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The Institute of Tourism Studies at Roosevelt University is a research and education center providing cutting-edge research and professional education solutions that promote domestic and international tourism development. As the primary research arm of the school of hospitality and tourism management, the Institute offers academic research as well as professional services.

Our research engages our graduate students in international issues such as global stewardship, sustainability and leadership development.

Our professional services have benefited domestic and international CVB's in the areas of conversion analysis and web design.

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Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future

4. Key findings

Several key findings have been identified in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2021 results and research. First, the need for T&T development has never been greater as it plays a critical role in helping the global economic recovery by supporting the livelihoods of some of the populations hardest hit by the pandemic and by building resilience, especially when it comes to lower-income countries. Moreover, by investing in the factors that help drive T&T, many economies can leverage tourism to further their overall development. The need for T&T development has never been greater as it plays a critical role in helping the global economic recovery.

Second, the key findings show not only how ongoing challenges such as reduced capacity and labour shortages are tempering the recovery but also how shifting demand has created opportunities, forcing many T&T businesses and destinations to adapt, highlighting the sector’s impressive flexibility. Third, the analysis explores in more detail how various aspects and drivers of T&T development can be more thoughtfully and effectively considered and employed to bolster the recovery and build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient T&T sector.

4.1 The need for Travel and Tourism development has never been greater

The case for t&t development.

As already alluded to in the global context section above, the T&T sector’s significant contribution to global economic and social development makes its recovery and long-term growth paramount. In 2019, the sector’s direct, indirect and induced output accounted for about 10% of global GDP. Moreover, for many emerging economies, T&T is a major source of export revenue, foreign exchange earnings and investment. On average, out of the economies covered by the TTDI, T&T contributed 70% more towards the exports of middle-income economies than to the exports of high-income economies in 2019. 10 Consequently, restoring T&T sector growth will be particularly vital for developing economies’ recovery. For instance, the World Bank forecasts that emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) will not return to pre-pandemic economic output trends until after 2023, with more than 80% of tourism-reliant EMDEs still below their 2019 economic output at the end of 2021. 11 Recent concerns about the slowdown in globalization and trade due to the impact of the pandemic and geopolitical tensions 12 further enforce how important T&T is for global connectivity.

It is also important to note that T&T is vital not only to overall economic performance but also to the livelihood of some of the populations and businesses most vulnerable to, and hardest hit by, the pandemic. This sector contributed to about 10% of global jobs in 2019, 13 employs almost twice as many women as other sectors, has a large share of youth employment and is a major source of jobs for minorities, migrants, informal workers and low-skilled workers. 14 Moreover, SMEs account for more than 80% of T&T businesses. 15 Unsurprisingly, research has shown that T&T growth can support social progress and create opportunities and well-being for communities. 16 Consequently, investing in T&T could not only mitigate the impact of the pandemic but also improve socioeconomic progress and resilience.

Enabling the T&T development landscape

With the case for T&T’s recovery and development clear, it will be critical to focus on and invest in the factors and policies (beyond the critical need for vaccine distribution) that can help enable these goals, many of which are measured by the TTDI. World Economic Forum research shows that TTDI performance correlates with direct T&T GDP, international tourist arrivals and receipts. 17

Figure 3: Travel and Tourism economic and enabling development landscape

Figure 3 can help us understand which economies are likely to be best positioned from a T&T recovery and resiliency point of view, and which may need to prioritize greater investment in T&T enabling factors. This is illustrated by comparing the TTDI scores to economic dependence on T&T. Low- and middle-income economies tend to score below the TTDI average, indicating a potential constraining factor for their economic recovery. In particular, economies in the bottom-right quadrant would gain the most by investing in the drivers of T&T development because they are more dependent on the sector for economic development. Such investment will help their economic recovery by enabling stronger tourism growth as well as supporting their overall economies to be more robust and resilient. On the other hand, while economies in the bottom left are less dependent on T&T, their below-average TTDI score may indicate that their conditions are leading to an underuse of the sector’s ability to drive development, weakening their economic potential – a resiliency issue in itself.

Higher TTDI scores for economies in the top two quadrants indicate that they are more mature markets and are best positioned for the sector’s recovery. Countries in the top-left quadrant are in a more optimal position from a resiliency point of view as they have favourable conditions for T&T operations but are also less reliant on it for their overall economic performance. However, that is not to say that T&T does not play an important role in their overall economic development, especially at the local level and for specific segments of the labour force and SMEs. Meanwhile, economies in the top-right quadrant, like those below them, have also been more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic, especially given that analysis shows they are typically more reliant on the export of T&T services. These factors may limit their ability to recover economically from the pandemic, but they are also better positioned to generate tourism-led economic growth as international tourism returns. In general, for the most mature T&T countries such as those higher in the top quadrants, sector performance and resilience may be less about making major improvements in aspects of T&T development such as infrastructure and more about continuously calibrating their T&T strategies to adapt to changing demand dynamics, local needs and overall T&T trends.

Figure 4: TTDI 2021 pillar performance

Figure 4 shows in more detail what gaps remain to achieving improved T&T performance and development for various countries. High-income economies and countries in the Europe and Eurasia (Europe) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions tend to lead the overall index in results. Among the largest differentiators between index leaders and laggards are: the distribution and promotion of natural, cultural and non-leisure assets and activities; the availability of quality transport and tourist service infrastructure; the degree of international openness; and favourable factors such as (increasingly important) ICT readiness and health and hygiene. However, as shown in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019, because T&T growth is so dependent on factors such as infrastructure and health and hygiene, which if improved bring benefits to more than the tourism sector, sector leaders can play a valuable role in encouraging investment that benefits a country’s economy as a whole. This is especially true for developing economies that have innate natural and cultural assets around which to mobilize investment. 18 The next section detailing key findings will use the TTDI results to discuss the T&T challenges and opportunities created over the past few years, as well as examining how various drivers of T&T development can be employed to bolster T&T recovery and build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient T&T sector, thereby unleashing its potential for economic and social progress.

4.2 Recovery challenges and shifting demand dynamics

The results highlight difficult operating conditions.

While varying greatly based on local, segment, national and regional conditions, the TTDI results and research help highlight some of the various and common operational challenges the T&T sector faces in its recovery.

With T&T activities being severely restricted over the past few years, the greatest decline in index performance has come from the contraction of related operations and investment. As such, average scores fell in the Air Transport Infrastructure (-9.4%), Prioritization of Travel and Tourism (-6.7%) and Tourist Service Infrastructure (-1.5%) pillars. Air route capacity and airport connectivity plummeted, especially in more mature and high-income economies. Similarly, the decline in tourist service infrastructure reflects initially reduced capacity in the accommodation and related segments. The average number of per capita short-term rental units dropped by about one-fifth between mid-2019 and 2021 across economies ranked in the index. 19 While not reflected in the TTDI results, STR data indicates that, over a similar timespan, the number of hotel rooms did not recover to pre-pandemic levels in many countries. 20 In line with these trends, both T&T capital investment and government T&T expenditures also fell. The decline in sector capacity has also been compounded by the fact that most businesses are SMEs and do not have the means to survive prolonged drops in demand or restrictions on person-to-person contact. The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the sector is indicated by the direct T&T contribution to global GDP falling from 3.2% to 1.6% and the contribution to global employment falling from 3.8% to 3.1% between 2019 and 2020. 21

Figure 5: Select pillar 2019 to 2021 average score change

Yet, as demand resumes in line with easing travel restrictions and somewhat improving COVID-19 conditions, the initial reductions in capacity increase the potential for supply-side constraints. In advanced economies, in particular, rising demand, earlier layoffs that disproportionality hit T&T, and competition for talent with other sectors have resulted in widespread labour shortages. A WTTC report focusing on the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal estimates that the T&T sectors in these countries experienced staff shortfalls ranging from 9% to 18% in 2021. 22 The interconnected nature of the T&T supply chain and ecosystem has also created challenges. Hotels, airlines, car rental firms, tour operators, cruise lines and others all form a chain of service providers dependent on each other along the traveller journey. Bankruptcies or other disruption issues at any point along this chain have the potential to negatively affect the others.

"In addition to labour shortages and capacity constraints, the sector has also been exposed to broader global disruptions that are complicating recovery."

Over the course of the pandemic, growth in merchandise trade coincided with production, worker, equipment and space shortages to create a global supply-chain crisis. For instance, hotels have faced shortages of items ranging from slippers for clients to kitchen equipment. 23

The recent outbreak of war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions and travel restrictions related to Russia have added further pressure on the recovery. Airlines around the world have had to reroute operations, increasing travel times and costs. Meanwhile, the still fragile recovery in international tourism demand could be tempered by increased hesitancy among travellers when it comes to visiting Europe. 24 Many T&T economies in Europe, Eurasia and beyond may also be hard hit due to reduced demand from Russia and Ukraine. Combined, these two economies account for about 3% of international tourism spending, with Russia having been a major source of visitors to destinations ranging from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand. 25

While not yet fully reflected in the TTDI’s Price Competitiveness pillar, rising travel demand, the stated labour, capacity and other shortages, global supply-chain disruptions and rises in fuel prices and inflation caused by factors such as the war in Ukraine will likely increase costs and service prices throughout the entire T&T supply chain and ecosystem. For example, as of 13 May 2022, jet fuel prices were more than double what they were a year ago, 26 and if they remain high, airline yields and ticket prices will likely rise. 27 Recent UNWTO analysis cites how conflict-induced uncertainty, higher energy and food prices and inflation, in general, are putting pressure on consumer purchasing power and tempering global economic growth, potentially affecting T&T sector performance. Moreover, as economies such as the United States combat inflation by increasing interest rates, consumer demand and T&T investment may be further hit by the rising cost of credit. 28

The pandemic shifts demand dynamics, creating opportunities and driving adaptation

With travel restrictions still common and traveller confidence hampered by pandemic concerns, the past few years have also seen a shift in demand trends in global T&T. According to the UNWTO Panel of Experts, the major trends driving the T&T recovery include domestic tourism, travel close to home, open-air activities, nature-based products and rural tourism. 29 The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) data shows that, on average for the 117 economies covered by the index, domestic spending’s share of T&T spending increased from 50.8% in 2019 to 62.6% in 2020 as domestic demand fared better than collapsing international demand. 30 Moreover, current projections for 2021 show that domestic spending growth is expected to substantially outpace international spend in every region outside of the Caribbean and Middle East. 31

The TTDI results further reinforce the shift in demand dynamics that the world has witnessed. The second most improved pillar is Natural Resources (+2.5% average score increase). While this was driven largely by an expansion in the number of recognized UNESCO World Heritage natural sites and protected areas, such as national parks, the greatest improvement has come from destinations’ ability to garner interest in nature-related segments as illustrated by the 20.8% average growth in natural tourism Digital Demand value, a measure of online searches for topics such as natural wonders, outdoor activities and rural accommodation.

On the other hand, the Non-Leisure Resources pillar had one of the greatest declines in average performance (-1.9%) as business travel declined. While this sector is recovering, it has rebounded at a slower rate than leisure, with factors such as workplace flexibility and the availability of virtual alternatives for in-person meetings tempering demand and potentially leading to some permanent loss in corporate travel. This will force many T&T segments to adapt. For example, operators in the meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) area may have to rely more on smaller and hybrid events. 32 T&T businesses and destinations are increasingly looking to capture opportunities offered by the changing nature of work. Over the course of the pandemic, more businesses have gone virtual, and an increasing share of the labour force is becoming independent.

"In 2020, 10.9 million Americans said they were digital nomads, a 49% increase from 2019."

This sample of independent workers is also increasingly willing to travel. A recent survey showed that the share of US independent workers doing business outside the country jumped from 12% in 2013 to 28% in 2020. 33 Additionally, the trend in “bleisure” travel – the addition of leisure activities to business trips – is also growing. 34

To cater to these growing markets, T&T businesses will have to become more flexible and create new, innovative products. For instance, some major hospitality groups are creating new long-stay properties that include kitchens and living spaces, while other have introduced packages that offer reduced rates for those staying longer, which include IT and boardroom services. 35 Furthermore, while virtual business may require less office space, corporations and their employees may need options for occasional company meetings and events that the sector could provide. However, it is important to note that these new market opportunities are primarily for the high-end travel market and are not likely to replace the overall loss in business travel. Lastly, T&T operators have also had to introduce more flexible booking and cancellation policies in order to address uncertainty about travel regulations and the pandemic, in addition to increased consumer desire to make last-minute changes or to add leisure stays to their business trips. 36

From a destination point of view, many governments have also adapted to changing conditions to take advantage of shifting demand dynamics. For one thing, many countries have provided various incentives to boost domestic tourism. For example, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan have rolled out various programmes that provide discounts, coupons and subsidies for domestic travel. 37 Meanwhile, Aruba targeted the digital nomad market through extended work visas and other benefits via its One Happy Workation programme. 38 The trends towards more rural and nature-based tourism also offer an opportunity for less-developed economies to harness the benefits of T&T given that the distribution and quality of natural assets are less tied to overall economic development, with Natural Resources being one of the few pillars where non- high-income economies typically outperform high- income countries (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Composition of top quartile, by income group

Overall, the above adaptations to shifting demand and COVID-19 conditions help highlight how flexible T&T business and destinations can be in times of crisis. As the sector rebuilds and addresses future risks, its adaptability will become more crucial than ever. In particular, as can be seen in the key findings that follow, the shift to domestic and nature-based travel, as well as other trends, coincides with an increased emphasis on sustainable and safe travel. Therefore, T&T development will have to become increasingly sustainability-oriented.

4.3 Building back better

Given the current challenges, shifting demand dynamics and future opportunities and risks, it is vital that T&T development strategies are employed to rebuild the sector in a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient manner.

Restoring and accelerating international openness and consumer confidence, including investment in health and security

For starters, as travel restrictions are removed, ensuring that T&T markets are open to visitors and investors will become vital. In particular, it is important that the historical trend of ever greater international openness in T&T continues. Reduced visa requirements fuel international tourism and additional air service agreements open up markets to more airlines, routes, competition and, ultimately, better service (see Figure 7). Given the recent decline in international route capacity and travel demand, prioritizing visa and air service agreement liberalization will be important – with those economies most dependent on tourism exports and lacking large domestic markets standing to benefit the most. Financial openness and an increase in regional trade agreements can also help to facilitate necessary cross-border investment in T&T and beyond, which may also help encourage more international and intra-regional travel.

