourism entrepreneurship, especially in those activities based on the access to the border. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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26 pages, 6584 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Culture and Sustainable Tourism: Does the Pair Pay in Medium-Sized Cities?

by Stefania Środa-Murawska, Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska, Jadwiga Biegańska and Leszek S. Dąbrowski

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9072; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169072 - 13 Aug 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2855

Abstract

Undoubtedly, one of the greatest challenges to civilisation today is the need to fulfil commitments to build a just and caring global society. These commitments also apply to the tourism sector. The aim of the article was to determine how to identify opportunities for sustainable tourism development based on cultural heritage in medium-sized cities whose tourism assets can hardly be considered outstanding. This is an even more significant problem, as even in conditions of relatively low tourist traffic cultural tourism may have an unsustainable character if the relevant policy is pursued and the attitude of the inhabitants are inappropriate. The authors proposed to complement the Triple Bottom Line used to assess the sustainability of a destination with the assessment of the local authority’s attitude towards cultural development and characteristics regarding the involvement of the inhabitants. The study has shown that even if the cultural assets of medium-sized cities are not outstanding, they can play a role in tourism development. It is important to remember that their advantage lies in their locality, and that expecting too much of an economic effect of developing tourism can deprive them of this advantage permanently. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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20 pages, 2930 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Political Instability Equals the Collapse of Tourism in Ukraine?

by Natalia Tomczewska-Popowycz and Łukasz Quirini-Popławski

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4126; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084126 - 7 Apr 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 9605

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how political instability influences inbound tourist flows in Ukrainian cities, performance of tourism-related businesses, and tourism-based profits in general. This study allows us to present the impact of various events on the tourism economy in Ukraine; however, the available secondary data with the unobserved component model procedure detection give only a general overview of the situation. Thus, interviews were conducted with experts, including managers of accommodation facilities, employees of municipal tourism development departments, and researchers investigating tourism. Interviews with experts revealed opportunities, threats, and future scenarios of tourism in Ukraine in the face of five years of political instability. The results support previous findings that political instability reduces tourist traffic over the short term. On the other hand, the interviews with experts representing major province cities have shown different results for the long-term perspective. Cities with developed tourism sectors in areas away from the place of conflict are beneficiaries of political instability. Disadvantaged are cities that had their tourist flows based on the citizens of the aggressor’s country—the Russian Federation. Cities that are underdeveloped in terms of tourism did not experience a significant impact of the political instability in eastern Ukraine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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15 pages, 273 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Potential of Albanian Tourism Sector

by Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu and Ferjolt Ozuni

Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3928; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073928 - 1 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3627

Abstract

The aim is to develop a profile of Albania’s hotels based on a critical analysis of the attitude of foreign tourists visiting the country. COVID-19 negatively affected the Albanian tourism sector because 2,657,818 foreign citizens visited Albania in 2020, which is 41.49% less than in 2019. To investigate the potential of Albanian tourists, this study employs a quantitative analysis and a Regression Model. The results demonstrate that the tourist is a rational decision-maker and our findings indicate that there are differences in expectations and perceptions among respondents. These differences are not significantly correlated with the respondents’ gender, but in terms of education level, the differences are significant for empathy, where the respondents with a college degree have a higher level of expectations than respondents that have higher education. Our findings highlight the practical implications of research for managers of hotels because they have to take into account that tourists are very sensitive to the level of understanding of their specific needs by hotel staff. Recently, more than before pandemic COVID-19, the relationship between expectations and perceptions of tourists visiting Albania is strongly influenced by tangible elements of the touristic package. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

15 pages, 1109 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Guidelines for Tourism Sustainability in Ultra-Peripheral Territories: A Research Based on the Azores Region’s Touristic Companies’ Analysis

by Gualter Couto, Rui Alexandre Castanho, Carlos Santos, Pedro Pimentel, Áurea Sousa, Sandra Faria and Maria da Graça Batista

Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3895; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073895 - 1 Apr 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2780

Abstract

Tourism is an important activity to achieve territorial sustainability. In fact, a properly planned long-term tourism activity is critical for the regional planning to reach the desired living conditions capable of attracting new residents in the future. Thereby, the present research aims to assess the perceptions of the managers of tourist companies in the Azores on sustainability actors about the sustainability of tourism activity in the archipelago. Contextually, throughout an exploratory methodology, it was possible to assess the Azores Touristic Companies managers’ perceptions. Hence, this paper shows that the sustainable practices most frequently adopted by the surveyed companies are the following: prioritize the purchase of regional goods and services (94.7%); selective waste separation (94.5%); minimize the use of hazardous substances or replace them with less hazardous products (92.3%); ensure the proper final destination of wastewater (public sanitation, septic tank) (88.8%); and adopt purchasing criteria that take into account environmentally friendly products or services (88.6%). This research also recognizes that 67% of the respondents consider that the respective participating companies have their goals aligned with environmental conservation principles, 66.7% aligned with environmental conservation principles, 36.9% aligned with social conservation principles and 26.4% aligned with cultural conservation principle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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17 pages, 1836 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Language of Sustainable Tourism as a Proxy Indicator of Quality

by Rene Brauer and Mirek Dymitrow

Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010025 - 22 Dec 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2634