TTDI results indicate that Western, Southern and Northern Europe are usually the most internationally open subregions due to the close integration that the European Union, the Schengen Area and similar blocs and agreements provide. Such systems allow T&T operators to benefit from factors such as a larger and more diverse consumer base and common market rules. It is also important to recognize that despite the pandemic and disrupted global trade, 83 economies ranked in the index increased their number of regional trade agreements in force between 2019 and 2021. Relevant recent developments include the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into force in 2021. Combined with related efforts such as the Free Movement Protocol and Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the sub-Saharan Africa region has the potential to unlock its untapped T&T potential and grow its underdeveloped intra- regional T&T market and air route capacity. 39

Figure 7: Correlation between air service agreement liberalization and air transport infrastructure, 2019

Endnotes 40 , 41

Of course, the pandemic, along with the recent rise in geopolitical tensions, also highlights just how important health and security conditions are to protecting the openness on which T&T relies and to restoring consumer confidence in travel. Economies with sophisticated healthcare systems are better equipped to mitigate the impact of pandemics on T&T and the wider economy by protecting their populations, including the T&T workforce and visitors, thus reducing the need for travel and lockdown restrictions. Meanwhile, access to clean water and sanitation facilities helps prevent diseases or their spread. Lastly, consumers and business travellers are likely to remain more sensitive to the health and hygiene conditions at destinations for some time. A recent survey shows that the majority of travellers consider safety protocols, restrictions and cleanliness to be key factors in travel decision- making. 42 In the short term, T&T business, destinations and international organizations have responded to these issues via actions such as the introduction of various protocols and certifications. For instance, the World Travel & Tourism Council has introduced the Safe Travels protocols and certification stamp that can be used by T&T to show customers they are following standardized global health and hygiene practices. 43

In general, underdeveloped health and hygiene infrastructure and access represents an acute challenge for many developing countries, with low- and lower-middle-income economies scoring 50.0% and 25.6% below average in the Health and Hygiene pillar. These states lack physicians and hospital beds (in terms of ratio to population size) and access to basic sanitation and drinking water, and such issues, combined with lower vaccination rates, mean that these economies will struggle to recover at the same pace as others and will have difficulty building adequate resilience against future health security risks. It is therefore crucial for the success of the global T&T sector that the challenges related to vaccine distribution and roll-out are addressed in an equitable and inclusive fashion. While further effort is required, public-private cooperation can provide a useful avenue to address this challenge. For example, the World Economic Forum’s Supply Chain & Transport Industry Action Group community, which consists of leading supply-chain companies, is supporting UNICEF and the COVAX Vaccine Distribution programme with “planning, preparedness and prioritized transportation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and related supplies”. 44

The above-mentioned introduction of travel bans, flight-route adjustments, increasing fuel and food prices and potentially hindered international travel demand caused by the war in Ukraine have also shown the degree to which international T&T can be affected by geopolitical tension and conflict. Overall, it is well established that crime and security issues such as terrorism and conflict have a negative impact on tourist arrivals and sector revenue. 45 The 2021 TTDI data shows that economies in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia tend to score the lowest for safety and security, thereby creating a further obstacle to the future development of T&T in these areas.

On the other hand, research has also shown that a sustainable and open tourism sector can be resilient to violence and conflict and that it may help foster positive peace, namely the “attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies”. More specifically, the mechanisms through which tourism can accomplish this include cultural and information exchange, encouragement of tolerance, better government functioning, human capital development, and local and cross-border economic gain that can reduce the risks to peace. 46 It is now more important than ever to leverage the T&T sector’s potential for peace through sustainable development.

"It is crucial for the success of the global T&T sector that the challenges related to vaccine distribution and roll- out are addressed in an equitable and inclusive fashion. While further effort is required, public- private cooperation can provide a useful avenue to address this challenge."

Building favourable and inclusive labour, business and socioeconomic conditions

Over the course of the pandemic, the T&T sector has received substantial support in the form of debt financing, tax policies, assistance with business costs, public-sector investment, employment support, incentivization of tourism demand and easing of regulations. 47 In the future, continued investment in human capital and the creation of more favourable labour, business and socioeconomic conditions will be vital components in making the sector more inclusive, addressing ongoing challenges such as labour shortages and driving T&T growth and resilience.

Factors such as accessible and quality education and staff training, supportive hiring and firing practices, programmes to source skilled labour, flexible working arrangements and efforts to improve labour productivity can help equip T&T companies with a workforce that can improve operating efficiency, provide quality services, maintain flexibility in the face of evolving business needs and challenges and take advantage of the growing role of ICT tools. For example, according to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2020 , skills gaps in the local labour market were the number one barrier to adoption of new technologies in the transport and storage, and consumer sectors, the two sectors most closely tied to T&T. 48 Furthermore, according to the WTTC, factors such as facilitation of labour mobility, upskilling and reskilling and promotion of education are vital elements in addressing the current labour shortage. 49 Meanwhile, the past few years have shown how important policy stability, access to credit and creating more business- friendly regulatory and tax environments have been in supporting the T&T sector, especially SMEs that typically do not have the same resources and access to capital as larger firms. 50

The 2021 TTDI results partially reflect some efforts by policy-makers to support their economies, with the average Business Environment score climbing 1.7% since 2019. In particular, perceptions of the burden of government regulations and SME access to finance were areas that saw some of the largest improvements. The average Human Resource and Labour Market pillar also improved by 1.5% between 2019 and 2021, due to overall progress made in areas such as staff training. Nonetheless, less developed economies still score well below the TTDI average for most indicators for both pillars.

The pandemic has also highlighted how important an economy’s socioeconomic resilience is for the T&T sector. In general, the ability of an economy to support its population through social protections such as unemployment and maternity benefits, keep youth employed or in training, effectively uphold workers’ rights and support a diverse and inclusive workforce may potentially help strengthen employee productivity, expand the labour pool and make it more resilient to risks such as pandemics. 51 This is particularly true for the T&T sector because it provides income for a large number of youth, women, informal workers, the self-employed and small enterprises, who do not always have access to social or worker protections. Figure 8 shows that there is a relationship between socioeconomic resilience and conditions and labour productivity in T&T. Recent survey data also reinforces how important issues such as benefits and working conditions are for attracting talent and addressing the ongoing labour shortage in the sector. One poll of former US hospitality workers showed that more than half won’t return to their old jobs and over a third are not planning on returning to the industry as they seek higher pay, better working conditions and benefits, and more flexibility. 52

Figure 8: Correlation between socioeconomic resilience and conditions and tourism labour productivity

The 2021 TTDI results show that, across the board, socioeconomic resilience has tended to improve due to the expansion of social protection coverage and spending in line with global efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. High-income economies do tend to score far higher on the Socioeconomic Resilience and Conditions pillar, putting them in a better position to deal with future challenges and maximize their workforce potential. Conversely, low- and lower-middle-income countries have far lower socioeconomic resilience due to more limited social protection, higher rates of youth not in education, employment or training (NEET), fewer workers rights and greater inequality of opportunity for all. As a result, the T&T sector in these economies may face more obstacles to recovery and may be more vulnerable to future risks.

While rising interest rates and debt levels represent a growing obstacle, government responses to the pandemic demonstrated their capacity to provide more comprehensive socioeconomic support, and the benefits of doing so, albeit during an unprecedented situation. While the pandemic has certainly disproportionately affected SMEs, entrepreneurs or more vulnerable populations, strengthening such mechanisms, especially in the T&T sector, could have compound benefits for the sector and economies as a whole.

The growing role of environmental sustainability

In the coming years, the success of T&T businesses and destinations will be increasingly tied to their ability to manage and operate under ever greater ecological and environmental threats. According to surveys conducted for the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022 , environmental risks represent half of the top 10 global risks, with climate action failure, extreme weather and biodiversity role natural assets play in generating T&T demand and spend, these environmental risks represent a serious threat to long-term growth for the sector. Moreover, within this context, travellers increasingly value environmentally sustainable options. 54 df

The 2021 TTDI results indicate the extent of environmental sustainability threats and challenges. For instance, comparing the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability pillar scores helps to pinpoint where some of the greatest risks to nature-based tourism might lie. Out of the 30 economies that rank in the top quartile for natural resources, 17 score below the global average for environmental sustainability and eight rank in the bottom 25.

Figure 9 provides a regional view of the challenge. While most economies in the Americas and Asia- Pacific and almost half of those in sub-Saharan Africa score above average for natural resources, they commonly underperform in environmental sustainability, making it a critical problem for future T&T development. Environmental issues differ in these regions, but some examples include elevated climate-related risk (as measured by the Global Climate Risk Index), air and sea pollution, deforestation, poor wastewater treatment and inadequate preservation policies. In the Middle East and North Africa, common problems include water stress and air pollution. On the other hand, economies in the Europe and Eurasia region are world leaders in environmental sustainability, accounting for more than half of countries in the TTDI that score above average for this pillar. Combined with the fact that natural resources are not its greatest strength or dependency, the region and its tourism sector may be the better positioned to deal with future ecological risks.

Figure 9: Share of regional economies scoring above average for natural resources and environmental sustainability

Nonetheless, while there are some economies that have better environmental conditions, the challenge is widespread and is not easing. The difference in average score between the top and bottom quartiles for the Environmental Sustainability pillar is the second-lowest among the pillars. Moreover, performance for many indicators in this pillar has been mixed. For example, scores for deforestation continued to worsen. On the other hand, efforts to preserve the environment and T&T-generating natural assets got a boost from continued expansion in the share of protected territories and the number of environmental treaties signed.

A recent UNWTO and One Planet report reiterated the importance of a healthy environment for T&T competitiveness and development and recommended several actions to help the T&T sector produce a greener recovery. This included biodiversity protection actions such as putting tourism at the forefront of conservation efforts and ensuring that the value tourism provides for conservation efforts via monitoring mechanisms and investing in nature-based solutions is captured. Climate action efforts in T&T can be accelerated through the likes of monitoring and reporting emissions from tourism operations, accelerating decarbonization through the development of low-carbon transport options and greener infrastructure, and engaging in carbon removal via the restoration of carbon-density ecosystems and carbon-removal technologies. Finally, circular economy actions are recommended.

These include investing in transforming tourism value chains by reducing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, recycling and repurposing whenever possible; prioritizing sustainable food approaches such as local and organic procurement; creating sustainable menus and focusing on reducing food loss; and shifting towards a circularity of plastic in tourism. 55

At the World Economic Forum, efforts in this field are plentiful, and cover multistakeholder actions on decarbonizing transportation, accelerating action on plastics, ensuring the long-term, sustainable use of the ocean, and developing the circular economy. In particular, the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition 56 is working with stakeholders in the aviation ecosystem, including buyers of corporate travel, to accelerate the production and use of sustainable aviation fuels, all while better distributing the green premium for these fuels. The Forum also hosts the Global Future Council on Sustainable Tourism, 57 a community of experts from academia, business, civil society and governments who are developing a set of principles for sustainable destinations to guide decision-making on rebuilding the sector in the wake of the pandemic. The Council is also researching customer behaviour changes that can incentivize the development and delivery of more sustainable travel products and services, articulating the value of investment in the blue and green economies in tourism, and providing guidance on the ambition of achieving net-zero emissions across the various verticals in the T&T sector.

Managing tourism demand and impact

Sustainable management of tourism demand that maximizes benefits for local communities, while also mitigating negative side effects such as overcrowding, will also become a vital component of T&T development as the sector recovers.

The TTCR 2019 discussed how long-term T&T growth was starting to put pressure on local infrastructure and housing, as well as degrading cultural and natural assets that attract visitors and fuelling uneven distribution of T&T benefits. This ultimately led to falling liveability standards for residents, local backlash against tourism and diminished visitor experience. 58 Although recent lockdowns and travel restrictions led to this sustainability challenge being discussed less, it is likely to become a more common topic as demand continues to recover. In many areas, the pandemic-fuelled travel demand push towards outdoor attractions, rural communities and secondary destinations has already revealed capacity constraints. For instance, the rise in nature travel had already led to more overcrowding at many national parks, with many US national parks monthly visitation number hitting all-time highs, leading to issue such as littering, wildlife disruption and traffic jams. 59 Visitors also show signs of wanting to reduce their footprint and improve the social impact on the destinations they visit, with just over half of global travellers in a recent survey indicating that they would be willing to switch their original destination for a lesser-known one if it led to a reduced footprint and greater community impact. 60

While issues such as overcrowding and other effects of T&T on communities are typically a local rather than national-level concern, the TTDI looks at the existence of, or risk related to, overcrowding and demand volatility, as well as the quality and impact of T&T via the T&T Demand Pressure and Impact pillar. In general, pillar results indicate that T&T Demand Pressure and Impact challenges affect economies of all levels of development. For instance, the difference in the average pillar score between low- and lower-middle-income and high-income economies covered by the index is just 0.8% and 2.5%, respectively.

High-income European countries tend to be some of the top TTDI performers and include rich cultural and non-leisure assets and quality transport and tourism infrastructure that allow for the absorption of large quantities of visitors. However, they still tend to score below average for the T&T Demand Pressure and Impact pillar due to factors such as shorter lengths of stay, higher seasonality and a very high level of concentration of interest in a small number of attractions, as shown by Tripadvisor page views and backed by at times unfavourable perceptions of the dispersions of tourism. Unsurprisingly, this region has often claimed headlines for tourism overcrowding. On the other hand, less-developed economies and those ranking lower on the TTDI tend to bring in fewer tourists, but still score below average for perception of tourism dispersion and town- and city-centre accessibility and crowding, an issue that may be partially explained by these economies’ typically below-average scores for transport infrastructure.

Figure 10: T&T Demand Pressure and Impact pillar component scores, 1–7 (best)

In summary, the relatively close distribution of T&T Demand Pressure and Impact pillar scores among economies of different incomes and tourist arrival levels highlights the fact that challenges such as overcrowding have less to do with visitor numbers and more to do with local conditions and policies.

Yet, as the sector rebuilds, there is an opportunity to use increasing domestic and nature-based T&T demand, consumers’ rising preference to manage their footprint and the need to address historical issues such as overcrowding by making investments and policies that help disperse T&T, thus making the sector more resilient. For one, proper care must be paid to developing transport, tourism, health and ICT infrastructure in rural, nature and secondary destinations. This can help funnel tourism and its benefits to more communities, make them more attractive destinations and increase their capacity to absorb more visitors. Within urban centres, improved road and public transport infrastructure and access to efficient, accessible, safe and affordable transport options can reduce the chances of overcrowding and lead to both greater liveability for residents and a better visitor experience (see Figure 11).

Figure 11: Correlation between public transport and quality of town and city centres

In general, TTDI 2021 results show an improvement in the Ground and Port Infrastructure pillar (+2.2%) since 2019. In particular, middle-income economies have experienced some of the strongest growth in areas such as perceptions of road quality and efficiency of train services. Nevertheless, as already alluded to, less-developed economies still have gaps in their infrastructure, ranging from lower road and rail density to a lack of access to efficient and quality public transport. Combined with lower marks for factors such as tourist and health infrastructure, these economies will face some of the greatest challenges in distributing tourism and its benefits throughout their communities. However, they also have the most to gain from overcoming these obstacles.

Aside from investment in infrastructure, policies are also a fundamental part of proper tourism demand management and dispersion. The above subsections of the key findings section explored how governments and destinations can institute policies to develop domestic and other forms of tourism. Moreover, there are specific efforts that can be made to manage T&T to prevent overcrowding and efficiently use a destination’s carrying capacity. For instance, the UNWTO has set out strategies and measures that can combat challenges such as these in cities. Some of these include the promotion of attractions and events that disperse visitors so they are not concentrated only in certain areas, time-based dynamic pricing, the creation of pedestrian-only zones, defining the carrying capacity of city areas, focusing on lower-impact visitor segments, ensuring local communities benefit from tourism, engaging with local stakeholders and monitoring the impact of tourism, including through the use of big data. 61

T&T stakeholders can also play a more active role in broader sustainable mobility efforts and trends that can help to reduce the sector’s environmental impact, manage demand and make destinations more attractive for visitors and residents. For example, the World Economic Forum’s Global New Mobility Coalition (GNMC) is a multistakeholder community for “accelerating the shift to a Shared, Electric and Autonomous Mobility (SEAM) system”. The synchronization of high-occupancy, electric and autonomous transport options can lead to better traffic flow, higher efficiency of road usage, more equitable mobility systems, better air quality, lower carbon emissions and improved grid resilience. More specifically, SEAM may reduce carbon emissions by 95%, improve mobility efficiency by 70% and decrease commuting costs by 40%. Given SEAM’s clear potential to create more sustainable destinations, a case can be made for T&T sector involvement this area. 62

The crucial role of digital technology

All of the aforementioned efforts to build back a better T&T sector will depend on effective leveraging of the growing role of digitalization in T&T.

More T&T services are being accessed by digital systems through online travel agencies (OTAs) and sharing economy platforms, direct online bookings, digital payment systems and mobile devices, and thus consumers tend to expect the greater convenience, increased options, reduced person- to-person contact and seamless experience that these systems provide. Furthermore, digitalization enables T&T businesses to gather consumer insights and preferences, optimize operations, cut transaction costs and automate processes. 63 Online platforms also enable T&T service providers, including SMEs, to reach beyond their local markets and connect with broader domestic and international markets. Due to the above- mentioned factors, it is not surprising that a positive relationship has been found between ICT readiness and international tourism receipts. 64 In the context of shifting demand dynamics, destinations with greater ICT readiness will be better positioned to diversify their markets and take advantage of trends such as the rising numbers of digital nomads and growth in nature-related travel. For instance, research shows a clear relationship between the ICT Readiness pillar and natural tourism online searches in economies with rich natural resources. 65

A recent report by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and UNWTO outlines how the T&T sector can use big data and digitalization for better and more sustainable tourism management and recovery. Tourism-specific data coming from sources such as T&T operators and online platforms, and non-tourism-specific data coming from sources such as credit card transactions, mobility services and sensors can help T&T stakeholders track and manage the social, economic and environmental impacts of T&T, complement more traditional data-collection efforts, manage tourism flows and target preferred source markets, thereby helping to create smart destinations.

For instance, the Macao Government Tourism Office has worked with a major Chinese multinational technology company to “optimize visitors’ travel experiences before, during and after trips; obtain insights into travellers’ behaviour through in-depth analysis of big data; and monitor, divert and disperse visitor flows at tourist districts and congested areas”. The use of big data and various digital platforms and technology can also help seamless travel and act as health and security tools by enabling safety protocols, biosecurity technologies and digital health certificates, thereby boosting traveller confidence. However, the report also highlights the various barriers to greater use of big data and digitalization within the T&T sector. Some of these challenges include privacy concerns, data reliability, governance issues, disincentives for public-private collaboration, the digital divide, skills gaps and greater efforts to include SMEs. 66

Figure 12: ICT Readiness by economic income group, 2019–2021

Figure 12 helps to illustrate the digital divide among economic income groups. Developing economies typically lag when it comes to ICT infrastructure, internet connectivity and mobile network coverage, which hampers the use of digital platforms in financial services, transport and tourism activities. On the other hand, the ICT Readiness pillar is the most improved (+3.0%) since 2019 largely due to continued improvement in low- and middle-income economies. These results indicate that while high-income economies are best positioned to leverage digitalization and create smart destinations, developing economies are building capacity. In addition, as already mentioned, creating a more highly skilled labour force will be an essential element and challenge in maximizing the use of ICT tools in T&T.

The growing role of digitalization and, in particular, digital platforms, within the T&T space can also create other labour and socioeconomic challenges. Globally, the number of active digital labour platforms, which include ride-hailing taxi and delivery services, has grown from fewer than 200 in 2010 to at least 777 at the start of 2021. As stated, these platforms create new avenues for flexible employment for people, allow business to access wider markets and talent pools, improve productivity and provide convenience for customers. However, they could also lead to greater income and job insecurity. Commonly raised issues include less favourable working conditions, deficient social protection and employment benefits and a lack of access to fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. 67 The growth in popularity of digital platforms offering short-term rentals has also led to concerns about residents’ access to housing at destinations where housing capacity is increasingly taken up by the T&T sector. 68 The concentration of market share in the hands of digital platforms may also lead to imbalances in the bargaining and pricing power of the various stakeholders, including workers and SMEs. 69

If proper efforts are made, from employee training and supporting SMEs’ use of ICT to fair and effective regulation of digital platforms and their impact on workers and destination communities, digitalization in T&T will become one of the driving forces in growing the sector’s role in inclusive, sustainable and resilient development. However, failing in these areas could also transform this key aspect of T&T operations into an increasingly acute barrier to future T&T growth.

4.4 Conclusion to the key findings

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact have underscored the T&T sector’s vital role in global connectivity and development. In the coming years it will therefore be crucial for T&T stakeholders to devise strategies that make the sector more inclusive, sustainable and resilient.

As the TTDI 2021 results reveal, any such enterprise will require a comprehensive and holistic approach. Creating a better T&T economy is not just about improving infrastructure or offering favourable pricing. It also involves creating better health and hygiene conditions, ensuring natural resources are protected and that the workforce on which the sector depends has access to training and social protection. This necessitates the active participation and coordination of sector and non-sector business, employers and employees, government agencies ranging from tourism and health ministries to local authorities, environmental and conservation groups, and international organizations. Over the course of the pandemic, often uncoordinated travel restrictions and health protocols revealed the difficulty and necessity of such cooperation.

In the future, efforts will need to be made to devise common frameworks for defining and measuring T&T sustainability, including the creation of commonly accepted environment, social and governance metrics. The safe and ethical use of big data will prove fundamental to this cause. Moreover, in an increasingly complex and technology-enabled environment, it will be vital to ensure that developing economies, workers and SMEs are not left behind.

While these challenges may be difficult, the flexibility and adaptation the T&T sector has shown in the past few years also indicates that sector stakeholders are more than capable of rising to the occasion.

The latest news on transport and tourism from JTTRI-AIRO.

• Information
• About Us About JTTRI-AIRO JTTRI Chairman's Message AIRO President's Message Members
• ASEAN-India Regional Office (AIRO) opened in Bangkok, Thailand
• Overtourism at Major Destinations and Development of Satellites -Vietnam and Japan working towards Sustainable Tourism-

On Monday, 23rd October 2023, Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR), Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (JTTRI), Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute ASEAN-India Regional Office (JTTRI-AIRO) will hold the Tourism Symposium in the theme of "Overtourism at Major Destinations and Development of Satellites -Vietnam and Japan working towards Sustainable Tourism". This symposium is also in cooperation with Embassy of Japan in Vietnam and The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (JCCI) the details are as below.

• Mr. SHUKURI Masafumi  Chairman, Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (JTTRI)
• H.E. Mr. DOAN VAN VIET Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam
• H.E. Mr. WATANABE Shige Deputy Cheif of Mission, Minister of Embassy of Japan in Vietnam
• Mr. GAMO Atsumi President, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)
• Mr. NGUYEN ANH TUAN Director of institute for Tourism Development Research Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism
• Mr. TRINH LE ANH Head of Event Management Department, Faculty of Tourism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
• Mr. NGUYEN HUU Y YEN Chairman of Saigon Tourist Travel Service Co., LTD
• Ms. HOANG VUONG Head of the Culture and Information Department of Sa PA town, Lao Cai Province
• Mr. KATAYAMA Kenya Mayor of Niseko Town, Hokkaido 
• Mr. SAWANOBORI Tsugihiko Manager of Jalan Research Center 
• Ph.D NGUYEN TRUNG KHANH Chairman of Vietnam National Authority of Tourism
• Opening Remarks Mr. SHUKURI MASAFUMI Chairman, Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (JTTRI)
• Greetings from Guest of Honor H.E. Mr. DOAN VAN VIET Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam
• Greetings from Guest of Honor H.E. Mr. WATANABE Shige Deputy Cheif of Mission, Minister of Embassy of Japan in Vietnam
• Keynote Lecturer Mr. GAMO ATSUMI President, Japan National Tourism Organization（JNTO）
• Keynote Lecturer Dr. NGUYEN ANH TUAN Director of institute for Tourism Development Research, Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, Ministry of Culture Sport and Tourism
• Moderator Mr. TRINH LE ANH Head of Event Management Department, Faculty of Tourism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
• Panelists Mr. NGUYEN HUU Y YEN Chairman of Saigon Tourist Travel Service Co., LTD
• Panelists MA. HOANG VUONG Head of the Culture and Information Department of Sa PA town, Lao Cai Province
• Panelists Mr. SAWANOBORI TSUGUHIKO Manager of Jalan Research Center, Recruit Company Limited
• Panelists Mr, KATAYAMA KENYA Mayor of Niseko Town, Hokkaido
• Closing Remarks Ph.D NGUYEN TRUNG KHANH Chairman of Vietnam National Authority of Tourism

Tourism Research Institute

The object and purpose of TRI are stated in Tourism Act No. 28 of 2011. The Act states that; TRI will undertake and co-ordinate tourism research and analysis in accordance with its provisions. This will ensure that the research and knowledge gaps that exist in the sector are adequately addressed in line with the mandate of the Institute. TRI will therefore be a principal reference point for generating data and research information to inform decision making by the government and private sector on tourism matters.

Our Core Functions

The Act gives the core functions of TRI’s as follows:

• Tourism products and services at the local, national, regional and international levels;
•  Trends in tourism;
• Processes or activities likely to impact on sustainable tourism.
• Tourism statistics
• Assess strategies and techniques for product development and marketing;
• Undertake market intelligence;
•  Determine, in consultation with lead agencies, the carrying capacities of the various tourism destinations and conservation needs and priorities;
• Assess information, that is the basis of integrated tourism development area plans;
• Research on sustainable tourism and other emerging areas;
• Give information on early warning, disaster management, impacts and mitigation and adaptive strategies to climate change;
• Organize symposia, conferences, workshops and other meetings to promote the exchange of views on issues relating to tourism research and analysis;
• Publish, annually, research findings and communicate recommendations to the relevant lead agencies, institutions and other stakeholders in the tourism sector; and
•  Perform any other functions that are ancillary to the object and purpose for which the Institute is established.

Principal Secretary, State Department for Tourism

John lekakeny ololtuaa.

John Lekakeny Ololtuaa was born in Trans-Mara West Sub County in Narok County. He holds a Bachelor of Education (Arts) Degree and a Masters Degree in Education Administration both from Kenyatta University. Ololtuaa is an educationist who rose through the ranks to become the Regional Director of Education in charge of Eastern then Nairobi, Rift Valley and finally Central Region. He also served in the Transition Authority overseeing the transition to Devolved system of governance specifically as the County Transition coordinator in charge of Narok County. He is a mentor of the youth where he supports several youth development initiatives across the country. In 2020 he participated in Global Schools Partnership Program by visiting schools in Richmond, North Yorkshire in England which entailed a program being implemented through the British Council in developing learning Partnerships between schools in Africa,Asia ,Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ololtuaa is also a community organizer who has in his engagement with the community, helped in building of churches and supporting philanthropic activities in Narok and beyond where he has participated in promoting community initiatives for women, youth, and underprivileged sectors of the society. Ololtuaa is passionate about Youth Counselling Programes, Fight against Drug and Alcohol Abuse. His faith in community service saw him contest for the Kilgoris Constituency seat to represent the ideals of community progress in the August house as a Member of the National Assembly. He continues to support community programs such as scholarship support for orphans and vulnerable children, welfare development for the old and widowed in the community.

Beth Njeri Ndungu

Director General KNBS

Mr macdonald obudho.

Macdonald G. Obudho is a long serving public servant who has risen through the ranks from Economist /Statistician II to the current position of Director General, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. He holds a Master of Science degree in Statistics from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the same university. He is currently pursuing PhD course in statistics.

Mr. Obudho has vast experience in conducting population and housing censuses including the first ever Kenyan digital census that was conducted in 2019. He has competency in designing and carrying out statistical sample surveys and compilation of official statistics. He has successfully spearheaded many surveys during his long service in the Bureau.

He has experience in top management spanning over 13 years and has a number of certificates to his name that arise from short and long courses, workshops, conferences and seminars attended both locally and abroad.