Abstract

Sustainable tourism (ST) has recently become the mainstream of the tourism industry and, accordingly, has influenced contemporary tourism research. However, ST is not just theories about indications and contraindications of global travel, but also a specific language that needs mastering to take sustainability work forward. In other words, what research receives recognition depends on the proficiency in how the articulation in research proposals and within assessment under the heading of “research impact”. The aim of this paper is to investigate how tourism research gains recognition within research evaluation, by investigating the national research appraisal in the United Kingdom (Research Excellence Framework). By using content analysis, we disentangle the rhetorical choices and narrative constructions within researchers’ impact claims. Our findings suggest that researchers adopt a rhetorical style that implies causality and promotes good outcomes facilitating ST. However, the structure of the assessment format enforces an articulation of sustainable research impact without stating the methodological limitations of that such claim. Therefore, the rhetorical choices of ST researchers merely represent a proxy indicator of the claimed impact. We conclude that the lack of rigor in accounting for the impact of ST research may inadvertently restrict attaining ST. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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18 pages, 2924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influencing Factors and Mechanism of Urban Community Tourism Development: A Case Study of Beijing

by Ping Li, Fuyuan Wang, Xin Zheng and Jinku Huang

Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2806; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072806 - 2 Apr 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3580

Abstract

Urban community tourism (UCT) is a tourism product that promotes the sustainable development of urban communities. This paper constructs an index system of the influencing factors of UCT development (UCTD), which includes five secondary and 15 tertiary indicators. The weights of the indicators are calculated through expert consultation and questionnaire surveys. Based on the index system, this paper empirically evaluates five typical urban tourism communities in Beijing (i.e., Nanluoguxiang, Shichahai, Dashilan, 798 Art District, and Sanlitun) using expert scoring and online comments. We further analyze the impact mechanism of UCTD qualitatively. The findings show that among the secondary indicators, cultural atmosphere and built environment have higher weights than location conditions, specialty shops, and community participation. Among all the tertiary indicators, eight of them (i.e., cultural themes, ornamental value, frequency of cultural activities, store longevity and popularity, cultural institutions, abundance of distinctive buildings, scenic integrity, and community managers’ willingness to support UCTD) account for 80% of the total weight. In terms of the impact mechanism, 15 factors further affect UCTD through demand for authentic travel experiences, reachability perception, travel shopping demand, and stakeholder coordination. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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15 pages, 480 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Transition of Soundscapes in Tourist Destinations from the Perspective of Residents’ Perceptions: A Case Study of the Lugu Lake Scenic Spot, Southwestern China

by Lin Zuo, Jie Zhang, Ronda J Zhang, Yingying Zhang, Meng Hu, Min Zhuang and Wei Liu

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1073; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031073 - 3 Feb 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3362

Abstract

As an important part of regional synthesis, the local landscape is a crucial source of attractiveness for tourist destinations, in which soundscapes play a notable and special role. Many studies have investigated changes in the economic, cultural, and environmental aspects of tourist destinations under development, while little attention has been paid to how soundscapes change after tourism development. To this end, we chose the Lugu Lake Scenic Spot as a study area and explored the characteristics of soundscape changes by conducting a survey of residents in six villages at different stages of tourism development. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Geophony did not obviously change under the influence of tourism. Biophony increasingly lost its influence, while anthrophony increased significantly, causing wide concern among residents. (2) The phenomenon of soundscape commercialization could be attributed to the impact of tourism maturation. Further, the representation of folk songs has undergone a great change. (3) In terms of spatial patterns, residents whose villages were in different states of tourism development had significantly different perceptions of soundscape transition. For example, the one village not undergoing tourism development was in its original soundscape phase. In the other villages, which were in the consolidation stage or the involvement stage, the sound environment had changed significantly, entering a tourism soundscape phase once there were tourism elements involved. Finally, we propose suggestions for enhancing the conservation of local soundscapes, with a focus on both building the tourism industry and enhancing the sustainable development of tourist destinations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Geography of Sustainable Tourism)

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