Alternate to Executive Director – KIPPRA

Nahashon mubichi mwongera.

Mr. Mwongera is a Research and Development professional with over 12 years experience covering both public and private sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Mathematics) degree from Egerton University, a Master of Arts (Economics) degree from the University of Botswana and is currently a PhD (Economics) student at Kenyatta University. He possesses hands on experience in conducting national-wide surveys; reviewing public sector polices; implementing market research methodologies for product and new innovative ideas development (including market intelligence, competitor analysis, mystery shopping, product attribute ranking); conducting training needs assessments; Training of trainers; preparation of technical and financial proposals; results-based project monitoring and evaluation; and writing of technical reports. He is multi-skilled in environment, natural resource and Tourism-related policy research; analyzing large quantitative and qualitative data sets; and econometric analysis. Currently, Mr. Mwongera is a Researcher / Economist at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) where his areas of research focus include Tourism, Environment and Natural Resource Management, and Financial sector analysis.

Acting Chief Executive Officer

David g. gitonga.

David G. Gitonga holds Masters degree in Tourism Management, Bachelor of Science in Tourism and a Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship. He has 20 years experience in the public service. He has served in the Ministry of Tourism mainly in the area of policy, planning, strategy and innovation. He was the National Co-ordinator in the development National Tourism Blueprint 2030 which is the overarching strategic document the entire sector is aligning to. He has also played a key role in the development of other policy, legal and strategic documents of the sector including the National Tourism Policy, Tourism Act 2011, tourism product diversification strategies among others.

Gitonga’s leadership in tourism also includes having set up the Regional Tourism Office for the North Rift in 2002 and managed it as the Regional Tourism Officer up to 2007. It is under his leadership, that tourism was mainstreamed as a key economic activity in the region. The momentum created for tourism growth in that region extended to other regions where tourism was previously little known particularly Western Kenya and tourism is now a priority sector in most of the country.

In April 2014, Mr. Gitonga was seconded to the then newly created Tourism Regulatory Authority where he was involved in setting it up and in developing its regulations. He then went on to start its Regional Office for Mount Kenya and Upper Eastern based in Nyeri being the first Regional Manager from April 2014 to August 2015 when he was recalled back to the Ministry of Tourism.

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01/12/2023   06:00 (GMT+07:00)

Opportunities in place for adventure tourism in Vietnam

Vietnam boasts huge potential for adventure tourism, said nguyen anh tuan, director of the institute for tourism development research (itdr) under the vn national authority of tourism at the ministry of culture, sports and tourism..

Adventure tourism is increasingly popular around the world and attractive to those who love trying new exciting experiences. With diverse terrain, Việt Nam is a haven for developing this type of tourism, but safety still needs to be given the top priority.

Identified as an important type of travel, adventure tourism had a global market value of about US$324.9 billion in 2022, and the figure is predicted to hit $2 trillion by 2032, Bloomberg cited a forecast of market research firm Allied Market Research.

Home to many mountains, hills, caves, rivers and springs, Việt Nam boasts huge potential for adventure tourism, said Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR) under the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Adventure tourism itself includes several sub-types such as air-based (helicopter tours, paragliding, parachuting), land-based (camping, mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing), and water-based (kayaking, waterfall exploration and diving).

Many provinces and cities such as the northern localities Hà Giang, Bắc Kạn, Lào Cai, Lai Châu, Quảng Ninh, Quảng Bình and Nghệ An in the central region, or the capital city Hà Nội, have crafted strategies for developing adventure tourism.

In the northeastern and northwestern regions, a number of adventure tours have been launched, including tours of Mount Fansipan in Lào Cai Province, Mount Bạch Mộc Lương Tử in Lai Châu Province, Mount Tây Côn Lĩnh in Hà Giang Province, Bản Giốc Waterfalls in Cao Bằng Province, and Ba Bể National Park in Bắc Kạn Province.

In Hà Nội, the management board of Ba Vì National Park has offered a mountaineering tour of this park for many years. Meanwhile, outstanding products of adventure travel in the central region include tours of caves in Quảng Bình Province and tours of Mount Pu Xai Lai Leng in Nghệ An Province.

The love of challenging oneself

Many people who love adventure tourism want to try mountaineering, exploring caves or paragliding, among others, to merge themselves with nature and gain the feeling of having conquered their fears.

“Trekking provides challenges and a sense of freedom. I can spend time in nature, have more friends sharing the same interest with me during challenging journeys, and equip myself with more survival skills in life,” said Duc Hieu, a 24-year-old man who has hiked for five years.

Thu Quỳnh, 24, trekked slopes, forests and streams to reach the peak of Lào Thẩn (Nhìu Cồ San) in 2021.

Quỳnh said she was completely satisfied as mountain climbing was extremely tiring but once reaching the peak, it was rewarding. Standing on the top of a mountain, she felt she could merge with nature, with the fresh air, the bright sun, and a sea of drifting clouds there.

In its Decree 168/ND-CP, dated December 31, 2017, the Government issued regulations on measures ensuring safety for travellers who use tourism products posing risks to their lives and health. In 2018, the national standards on adventure tourism were also released.

In particular, the Việt Nam tourism development strategy until 2030, approved by the Prime Minister on January 22, 2020, listed adventure sports tourism among key tourism products of the country.

Travelers need to adhere to the rules on adventure tours, while tour guides must be provided with training to ensure safety for all visitors. In addition, authorities need to closely supervise and conduct frequent inspection to ensure that businesses and staff members comply with legal regulations and technical standards of adventure tourism products, according to the ITDR.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the provincial-level People’s Committees coordinate with relevant agencies to support sustainable tourism that features professional service, competitive prices, a clean environment, and destinations that are safe, civilised and friendly.

Vũ Thế Bình, Chairman of the Việt Nam Tourism Association, said standards on adventure tourism are now in place, but the important thing is how to effectively apply them in reality. To do that, the National Authority of Tourism needs to monitor the development and progress of adventure tourism around the country to keep things safe and in check. — VNS

• Four adventure tourism experiences in Vietnam
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Sustainable tourism development and competitiveness: The systematic literature review

Dalia streimikiene.

1 Institute for Sport Science and Innovation, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas Lithuania

Biruta Svagzdiene

2 Department of Sport and Tourism Management, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas Lithuania

Edmundas Jasinskas

Arturas simanavicius.

Tourism is one of most perspective and dynamic businesses in the world. It is of great significance to plan and develop tourism purposefully and sustainably though the search for compromises between environmental, economic and social aims of society. The sustainable tourism development management has to retain high satisfaction degree of tourists' needs, assure significant experience for consumers, increasing their consciousness under issues of sustainability, and propagating practices of sustainable tourism among them. The significance of sustainable tourism sector development ambition is analysed in this paper through the lens of strengthening its competitiveness. The paper analyses scientific literature and seeks to discover the main forms and factors for the strengthening of the tourism competitiveness by implementing economic, social and environmental targets of tourism destination territories development. The broad systematic literature review provided for some interesting findings: The business participants are interested in the implementation of new technologies in tourism services having positive impact on environment and local communities; however, a lot of challenges exist how to change environment, increase of consumers' motivations for sustainable tourism services and to change their behaviour towards more sustainable one. The current Covid 19 outbreak and high risks of future pandemics have risen new challenges for sustainable tourism development. In this paper the main sustainable tourist development challenges are addressed and new insights for the strengthening of competitiveness of sustainable tourism destination are provided. The future research guidelines are set based on analysis performed.

• The systematic review of literature on sustainable tourism
• The trade‐off between sustainability and competitiveness
• The main challenges of sustainable tourist development
• New insights for the strengthening of competitiveness of sustainable tourism
• The future research guidelines are set based on analysis performed

1. INTRODUCTION

Travels have already become an inseparable part of human lives. Neither global world problems nor the terrorism threat cannot defeat a passion to travel. In the year 2019, in the world there travelled about 1.4 billion of the planet population (UNWTO, 2019 ). However, tourism as any other economic field not does only bring some economic benefits to states, but it also creates some serious problems as excessive energy consumption and increasing negative environmental effects including climatic change. Also due to tourism and travel expansions the nature is being wasted, tourist destinations suffer from high tourist flows and the life quality of the local people is also negatively affected. In order to decrease negative tourism effects, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) announced the year 2017 – the year of sustainable tourism and invited all world population to travel, following the principles of sustainable tourism and to turn to local communities (UNWTO, 2017 ).

The topicality of the research is related to the fact that many scientists have noticed the great challenges for sustainable tourism due to rapid growth of tourism services; however, at the moment there is a lack in sustainability as a such rapid growth has impact on unsustainable solutions in tourism sector. In this paper the key challenges of sustainable tourism development are addressed and some ideas about possible consolidation of the competitiveness in a tourism sector and sustainable development of tourism destinations are given. The research is based on systematic literature review to assess the current degree of research and to deliver guideline for further research in sustainable tourism field. The sustainable tourism issues were researched by UNWTO ( 2017 ), UNWTO ( 2014 ); Lu and Nepal ( 2009 ); Alvarez and Cooper ( 2014 ); Waseema ( 2017 ); Pjerotic, Delibasic, Joksiene, Griesiene, and Georgeta ( 2017 ); Pjerotic ( 2017 ). Coenen and Truffer ( 2012 ); Butler ( 1999 ); Mihalič, Šegota, Knežević Cvelbar, and Kuščer ( 2016 ); Waligo, Clarke, and Hawkins ( 2013 ); Kangwa (2017); Streimikiene, & Bilan, 2015); Agyeiwaah, McKercher, and Suntikul ( 2017 ) etc. The linkages between tourism and sustainable development of tourist destinations were also addressed in various studies (Egresi & Kara, 2018 ; Jeon et al., 2016 ; Madhavan & Rastogi, 2013 ; Nunkoo & So, 2016 ; Pesonen & Komppula, 2010 ; Woo, Kim, & Uysal, 2015 ). The competitiveness issues in tourism development were concentrated in several important studies by Crouch and Ritchie ( 1999 ); Hassan ( 2000 ); Mihalič ( 2000 ); Croes and Kubickova ( 2013 ).

Despite plenty of research in this area, sustainable development of tourism is a dynamic process that is constantly experiencing new challenges as there are changing the applied technologies and consumption aspects of tourism. The scientific problem: what are the current prospects of sustainable tourism in consolidation with the competitiveness of a tourism sector? The main goal of this paper is based on literature review to indicate the prospects of consolidation of sustainability and competitiveness in tourism development by taking into account the recent trends of development.

The rest of the paper of structured in the following way: Section 2 deals with the concept of sustainable tourism and addresses the main challenges of sustainable tourism and the main issues of competitiveness; Section 3 provides sustainable tourism development prospects by consolidating the issues competitiveness of tourism industries and sustainable development priorities of tourism destinations; Section 4 concludes and provides policy implications.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. sustainable tourism.

Sustainable development is the main concept of development and tourism has enormous economic, environmental and social impact in the modern world therefore the development of this sector is linked with all three mentioned dimensions of sustainability. As global economy, social and technological development processes are still expanding, the analysis of new and specific forms, present in business is necessary in tourism as well in order to achieve sustainable development of tourism. One of them involves the clusters, gaining a greater significance – to locate in one network geographical companies and establishments that closely cooperate and that are focused on mutual business results and ones that complement each other. The innovations are expected to contribute to breakthroughs at the international level and that may determine companies' operation under new effective organizational forms that generalize ideas, provide with some competitive advantage and open new possibilities in tourism as well (Agyeiwaah et al., 2017 ). Therefore, sustainable tourism development issues are closely linked with competitiveness through increasing innovations in all areas relevant to business operations. In addition, tourism is described as a business, distinguishing by its great variety, integrity and multi‐planning. Precisely, great interconnection of structural components, shaping tourism business, allow presumptions for the companies, providing tourism service, to cooperate in the implementation of innovations (Madhavan & Rastogi, 2013 ).

Tourism has been acknowledged as one of the most significant economic sectors in major countries of the worlds. According to World Travel and Tourism Council ( 2020 ) in 2018, the Travel & Tourism sector experienced 3.9% growth, outpacing that of the global economy (3.2%) for the eighth consecutive year. Over the past 5 years, one in five jobs were created by the sector, making Travel & Tourism the best partner for governments to generate employment. Therefore, tourism as one of the world's largest economic sectors, supporting one in 10 jobs (319 million) worldwide, and generating 10.4% of global GDP. Although tourism market is dependent on the health and natural environment; however, simultaneously it often affects them negatively. Therefore, environmental issues of tourism development require special attention and were addressed by several important studies (Butler, 1999 ; Lu, & Nepal, 2009; Pjerotic et al., 2017 ; Waligo et al, 2013).

The term of green tourism is mainly linked tourism addressing environmental issues of tourism (Lu et al. (2009). The research of the year 2018 disclosed that tourism contributes to the amount of the emission of the carbon dioxide in the world by 8% (Lenzen et al., 2018 ). Thus, the significance of the sustainable tourism is currently of the greatest importance. As a result, several future guidelines for developed for sustainable tourism providing main environmental indicators for tourism sector including climate change mitigation, pollution reduction, use of renewables, waste disposal etc. (UNEP, 2004 ; UNWTO, 2013 , 2014 , 2017 ). As was already mentioned before, innovations, research and technological development can provide significant solutions for dealing with environmental challenges of tourism development. The European Economy is recovering after the Great Crisis however there are new challenges liked to the threats of world pandemic. In the presence of such a situation, the pace of technological development has been slowed and as a result there is a harm not only for economy, but also for nature as further steps towards utilisation of renewables are lacking. The use of renewables has direct impact on climate change mitigation. The outcomes of the previous economic crisis are still being felt around the world, and as the growth of other countries' economies slowed; the European economy has just few chances to turn into a powerful economic force. Investment into technological development is being observed as well as focus on social issues of sustainability. It is also significant to mention that in case of improving life quality – tourism is playing important role. The quality of life is one of the most important targets of sustainable development also relevant to tourism sector in terms of providing services for tourist as well as taking into account quality of life of residents in tourist destinations (Crouch, & Ritchie, 1999; Hassan, 2000 ; Jeon et al., 2016 ). Generalizing the expressed statements, the presumptions can be created, for finding the ways to maximize the quality of life in the future and accordingly to avoid a new economic crisis around the world (Kakoudakis, McCabe, & Story, 2017 ; Morgan, Pritchard, & Sedgley, 2015 ).

According to Agyeiwaah (Madhavan & Rastogi, 2013 ), even though there have been created unbelievably many indicators, following which, it would be possible to identify the advance of sustainable development in the tourism sector; however, principally it turned out that the following does not work. The authors (Agyeiwaah et al., 2017 ; Coenen & Truffer, 2012 ; Fayos‐Solà et al., 2014 ; Jasinskas & Simanavičienė, 2009 ; Kangwa, 2017 ; Macdonald & Jolliffe, 2003 ; Mihalič et al., 2016 ; Pjerotic, 2017 ; Pjerotic et al., 2017 ; Waligo, 2013; Waseema, 2017 ; Smagurauskienė, 2009 ; Streimikiene & Bilan, 2015 ) are trying to answer the question if different theories, calculations and other mechanisms of sustainable development assure more successful and sustainable development of tourism sector or to find more simple ways to achieve sustainability in tourism. There are distinguished seven key indicators (UNWTO, 2014 ), following which, it is possible to measure sustainability issues in tourism: creation of workplaces, business vitality, quality of life and water, sorting of waste, energy saving and community spirit. A way to a more sustainable tourism sector consists of many small steps; however, the most important is consistency. Strengthening of sustainability in any sector is a continuous process; thus, it would not be purposeful to limit the following process by the certain aspects, and it might be even hazardous.

The first step seeking sustainability in tourism business is the identification of problems. One of the most painful problems in tourism are: non‐traditional kinds of tourism, sorting of waste and seasoning (Murava & Korobeinykova, 2016 ). Having identified problems – it is necessary to prepare a plan of the key measures and a strategy. Having commenced the implementation of the actions and having gained positive activity outcomes, the next stage for the strengthening of the sustainable tourism are extra actions, which would assure the stability of the achieved result.

Analysing scientific literature, the following key aspects of sustainable tourism development can be defined: creation of new workplaces including employment opportunities in tourism destinations, preservation of natural environment, climate change mitigation, pollution and waste reduction, promotion of green and sustainable consumption practices (UNEP, 2004 ; UNEP, 2005; UNWTO, 2013 , 2014 , 2017 ). These effects manifests through other social factors, such as resident employment and unemployment, psychological climate, availability of social service in tourist destinations etc. Currently, in the tourism sector, it is particularly underlying to ensure socially responsible tourism or sustainable tourism in order to sort waste, preserve natural resources and other issues of ethical tourism (Andereck & Nyaupane, 2011 ; Andereck, Valentine, Knopf, & Vogt, 2005 ; Andereck, Valentine, Vogt, & Knopf, 2007 ; Luekveerawattana, 2018 ; Morgan et al., 2015 ; Murava & Korobeinykova, 2016 ).

Currently, the social issues of tourism development attract a lot of attention of scientists. The term of social tourism was developed to address concerns about socially disadvantaged people (Kakoudakis et al., 2017 ; Morgan et al., 2015 ). Kakoudakis et al. (2003) analysed the impact of social tourism economically and how this manifest for the quality of life in terms of socially disadvantaged people. In the presence of the impact of such psychological environment, it is significant to pay attention to the fact how the unemployed seek to find a desirable job and how vacations affect employees. It was determined that in the presence of better psychological environment there is much stronger residents' health condition and in such a case there are reduced expenses for the disease treatment, improve interpersonal relationship and decreases the level of crimes. It is considered that social tourism – an alternative form of tourism, providing a possibility to travel for the people, possessing fewer possibilities. Different associations created in parallel: movements for family, trade unions, federations, etc., the key aim of which is to develop social tourism (Morgan et al., 2015 ). Social tourism is very well developed in Europe and it provides service to thousands of people. Tourism is also one of social integrity measures. Universal right to tourism is based on the criteria of values, which shape the development basis of social tourism (Ozdemir & Yolal, 2017 ). The number of people, who can enjoy vacation today, has significantly increased due to the boosting popularity of tourism in the world. However, there are still present groups of people, to whom vacations are unavailable due to different reasons: a lack of resources, manifestation of social exclusion, insufficient attention of the public sector, applying social resources and the actions of passive communities and non‐profit making organizations.

Tourism is a contribution into social integrity, the activities of which can be perceived as a measure of social integration/integrity that enables the establishment of relations with other cultures, cognitions of places, customs, and conduct of cultural exchange and pithy spending of spare time (Cloquet, Palomino, Shaw, Stephen, & Taylor, 2017 ; Ganglmair‐Wooliscroft & Wooliscroft, 2017 ; Ozdemir & Yolal, 2017 ; Ponnapureddy, Priskin, Ohnmacht, Vinzenz, & Wirth, 2017 ). Social tourism, more based on social than on economical presumptions, may aid at the creation or preservation of tourist destinations, taking into consideration economic, social and environmental criteria of sustainability. It is a significant contribution to the employment and the growth of economy. In the development of tourism activities, it is necessary to base not only on economic profit‐seeking criteria, but also on ones of the social welfare increase, which are as following ‐ stable and high‐quality creation of workplaces, solution of seasoning and employment problems, cooperation of public and private partnership. Essentially, it can be stated that even short vacation provided for the job search motivate particularly positively for a job search and provide with some essence in terms of the creation of welfare. Thus, social sensitivity together with economic welfare is one of the most significant elements of sustainable development not only in the sector of tourism, but also in the other ones.

Though sustainable tourism issues are mainly linked with promotion of green and social tourism there are important issues of competitiveness necessary to address as competitiveness is perceived as one of the main economic dimensions of sustainability also relevant to tourism sector. The main problem identified based on systematic sustainable tourism research review is about finding possibilities to achieve all three sustainability dimensions (economic, social and environmental) together, that is, to develop competitive tourism business by addressing environmental and social challenges of tourism development in holistic way. The systematic review of literature of competitiveness issues of tourism might provide relevant answers how to trade‐ off between social, economic and environmental dimension of sustainable tourism development.

2.2. Competitiveness and sustainability issues in tourism

According to study (UNWTO, 2017 ), modern economy is distinguished by high competitiveness in any business field including tourism. In order to survive, organizations are forced to increase business efficiency, implement the most advanced technologies, to seek for the competitive advantage of products and supplied service, to fight for the greater market share and to retain the best specialists. The author (Smagurauskienė, 2009 ) emphasizes that operating in such conditions, organizational management necessarily faces a problem, when further development is impossible with no attraction of investment resources. Investment provides an organization with extra competitive advantage and a powerful measure for growth. Following Smagurauskienė ( 2009 ), all the EU and major world states support business development in one or another form, paying great attention to small and medium business of the country that as it is thought forms an economic basis and secures its stability. Financial support for the certain size companies is the key policy instrument of small and medium business.

It was determined that small and medium enterprises are an economic engine in the EU. They form the greatest part of economy and create high income. However, in Lithuania the potential of small and medium enterprises is not completely exploited due to a very unfavourable situation in terms of business, assessing it under a complex approach. The greatest potential of small and medium business is related to the young generation that is focused on the creation of business consciously and purposefully (Macdonald & Jolliffe, 2003 ).

According to Jasinskas and Simanavičienė ( 2009 ), the three key aspects, verifying the provision of financial support to SMEs are distinguished: decision, rationality and human motivation:

• Aspects of dependence on the decisions, made by other foreign states. The authors describe such an aspect as a situation, when one state, making economic decisions, affects the decision‐making of another country.
• Rationality aspect. It is known that support from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), makes 75% of the all the provided amount of the support. Thus, following this indicator, under the authors' approach, it would be unreasonable to reject it and not to exploit it, as in another case “financial injections” could come to other states.
• Human motivation presumption aspect. Plenty of citizens would lose trust in state authorities if before declaring a willing to enter the EU, they had spoken about the advantages of the EU support, and having implemented that, it did not supply it to business.

Having taken into consideration these three discussed aspects, the presumption can be made, that financial support should not be rejected in order to establish own business or seeking for relevant initial funding. It is required to search for and select the most relevant form of financial support from possible ones. According to Smagurauskienė ( 2009 ), there are two key categories of financial support: “State to business” and “Business to business” (not trying to analyse what business gives to the state in such a case) (See Figure ​ Figure1 1 ).

The key categories of financial support [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

Following Figure ​ Figure1 1 it can be seen that both the state and business take part in the distribution of the financial support. It is significant to distinguish and comprehend that the state role remains an important one as without the support provided by the state; the realization of ideas and establishment of SMEs would not be possible in some cases. Meanwhile, it should be reasoned that without business that is one of the most significant moments of the economic added value, there would be no state. The more business ideas are being implemented; the greater economic growth of the country is being observed. Considering financial support to business, it can be imagined that a businessperson, having invested into the industry of tourism business and provided he/she has established a new hotel, supplies additional work, for example, to a local laundry. Following the example, it can be emphasized that every newly established business creates quite a great added value to another enterprise, supplying another service or product, therefore the financial support to business can be acknowledged. However, taking into account the laws of market and efficiency of resource allocation provided by markets state interventions into the markets should be limited by dealing with market failures such as pollution, public goods and internalization of external and internal costs linked to business operations. Therefore, state support for sustainable tourism should be linked to promotion of innovations, use of renewables, provision of social integrity for disabled people, creation of new job places and other benefits for quality of life of local population which are being treated as public benefits (Streimikiene & Bilan, 2015 ).

In addition, it is necessary to stress that sustainable tourism development is closely linked to payment attention to a consumer as this allows to attract more consumers, expand business and increase competitiveness (Luekveerawattana, 2018 ). Tourism business organizations invest quite a lot in consumer market research and are interested in their consumer behaviour and motives. In scientific literature, it is mentioned that not only does motivation, life style or demographic parameters affect tourist behaviour, but also do the nationality and country's culture (Andereck et al., 2005 , 2007 ; Andereck & Nyaupane, 2011 ; Morgan et al., 2015 ). Tourism business is expanding quite at a high pace, more tourists of different nationalities and cultures are emerging and the following fosters greater interest in cultural differences, cognition of local traditions and habits. Tourism service suppliers, knowing intercultural differences and cognizing tourist behaviour, apply this knowledge for the creation of tourist service packages and consider the following while forming tourist groups. This will enable to fulfil consumers' expectations and create more favourable environment both in groups and in individual service. The result of that is felt – gained a greater everything involving added value for consumers and organizations (Ozdemir & Yolal, 2017 ).

Looking deeper into the market research areas that are being paid more and more attention under the aspect of sustainable consumption, there is present comprehension and cognition of tourists' consumption significance (See Figure ​ Figure2 2 ).

The impact of tourism on environment and economy and on society [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

Following Figure ​ Figure2, 2 , it can be seen that tourism is business, the impact of that is made on environment and economy and on society. Analysing the research and the presented outcomes by Ganglmair‐Wooliscroft and Wooliscroft ( 2017 ), it can be noticed that although the society is being more and more responsible in terms of consumption; however, the selection of sustainable tourism service remains relatively low. The results disclosed by these scientists also showed that there is strong dependence/correlation between consumer's daily consumption habits and behaviour during holidays. Generalizing there can be drawn a presumption that in daily activities, society follows the principles of sustainable consumption and it will apply the same principles during holidays.

There is wide penetrated of sustainable consumption aspect of sustainable tourism. The tourists, who are for sustainable and responsible consumption, usually do not select sustainable tourism service packages that are proposed by Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO). According to Ponnapureddy et al. ( 2017 ), that can be explained as distrust in the organization, proposing that service. Some organizations, willing to attract more tourists, convey themselves as more sustainable than in reality they are. A contemporary tourism service consumer is a sophisticated service consumer and the following sets some ambiguities and distrust in an organization. Under the basis of research results, made by these scientists it was proved that trust in an organization directly impacts tourism service consumer's intentions to order the certain service. The research results have disclosed that higher trust is set for tourists by the hotel advertising that provides with clear and useful information, at the same time reflects sustainability, and does not overshadow with some exceeded information through very obsessive emphasis (Ganglmair‐Wooliscroft & Wooliscroft, 2017 ). That is a very significant highlight talking about a tourism service consumer and analysing his/her decision motives to purchase service.

Sustainable tourism is not only the nature preservation or socially responsible business. It is necessary to remind that the theoretical definition of sustainable tourism involves economic, social and environmental protection dimensions. In that context there is noticed that the issue that receives less attention is social involvement. The following can be noticed analysing the communication among organizations and potential tourism service consumers and especially among those, who are disabled in one or another way. According to Cloquet et al. ( 2017 ), tourism‐advertising measures are not focused on disabled tourists no relevant information in commercials/films are delivered for them, disabled persons are not shown and the following creates the feeling of no involvement. Following the research, it was determined that advertising that a consumer can identify himself/herself with, also increases the feeling of involvement, also increases probability, and in that way strengthens motivation that a consumer will gain the proposed product or separate tourism service or service package. Thus, strengthening the remarks, determined by the research results, it can be stated that tourism organizations, expanding the development of sustainable tourism, should pay a greater attention to the involvement of the disabled tourism service consumers (Benur & Bramwell, 2015 ).

Therefore, then main competitiveness issues in tourism can be addressed also by achieving social and environmental targets of sustainable tourism development by developing innovations linked to sustainable consumption practices in tourism services and attracting environmentally conscious consumers and training such type of consumers by provision of green or environmentally friendly tourism services. Another important input to competitiveness of tourism is innovating in social area and providing social tourism services for disabled and old people. At the same time green and social tourism can deliver a lot of benefits to local communities of tourism destinations by increasing the quality of life etc. Therefore, based on systematic literature review, the main directions of consolidation of competitiveness and sustainable tourism development prospects are analysed further in Section 3 .

3. THE CONSOLIDATION OF COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

For consolidating competitiveness and sustainability issues in tourism the analysis of tourism services and products and customer's needs is necessary especially taking into account current demographic trends around the world as following the statistics, the major part of tourists are at the age of 30–50 or over 65 and it can be foreseen that the number of tourists is going to increase every year and most of them will be at the age over 65 therefore in order to ensure competitiveness of this sector development the tourism services and products necessary to satisfy future tourists needs should be reconsidered as well.

3.1. Implications of aging society on tourism development trends

The aging process started more than 100 years ago in many developed countries and during XX and XXI centuries, it turned out that in many developing. Resident aging will soon turn into one of the most significant social transformations in the 21st century that will affect almost all social sectors, including labour and finance markets, products and services, transport and social needs as well as family structure and relationship of different generations. Following statistic data, almost in every country there is present a part of people older than 60 years that is growing faster than one of any other group. Especially this trend is fast in European Union and creates many important challenges. The following discloses that soon the number of the people at 65 and older will double in accordance with the world resident part. In accordance with numbers, it can be stated that the number of people at the age 60+ will double until 2050 in comparison to the year 2016. Most elderly will be present in Japan and developed countries. Such rapid increase in the number of the elderly changes all stages of life. The following reveals that the birth rate is decreasing globally (UN, 2020 ). UN ( 2020 ). This indicates that there predominant the elderly in the world. It cannot be stated that the elderly has emerged suddenly and in an unplanned way. They pass several stages through their life until they reach the last one ‐ eldership. The comprehension of the world and activities expands in the process of human development. In each stage of development, we choose new alternatives that will provide us with some possibilities for the achievement of a normal level in life. The following is determined by the person's biological age, historical circumstances, under which the personality was forming, his/her economic and family status, and cultural factors (Peterson & Martin, 2015 ).

Human aging is determined by many factors that affect a human from both environment and from inside. Each factor has positive and negative sides (Batini, 2015 ; Flatt, 2012 ; Itrat, Nigar, & Huque, 2013 ; Katz & Calasanti, 2015 ; Lee, Lan, & Yen, 2011 ; Liang & Luo, 2012 ; Nikitina & Vorontsova, 2015 ; Sedgley, Pritchard, & Morgan, 2011 ; Villar, 2012 ). Aging – a very wide concept, involving different fields of life: physiological (medical), psychological and many others. According to Itrat et al. ( 2013 ), aging is a gradual and progressive process and in general a disorder of functions, when it is adapted to stress and the increased disease risk. However, according to Flatt ( 2012 ), the aging – stabilizing and adapting of powers, based on natural selection, to the changed environment. There are more broad concepts like ‐ process, during which, the number of the elderly are increasing in the general society. Therefore, there is no one term to describe the concept of aging. However, there can be made a conclusion that aging affects the whole human organism (both inside and appearance) and that is an irreversible process. All‐natural creatures age and this is natural for nature. Human is also a natural creature; thus, the same conditions work for him/her. There are several social indicators, describing aging ‐ the number of the residents at the older age; residents' senility degree; the indicator of the doubled period for the resident senility degree; senility demographic coefficient; resident median age; average resident life expectancy, so called resident pyramid; gender coefficient (gender correlation – the number of all men resident in the country divided from the women in the country); different coefficients of dependence and the coefficient of supported parents (supportive age people) (Mendes de Leon, 2005 ; Noll, 2002 , 2005 ).

According to the United Nations Organization (UNO), human is assigned to the aging society after having got 60 and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – after 65. Currently, people at the age of 65 and senior make 8–10%. Their number exceeds the number of children under 5 (Figure ​ (Figure3 3 ).

Number of people at the age of 65 and senior and children under 5 [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

In accordance with the Figure ​ Figure3 3 it can be seen that the child birth rate started decreasing from 1970s and in the same year, the number of the elderly increased. Following the presented data, it can be seen that until 2050, there will be by 10% more people at the older age than children, younger than 5. It is obvious that aging is a “problem” that affects everybody's life, including social, cultural and religious. Undoubtedly, gradual resident aging is one of challenges that the society is facing in this century (Batini, 2015 ; Flatt, 2012 ; Itrat et al., 2013 ; Nikitina & Vorontsova, 2015 ; Sedgley et al., 2011 ).

During several upcoming years or even decades, there is intended a rapid world resident aging, as result of that the part of the population of the working age will be significantly decreasing. Longer lifespan is a great winning in the field of health as a person can enjoy a good quality of life longer and remain employable longer. However, due to the resident aging there appear quite many economic and social problems. Demographic changes are considered one of the greatest difficulties, emerged for the European Union and the whole world. According to UN data (UN, 2020 ), the number of the elderly at the age of 65 and older will increase by 16% in terms of the resident part until 2050. In the world, there will be present more older people than children (0–14 years old). This will happen for the first time through the history of mankind. Such a dramatic change in age is already affecting the world economy and, in the time, it will be more and more obvious. In the case of the elderly number increase, there are put efforts to make their lifespan longer. A lot of attention is paid to health care and physical activity. If the elderly remains healthy longer, they will be able to enjoy the better quality of life, be independent and active.

Seniors – is non‐homogenous group of persons, the members of which have different needs, different motivation and different expectations. Seniors experience a greater social isolation and the tourism adapted to the elderly aids them to restore social relations. It has been proved that the tourism, adapted to the elderly, aids at the reduction of a health care need. Travelling, they widen their attitude and communicate with alter ego. Sedgley et al. ( 2011 ) presents the groups of the elderly, who travel, considering their approach and wishes. Such travellers can be grouped in groups as passive visitors, enthusiasts, culture hounds, active learners, careful participants, ordinary holidaymakers, world investigators, independent adventure seekers and restless travellers. All these groups of people look for the service, present in the tourism industry that they need in order to fulfil their wishes (Table ​ (Table1 1 ).

Model of the elderly behaviour in the tourism sector

Source: Completed following Nikitina and Vorontsova ( 2015 ).

According to the Table ​ Table1, 1 , we can see that it is complicated to implement the elderly needs, as it is a diverse system and it cannot be named as “the cheapest product”. Considering the elderly income, health condition and employment, their needs become individual. Applying the presented model, the elderly consumer needs enable the increase of the tourism supply effectiveness for this group of tourists. Having found of senior needs, there arises a possibility to propose a relevant tourism product for them, what they expect or demand, that is, that it complied with the value and their needs.

In order to implement needs of seniors, a search for innovative solutions is necessary. According to Van Vuuren and Slabbet ( 2011 ), there are key travellers' factors, determining their behaviour during travels. The most significant is the travel aim; the type of travel (cultural travels, business meetings, holidays, etc.). Taking into account these factors, it is possible to ensure the quality of tourism product and service, to attract more customers and increase competitiveness.

Due to the fact that motives and needs are individual, the tourism market can be segmented in order to find and present the best result easier and more simply (Figure ​ (Figure4 4 ).

Segmentation of tourism market [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

In Figure ​ Figure4, 4 , we can see that the tourism market is divided into geographical, psychographic and consumer behaviour. This figure enables the highlight of age, as it is one of the most significant criteria of the segment. According to the categories, the age can be divided into children, teenagers, youth, middle‐aged and the retired (seniors). From all people's categories, the elderly most frequently has a command of free time. The most relevant place for the elderly activities, complying with their abilities and needs is their usual place of residence. A lot of depends in the person and his/her ability to find some activities for himself/herself. The elderly stays most frequently alone and are condemned to loneliness (Murava & Korobeinykova, 2016 ).

Talking about leisure, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the forms and ways of spending leisure is determined by a complex and closely interacted blend of different factors. However, the selection of the certain leisure activities and participation in it highly depends on the person and in particular on his/her age, gender and education (Araña, León, Carballo, & Moreno‐Gi, 2015 ; Dhiman, 2013 ; Liu, Yang, & Pu, 2015 ; Ok Luy & Lee, 2015 ). There are many ways of leisure spending, relevant to the people of different age and different character (Delespaul, Reis, & DeVries, 2004 ; Lanzendorf, 2002 ; Mokhtarian, Salomon, & Handy, 2004 ; Schlich, Schonfelder, Hanson, & Axhausen, 2004 ; Tschan, Semmer, & Inversin, 2004 ). As it was mentioned earlier, the most popular way of leisure spending among the elderly is travels and physical activity. Many other elements complement these two fields. They are as following: transport, accommodation, catering, attractions, etc. Travels turn to be one of the primary leisure spending ways for the elderly. It does not matter if they travel in their country, their city or beyond the boundaries of their homeland. Such a way of time spending turns into the seniors' basis of physical activity.

Both travels and physical activity may be divided into forms, that is, places where all the presented activities may be taken. Seniors most frequently select such destinations, where there is calmness, silence and little noise. They find these things in a natural environment and in holiday and amusement parks. Therefore, the Seniors are a target market in the tourism business. Every year the number of seniors is increasing annually and at the same time there is increasing a number of travels and the following reveals that they are more and more willing to change their residential environment, experience and feel something new (Cerina, Markandya, & McAller, 2011 ). However, not all seniors are able and can implement their travel aims. There are quite many reasons disturbing that, for example, finance, health problems, etc. All reasons are solved invoking the certain ways of solutions. Many seniors cannot go abroad and they select travels in their country or even city. It is not necessary to go far away in order to see something new. It is sometimes to discover what we have never seen in the environment surrounding us. Those seniors are using this principle, who are not willing to go far away from their home.

Other seniors – have set some aims and motives for themselves concerning travels. They are trying to implement that through the application to tourism agencies or planning their trips on their own. Such a type of seniors, wants to get everything from a trip what is possible: nature and culture, sports and leisure, trial of new entertainment, discovery of new places, etc. Their motives and aims are individual (Carey, Kang, & Zea, 2012 ; Kim & Yoon, 2012 ; Westcott, 2012 ). It is not that easy to make a trip in accordance with their requests; thus, many seniors plan their trips themselves. Some of them pay attention to their hobbies (communication and finding of friends, search for romance, interest in historical places and events, etc.); rest and calmness is significant for ones and religion, safety and health is significant for others (Jang & Wu, 2006 ; Losada, Alén, Domínguez, & Nicolau, 2016 ; Moal‐Ulvoas, 2017 ; Patterson et al., 2018). Therefore, taking into account the trends of ageing population, especially in developed world countries, the main issues of competitiveness of sustainable tourism development are linked with innovations in providing tourism services for seniors and disabled people at the same time addressing social tourism challenges.

3.2. Sustainable dev e lopment of tourism destinations

Tourism has become the main economic business field and survival possibility for many countries. Therefore, the competitiveness issues of tourism are closely linked with addressing sustainable development targets of tourist destinations and providing green tourism services which do not have negative impact on environment, ensure resources savings, protection of natural environment and is based on innovations in green services development, In case of the tourist flow increase, there are being established new companies that supply accommodation catering, transportation, entertainment or other services that they travellers need. Žilinskas ( 2011 ) states that “strengthening public economic and cultural integration determine the development of regional tourism that unavoidably is related to the impact on the economy, socio‐cultural environment and nature.” “Due to the increasing tourism demand, municipalities foster tourism, expecting to receive income from tourism, to create new workplaces and encourage the development of business service.”

However, in order to develop business, it is necessary to master the principles of tourism management and implement innovations in this field as well. Paulauskienė ( 2013 ) notices that “tourism management is a complicated process – it is directly and indirectly related to many fields (accommodation, catering, transport, connections, insurance, etc.), which are intended not only to tourists, but for satisfaction of the local residents' needs. So far there have not been identified how to assure effective management of a tourism sector at national, regional or local municipal levels.” Following the author's statement “it is one of the most difficult issues, solved in practice that tourism policy formers face in the countries of different economic development level.”

The tourists have contact with both the producer and the product, leading to three important and unique aspects between tourism and sustainable development of tourist destinations. Tourists constitute touch points with the local environment, host communities and employees. The relationship between the host areas (including both social and natural environment) and have impact on local environment, host communities and employment opportunities development (Lee, 2001 ). Therefore, tourists and the tourism industry has important implications for sustainable development of tourism destinations. The sustainable consumption practices should be promoted by tourism sector in order to contribute to sustainable development of tourism destinations (Sharpley, 2000 ; Singh & Singh, 1999 ; Zmyślony, Kowalczyk‐Anioł, & Dembińska, 2020 ).

Currently, scientists are discussing about communities and their centres and increase possibilities of public administrative effectiveness (Szromek, Kruczek, & Walas, 2020 ; Widz & Brzezińska‐Wójcik, 2020 ; Zmyślony, Leszczyński, Waligóra, & Alejziak, 2020 ; Zucco, et al. 2020 ). The involvement of a local community into the participation in the development process of self‐government may be different: political, social, satisfaction of personal needs, business development in a rural area.

Many authors agree (Aldebert, Dang, & Longhi, 2011 ; Bilgihan & Nejad, 2015 ; Peters & Pikkemaat, 2006 ; Szromek & Naramski, 2019 ; Zarębski, Kwiatkowski, Malchrowicz‐Mośko, & Oklevik, 2019 ) that the most important factor, fostering competiveness in tourism business is implementation of various kind of innovations. Creation of a new service and development of an old – an innovative process that enables the introduction of original services to the market. Creation of green tourism services – an innovation process that attracts environmentally responsible tourists. The main aim – satisfaction of consumers' needs. Creation and development of new services is the main condition for the company's growth and functioning, empowering the increase of the market share, seeking for aims of the growth of sales volume and profit and to limit the entrance of new competitors into the market (Aldebert et al., 2011 ). Innovative activities are a criterion of success for economic growth and social welfare, grounding on advance that fosters the development of business companies. It involves social change processes, fostering innovations. Therefore, one of the key sources of competitive advantage – application of innovations, creation of innovative products and services as innovations are more frequently seen as the key source of competitive advantage. Under the conditions of contemporary market, businesspeople are forced to search for the ways how to implement innovative activities in order to be able to expand their possibilities, constantly develop and change and through the satisfaction of consumers' needs to achieve excellent results.

Developing tourism business, the most significant element is employees that communicate with a client directly and also to address the local communities needs. For tourism agencies and their specialist, in order to meet leisure, recreational or creative interests and needs of customers it is necessary to have necessary theoretical and methodological knowledge, an ability to find out the interests and needs of resident community in different fields of leisure activities, an ability to involve children, teenagers, the disabled and the elderly to active cultural activities (Bilgihan & Nejad, 2015 ).

The corporate social responsibility initiatives, corporate governance and business excellence which can also provide valuable inputs to sustainable tourism development if properly addressed by companies operating in tourism and other related business sectors (Popescu, 2019 ; Popescu & Popescu, 2019 ).

3.3. Research findings

Sustainable tourism development can be achieved without damage to competitiveness of this sector development if such important issues like ageing human population and disable people needs, sustainable consumption and sustainable development of tourism destinations will be addressed by providing tourism services.

Therefore, in order to address the main economic sustainability issues or to strengthen the competitiveness of sustainable tourism sector, it is necessary to tackle with many social and environmental issues linked to sustainable tourism development in tourist destinations. All these economic, social and environmental issues need to be addressed together: welfare and need of local communities, sustainable development priorities of tourism destinations to changing demographic profile of tourists and their changing needs for tourism services and products. Sustainable consumption issues should be taken as priority by developing tourism products and services in order to address environmental sustainability issues. Social issues of sustainability in tourism development are linked with contribution to local communities development and addressing the needs for tourism products and services of aging society and disabled people.

In Figure ​ Figure5 5 the main dimensions of sustainable tourism development are interlinked with drivers of behavioural changes and their implications to sustainable consumption. At the same time this figure summarizes the main research finding and provides future research guidelines for investigation of sustainable tourism development paths and challenges.

The main dimensions of sustainable tourism development and their implications to sustainable consumption [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com ]

The current COVID‐19 outbreak is affecting tourism industry and rising new challenges for sustainable tourism development. According to Lew ( 2020 ), companies that survive the pandemic will need to make their products more resilient to future pandemics—which health experts warn will continue to occur—and be able to adapt to the predicted change in consumer interests, which will include greater demand for sustainable products. The challenge for global sustainable tourism will be to strike a balance between maintaining activity in rich countries, while avoiding overcrowding, and bringing activity to poor countries, some of which are overly dependent on the sector and markets that will need a lot of incentives to recover (Romagosa, 2020 ). In a post‐Covid world, changes to travel and tourism are inevitable and will likely be driven by a combination of consumer choice, destination availability and regulatory change (Spalding, Burke, & Fyall, 2020 ). Therefore, these issues are also need to be addressed in future research shaping sustainable tourism development trends at the risks of pandemics which can arise also in future as well.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Summarizing it can be stated that although sustainable development and sustainable tourism are gaining more and more attention; however, the following are not implemented completely neither by tourism service suppliers, providers nor by the very tourists. In order that sustainable and responsible tourism turned into a social norm, it is needed to educate both organizations and consumers as well interested parties systematically.

There are new perspectives of sustainable tourism development in terms of products and services, focusing on new tourism kinds and separate consumers' segments, focusing on elderly and disabled as well as green tourism services. During the last two decades, due to globalization, tourism has turned to be available to many people, especially of the middle‐class, and as a result, tourism industry has become one of the greatest industry fields in the world. Although, tourism has become available to a majority, and was is easier to travel, some social groups, for example, disabled people and seniors usually were underestimated and forgotten in the tourism market, as they represented the minority that have low economic power. However, due to the low rate of birth in the whole world and the high number of the elderly, this situation has got a new trend and currently, seniors have become a wide and important group that provides with greater use of tourism services than other groups.

As tourism services have impact on host areas including impacts on local environment, host communities and employment opportunities development, the tourism industry has important implications for sustainable development of tourism destinations. The sustainable consumption practices should be promoted by tourism sector in order to contribute to sustainable development of tourism destinations.

There is wide penetration of sustainable consumption aspect of sustainable tourism. The tourists, are currently looking for sustainable tourism services and enjoy responsible consumption practices therefore they are keen to select sustainable tourism service packages that are proposed by various tourism organizations.

Competitiveness and environmental and social issues of sustainable tourism development can be addressed together by implementing innovations and fostering sustainable consumption principles, providing new tourism services for disabled and old people and achieving completive advantage together by contributing to welfare and needs of local communities and dealing with sustainable development priorities of tourism destinations.

The demographic profile of tourists and their changing needs for tourism services and products should be also addressed. Therefore, the sustainable consumption and social tourism functions should be taken as priority by developing tourism products and services in order to address environmental and social sustainability issues.

The current COVID‐19 outbreak will have significant effect on tourism industry and provides new challenges for sustainable tourism development. Companies in tourism sector that survive the pandemic will need to make their products more resilient to future pandemics—which health experts warn will continue to occur—and be able to adapt to the predicted change in consumer interests, which will include greater demand for sustainable products. In a post‐Covid world, changes to travel and tourism are inevitable and will likely be driven by a combination of consumer choice, destination availability and regulatory change, therefore, these issues are also need to be addressed in future including the sustainable consumption practices which should be further promoted and fully integrated in tourism sector by including also international agreements on carbon footprint or other limitations etc.

Another important issues for future research are linked with corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and excellence models of business performance which can provide valuable inputs to sustainable tourism development if properly addressed by business sectors (Popescu, 2019 ; Popescu & Popescu, 2019 ).

The further studies how to ensure social tourism development are necessary to ensure innovations in this field as well as provision of tourism services for disabled and old people should be also put as priority for policy agenda in European Union taking into account current trends of ageing population in all EU Member States and risks of pandemics.

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Việt Nam News

Opportunities in place for adventure tourism in việt nam.

Việt Nam boasts huge potential for adventure tourism, said Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR) under the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

HÀ NỘI — Adventure tourism is increasingly popular around the world and attractive to those who love trying new exciting experiences. With diverse terrain, Việt Nam is a haven for developing this type of tourism, but safety still needs to be given the top priority.

Identified as an important type of travel, adventure tourism had a global market value of about US$324.9 billion in 2022, and the figure is predicted to hit $2 trillion by 2032, Bloomberg cited a forecast of market research firm Allied Market Research.

Home to many mountains, hills, caves, rivers and springs, Việt Nam boasts huge potential for adventure tourism, said Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR) under the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Adventure tourism itself includes several sub-types such as air-based (helicopter tours, paragliding, parachuting), land-based (camping, mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing), and water-based (kayaking, waterfall exploration and diving).

Many provinces and cities such as the northern localities Hà Giang, Bắc Kạn, Lào Cai, Lai Châu, Quảng Ninh, Quảng Bình and Nghệ An in the central region, or the capital city Hà Nội, have crafted strategies for developing adventure tourism.

In the northeastern and northwestern regions, a number of adventure tours have been launched, including tours of Mount Fansipan in Lào Cai Province, Mount Bạch Mộc Lương Tử in Lai Châu Province, Mount Tây Côn Lĩnh in Hà Giang Province, Bản Giốc Waterfalls in Cao Bằng Province, and Ba Bể National Park in Bắc Kạn Province.

In Hà Nội, the management board of Ba Vì National Park has offered a mountaineering tour of this park for many years. Meanwhile, outstanding products of adventure travel in the central region include tours of caves in Quảng Bình Province and tours of Mount Pu Xai Lai Leng in Nghệ An Province.

The love of challenging oneself

Many people who love adventure tourism want to try mountaineering, exploring caves or paragliding, among others, to merge themselves with nature and gain the feeling of having conquered their fears.

“Trekking provides challenges and a sense of freedom. I can spend time in nature, have more friends sharing the same interest with me during challenging journeys, and equip myself with more survival skills in life,” said Duc Hieu, a 24-year-old man who has hiked for five years.

Thu Quỳnh, 24, trekked slopes, forests and streams to reach the peak of Lào Thẩn (Nhìu Cồ San) in 2021.

Quỳnh said she was completely satisfied as mountain climbing was extremely tiring but once reaching the peak, it was rewarding. Standing on the top of a mountain, she felt she could merge with nature, with the fresh air, the bright sun, and a sea of drifting clouds there.

In its Decree 168/ND-CP, dated December 31, 2017, the Government issued regulations on measures ensuring safety for travellers who use tourism products posing risks to their lives and health. In 2018, the national standards on adventure tourism were also released.

In particular, the Việt Nam tourism development strategy until 2030, approved by the Prime Minister on January 22, 2020, listed adventure sports tourism among key tourism products of the country.

Travelers need to adhere to the rules on adventure tours, while tour guides must be provided with training to ensure safety for all visitors. In addition, authorities need to closely supervise and conduct frequent inspection to ensure that businesses and staff members comply with legal regulations and technical standards of adventure tourism products, according to the ITDR.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the provincial-level People’s Committees coordinate with relevant agencies to support sustainable tourism that features professional service, competitive prices, a clean environment, and destinations that are safe, civilised and friendly.

Vũ Thế Bình, Chairman of the Việt Nam Tourism Association, said standards on adventure tourism are now in place, but the important thing is how to effectively apply them in reality. To do that, the National Authority of Tourism needs to monitor the development and progress of adventure tourism around the country to keep things safe and in check. — VNS

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Impact of tourism development upon environmental sustainability: a suggested framework for sustainable ecotourism

• Research Article
• Published: 19 August 2022
• Volume 30 , pages 5917–5930, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• Qadar Bakhsh Baloch 1 ,
• Syed Naseeb Shah 1 ,
• Nadeem Iqbal 2 ,
• Muhammad Sheeraz 3 ,
• Muhammad Asadullah 4 ,
• Sourath Mahar 5 &
• Asia Umar Khan 6  

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The empirical research investigated the relationship between tourism development and environmental suitability to propose a framework for sustainable ecotourism. The framework suggested a balance between business and environmental interests in maintaining an ecological system with the moderating help of government support and policy interventions. The study population encompasses tourism stakeholders, including tourists, representatives from local communities, members of civil administration, hoteliers, and tour operators serving the areas. A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed to respondents, along with a brief description of key study variables to develop a better understanding. After verifying the instrument’s reliability and validity, data analysis was conducted via hierarchical regression. The study findings revealed that a substantial number of people perceive socio-economic benefits, including employment and business openings, infrastructure development from tourism development, and growth. However, the state of the natural and environmental capital was found to be gradually degrading. Alongside the social environment, social vulnerability is reported due to the overutilization of land, intrusion from external cultures, and pollution in air and water due to traffic congestion, accumulation of solid waste, sewage, and carbon emissions. The study suggested a model framework for the development of sustained ecotourism, including supportive government policy interventions to ensure effective conservation of environmental and natural resources without compromising the economic viability and social well-beings of the locals. Furthermore, the variables and the constructs researched can be replicated to other destinations to seek valuable inputs for sustainable destination management elsewhere.

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Introduction

Tourism is a vibrant force that stimulates travel to explore nature, adventures, wonders, and societies, discover cultures, meet people, interact with values, and experience new traditions and events. Tourism development attracts tourists to a particular destination to develop and sustain a tourism industry. Moreover, environmental sustainability is the future-based conscious effort aimed at conserving socio-cultural heritage and preserving natural resources to protect environmental ecosystems through supporting people’s health and economic well-being. Environment sustainability can be reflected in clean and green natural landscaping, thriving biodiversity, virgin sea beaches, long stretches of desert steppes, socio-cultural values, and archeological heritage that epitomize tourists’ degree of motivation and willingness of the local community to welcome the visitors. In this context, tourism growth and environmental sustainability are considered interdependent constructs; therefore, the increase in tourism development and tourists’ arrivals directly affects the quality of sustained and green tourism (Azam et al. 2018 ; Hassan et al.  2020 ; Sun et al. 2021 ).

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries, contributing more than 10% to the global GDP (UNWTO 2017; Mikayilov et al. 2019 ). Twenty-five million international tourists in 1950 grew to 166 million in 1970, reaching 1.442 billion in 2018 and projected to be 1.8 billion by 2030. Mobilizing such a substantial human tourist’s mass is most likely to trickle environmental pollution along with its positive effects on employment, wealth creation, and the economy. The local pollution at tourist destinations may include air emissions, noise, solid waste, littering, sewage, oil and chemicals, architectural/visual pollution, heating, car use, and many more. In addition, an uncontrolled, overcrowded, and ill-planned tourist population has substantial adverse effects on the quality of the environment. It results in the over-consumption of natural resources, degradation of service quality, and an exponential increase in wastage and pollution. Furthermore, tourism arrivals beyond capacity bring problems rather than a blessing, such as leaving behind soil erosion, attrition of natural resources, accumulation of waste and air pollution, and endangering biodiversity, decomposition of socio-cultural habitats, and virginity of land and sea (Kostić et al. 2016 ; Shaheen et al. 2019 ; Andlib and Salcedo-Castro  2021 ).

Tourism growth and environmental pollution have been witnessed around the globe in different regions. The ASEAN countries referred to as heaven for air pollution, climate change, and global warming are experiencing economic tourism and pollution (Azam et al. 2018 ; Guzel and Okumus 2020 ). In China, more than fifty-eight major Chinese tourism destinations are inviting immediate policy measures to mitigate air pollution and improve environmental sustainability (Zhang et al. 2020 ). Similarly, Singapore, being a top-visited country, is facing negative ecological footprints and calling for a trade-off between tourism development and environmental sustainability (Khoi et al. 2021 ). The prior studies established that international tourism and the tourism-led growth surge tourists’ arrival, energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and air pollution resultantly cause climate change (Aslan et al. 2021 ). South Asian countries, more specifically Sri Lanka and Pakistan, are on the verge of tourism growth and environmental pollution compared to other countries (Chishti et al. 2020 ; Tiwari et al. 2021 ).

Pakistan is acknowledged in the tourism world because of its magnificent mountains with the densest concentration of high peaks in the world, scenic beauty of Neelum Valley, Murree, Chitral, and swat Valleys’, Kaghan, Naran, Hunza, Gilgit Baltistan (Baloch 2007 ), sacred shrines of Sikhism, archeological sites of the Gandhara and Indus Valley civilizations such as Mohenjo-Daro, Taxila including pre-Islamic Kalasha community (Baloch and Rehman 2015 ). In addition, Pakistan’s hospitable and multicultural society offers rich traditions, customs, and festivals for the tourists to explore, commemorate, cherish, and enjoy. Pakistan’s geographical and socio-cultural environment represents its resource and an opportunity (Baloch and Rehman 2015 ); therefore, Pakistan is looking to capitalize on it as a promising source of the foreign reserve to compensate for its mounting trade deficit (Baloch et al. 2020 ).

Tourism expansion has been established as a very deleterious ecological cost vis-à-vis the socio-economic benefits it passes to the host communities (Pulido-Fernández et al. 2019 ; Simo-Kengne 2022 ). In this context, the research is motivated to investigate the relationships between Pakistan’s tourism development activities and environmental sustainability. Drawing from the arguments of Pulido-Fernández et al. ( 2019 ) and Simo-Kengne ( 2022 ), it is feared that Pakistan’s ongoing determination to tourism development is likely to cause environmental degradation in two ways. Firstly, the tourism infrastructure developmental process would consume natural resources in the form of air and water pollution, loss of nature, and biodiversity. Secondly, the proliferation of tourism-related energy-consuming activities harms the environment by adding CO 2  emissions (Andlib and Saceldo-Castro 2021 ; Chien et al. 2021a ). Therefore, to tape this tourism-rich potential without compromising the sustainability of the natural and socio-cultural environment in the area, there is a dire need to develop Pakistan’s tourism areas into environment-friendly destinations.

Against the backdrop of a widening level of trade deficit, Pakistan’s rich tourism potential is being perceived as an immediate alternative for earning revenue to compensate for the current account gap. However, the developing large-scale tourism industry is considered a threat to deforestation, and air and water pollution, endangering biodiversity trading on resilient ecological credentials. The research study attempts to find an all-inclusive and comprehensive answer to the socio-ecological environmental concerns of tourism development and growth. Therefore, the research investigates the relationship between tourism development and its environmental sustainability to suggest a model framework for the development and growth of Sustainable Ecotourism in Pakistan along with its most visited destinations.

Literature review

• Tourism development and growth

Tourism is considered a force of sound as it benefits travelers and communities in urban and suburban areas. Tourism development is the process of forming and sustaining a business for a particular or mix of segments of tourists’ as per their motivation in a particular area or at a specific destination. Primarily, tourism development refers to the all-encompassing process of planning, pursuing, and executing strategies to establish, develop, promote, and encourage tourism in a particular area or destination (Mandić et al. 2018 ; Ratnasari et al. 2020 ). A tourism destination may serve as a single motivation for a group of tourists or a mix of purposes, i.e., natural tourism, socio-cultural or religious tourism, adventure or business tourism, or a combination of two or more. Andlib and Salcedo-Castro ( 2021 ), drawing from an analysis approach, contended that tourism destinations in Pakistan offer a mix of promising and negative consequences concerning their socio-economic and environmental impressions on the host community. The promising socio-economic impacts for the local community are perceived in the form of employment and business opportunities, improved standard of living, and infrastructural development in the area. The adverse environmental outcomes include overcrowding, traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, environmental degradation, and encroachment of landscaping for the local community and the tourists. An extensive review of the literature exercise suggests the following benefits that the local community and the tourists accrue from the tour are as follows:

Generate revenue and monetary support for people and the community through local arts and culture commercialization.

Improve local resource infrastructure and quality of life, including employment generation and access to improved civic facilities.

Help to create awareness and understanding of different ethnic cultures, social values, and traditions, connecting them and preserving cultures.

Rehabilitate and conserve socio-cultural and historical heritage, including archeological and natural sites.

Establishment of natural parks, protracted areas, and scenic beauty spots.

Conservation of nature, biodiversity, and endangered species with control over animal poaching.

Improved water and air quality through afforestation, littering control, land and soil conservation, and recycling of used water and waste.

Tourism and hospitality business incorporates various business activities such as travel and transportation through the air or other modes of travel, lodging, messing, restaurants, and tourism destinations (Szpilko 2017 ; Bakhriddinovna and Qizi 2020 ). A tourist’s tourism experience is aimed at leisure, experiencing adventure, learning the culture or history of a particular area or ethnic entity, traveling for business or health, education, or religious purposes. The chain of activities adds value to the Tourism experience. Every activity contributes toward economic stimulation, job creation, revenue generation, and tourism development encompassing infrastructure for all activities involved in the tourism process. Tourism growth expresses the number of arrivals and the time of their stay/trips over a period of time. Tourism growth is measured through the interplay between tourists’ arrivals, tourism receipts, and travel time duration (Song et al. 2010 ; Arifin et al. 2019 ). The following factors drive the degree and level of tourism development and growth:

Environmental factors include scenic beauty, green spaces, snowy mountains, towering peaks, good climate and weather, the interconnectivity of destination, quality of infrastructure, etc.

Socio-economic factors: the distinctiveness of community, uniqueness of culture and social values, hospitality and adaptability, accessibility, accommodation, facilities and amenities, cost-effectiveness, price index, and enabling business environment.

Historical, cultural, and religious factors include historical and cultural heritage, religious sites, and cultural values and experiences.

The tourism development process and its different dynamics revolve around the nature of tourism planned for a particular destination or area, which can be specified as ecotourism, sustainable tourism, green tourism or regenerative tourism, etc. Ecotourism is “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (Cheia, 2013 ; TIES, 2015). According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), ecotourism involves “ Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past, and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples ”. Moreover, Blangy and Wood ( 1993 ) defined it as “ responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people ” (p. 32). The concept of ecotourism is grounded upon a well-defined set of principles including “environmental conservation and education, cultural preservation and experience, and economic benefits” (Cobbinah 2015 ; De Grosbois and Fennell 2021 ).

Ecotourism minimizes tourism’s impact on the tourism resources of a specific destination, including lessening physical, social, interactive, and psychosomatic impacts. Ecotourism is also about demonstrating a positive and responsible attitude from the tourists and hosts toward protecting and preserving all components of the environmental ecosystem. Ecotourism reflects a purpose-oriented mindset, responsible for creating and delivering value for the destination with a high degree of kindliness for local environmental, political, or social issues. Ecotourism generally differs from mass tourism because of its following features (Liang et al. 2018 ; Ding and Cao 2019 ; Confente and Scarpi 2021 ):

Conscientious behavior focuses on the low impact on the environment.

Sensitivity and warmth for local cultures, values, and biodiversity.

Supporting the sustenance of efforts for the conservation of local resources.

Sharing and delivering tourism benefits to the local communities.

Local participation as a tourism stakeholder in the decision-making process.

Educating the tourist and locals about the sensitivity and care of the environment because tourism without proper arrangement can endanger the ecosystems and indigenous cultures and lead to significant ecological degradation.

Sustainability aims to recognize all impacts of tourism, minimize the adverse impacts, and maximize the encouraging ones. Sustainable tourism involves sustainable practices to maintain viable support for the ecology of the tourism environment in and around the destination. Sustainable tourism is natural resource-based tourism that resembles ecotourism and focuses on creating travel openings with marginal impact and encouraging learning about nature having a low impact, conservation, and valuable consideration for the local community’s well-being (Fennell 2001 & 2020 ; Butowski 2021 ). On the other hand, ecotourism inspires tourists to learn and care about the environment and effectively participate in the conservation of nature and cultural activities. Therefore, ecotourism is inclusive of sustainable tourism, whereas the focus of sustainable tourism includes the following responsibilities:

Caring, protecting, and conserving the environment, natural capital, biodiversity, and wildlife.

Delivering socio-economic welfare for the people living in and around tourists' destinations.

Identifying, rehabilitating, conserving, and promoting cultural and historical heritage for visitors learning experiences.

Bringing tourists and local groups together for shared benefits.

Creating wide-ranging and reachable opportunities for tourists.

Environment and sustainability of ecosystem

The term “environment” is all-inclusive of all the natural, organic living, inorganic, and non-natural things. The environment also denotes the interface among all breathing species with the natural resources and other constituents of the environment. Humans’ activities are mainly responsible for environmental damage as people and nations have contemplated modifying the environment to suit their expediencies. Deforestation, overpopulation, exhaustion of natural capital, and accumulation of solid waste and sewage are the major human activities that result in polluted air and water, acid rain, amplified carbon dioxide levels, depletion of the ozone, climate change, global warming, extermination of species, etc. A clean, green, and hygienic fit environment has clean air, clean water, clean energy, and moderate temperature for the healthy living of humans, animals, and biodiversity as nature is destined for them by their creatures. Maintaining and sustaining a clean environment is indispensable for human and biodiversity existence, fostering growth and development for conducting business and creating wealth. The environment can be sustained through conservation, preservation, and appropriate management to provide clean air, water, and food safe from toxic contamination, waste, and sewage disposal, saving endangered species and land conservation.

The globalization process, known for building socio-economic partnerships across countries, is also charged with encouraging environmental degradation through the over-consumption of natural resources and energy consumption, deforestation, land erosion, and weakening (Adebayo and Kirikkaleli 2021 ; Sun et al. 2021 ). Chien et al. ( 2021b ), while studying the causality of environmental degradation in Pakistan, empirically confirmed the existence of a significant connection between CO 2  emissions and GDP growth, renewable energy, technological innovation, and globalization. However, Chien et al. ( 2021a ) suggested using solar energy as a source of economic intervention to control CO 2  emissions and improve environmental quality in China. The danger of air pollution is hard to escape as microscopic air pollutants pierce through the human respiratory and cardiovascular system, injuring the lungs, heart, and brain. Ill-planned and uncontrolled human activities negatively affect ecosystems, causing climate change, ocean acidification, melting glaciers, habitation loss, eutrophication, air pollution, contaminants, and extinction of endangered species ( Albrich et al. 2020 ) .

Humans have a more significant effect on their physical environment in numerous ways, such as pollution, contamination, overpopulation, deforestation, burning fossil fuels and driving to soil erosion, polluting air and water quality, climate change, etc. UNO Agenda for 2030 “Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) mirrors the common premise that a healthy environment and human health are interlaced as integral to the satisfaction of fundamental human rights, i.e., right to life, well-being, food, water and sanitation, quality of life and biodiversity to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (SDG3)—which includes air quality that is dependent upon terrestrial ecosystems (SDG15), oceans (SDG14), cities (SDG11), water, cleanliness, and hygiene (SDG6) (Swain 2018 ; Opoku 2019 ; Scharlemann et al. 2020 ). The UNEP stated that 58% of diarrhea cases in developing economies is due to the non-provision of clean water and inadequate sanitation facilities resulting in 3.5 million deaths globally (Desai 2016 ; Ekins and Gupta 2019 ).

Climate change overwhelmingly alters ecosystems’ ability to moderate life-threatening happenings, such as maintaining water quality, regulating water flows, unbalancing the temporal weather and maintaining glaciers, displacing or extinction biodiversity, wildfire, and drought (Zhu et al. 2019 ; Marengo et al. 2021 ). Research studies advocate that exposure to natural environments is correlated with mental health, and proximity to green space is associated with lowering stress and minimizing depression and anxiety (Noordzij et al. 2020 ; Slater et al. 2020 ; Callaghan et al. 2021 ). Furthermore, the Ecosystem is affected by pollution, over-exploitation of natural resources, climate change, invasive and displacing species, etc. Hence, providing clean air and water, hygienic places, and green spaces enriches the quality of life: condensed mortality, healthier value-added productivity, and is vital to maintaining mental health. On the other hand, climate change aggravates environment-related health hazards through adverse deviations to terrestrial ecology, oceans, biodiversity, and access to fresh and clean water.

Tourism development denotes all activities linked with creating and processing facilities providing services for the tourists on and around a destination. Infrastructure development is vital for developing a tourism destination to advance tourists’ living conditions and preserve natural and cultural heritage by constructing new tourist facilities, the destinations administrative and supporting echelons, including community living, etc. Development for tourism infrastructure and land use often burdens natural capital through over-consumption, leading to soil erosion, augmented pollution, loss of natural habitats, and endangered species. Development of tourism infrastructure and construction work has profound implications on environmental degradation, reduction in green spaces, deforestation, solid waste and sewage, overutilization of air and water, emission of CO 2 and other gases contributing to air and water pollution, climate change, loss and displacement of biodiversity, and the degradation of ecosystems. These negative consequences of tourism development result in many problems for the tourists and the indigenous people in the foreseeable future (Azam et al. 2018 ; Hoang et al. 2020 ).

A report published by UNEP titled “Infrastructure for climate action” has suggested governments introduce sustainable infrastructure as the prevailing one is responsible for causing 79% of all greenhouse gas emissions in struggling climate change, alleviation, and adaptation efforts. Sustainable infrastructure signifies that structures’ planning, construction, and functioning do not weaken the social, economic, and ecological systems (UNEP 2021 ; Krampe 2021 ). Sustainable infrastructure is the only solution that ensures societies, nature, and the environment flourish together. Therefore, Sustainable Ecotourism supports adapting pro-environment and nature-based climate change strategies that help resilient biodiversity and ecosystem to impact climate change. The proposed strategy is to focus on the conservation and restoration of ecosystems to combat climate hazards, fluctuating rainfalls, soil erosion, temperature variations, floods, and extreme wind storms (Niedziółka 2014 ; Setini 2021 )

Pakistan’s tourism infrastructure suffered a colossal amount of damage during the earthquake of October 8, 2005, which left widespread demolition and destruction to its human, economic assets, and infrastructure networks, especially in Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's tourism areas. The tourism-related infrastructure, including hotels, destination facilities of social service delivery and commerce, water channels, and communications networks, were either drained or virtually destroyed. The destruction in the aftermath of the earthquake was further added by the war against terror in tourism-hit areas, resulting in the redundancy of tourists and tourism facilities for a long time (Akbar et al. 2017 ; Zakaria and Ahmed 2019 ). The tourism revival activities during the post-earth quack, post-terrorism scenario, and COVID-19 period called for various entrepreneurial activities, including the construction of infrastructure, hotels, road networks, community living, etc. Development and reconstruction of the livelihood and hospitality infrastructure through entrepreneurship were undertaken intensively through a public-private partnership from national and international findings (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Sadiq 2021 ; Dogar et al. 2021 ).

The revival and reinvigoration of infrastructure in tourism areas were backed up by extensive deforestation, use of local green land, rebuilding of the road network, displacement of biodiversity, and overtaxing the consumption of water and other natural resources. The deforestation, extensive use of green land, and over-consumption of water and other natural resources have depleted the tourism value of the area on the one hand and degraded the environment on the other. However, it was the focused rehabilitation activities of earthquake and Pakistan’s Government’s socio-environment conservation strategy of the Billion Trees plantation program in the province, including dominating tourism areas. The afforestation and loss of green tops are being reclaimed through these efforts, and the tourism environment is soon expected to regenerate (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Rauf et al. 2019 ; Siddiqui and Siddiqui 2019 ).

Government support and policy interventions

Tourism generates wide-ranging benefits for the economy, community, and people. Tourism contributes to the economy through revenue generation and shares responsibility with the Government to alleviate poverty alleviation, create opportunities for job placements, protect environments, and conserve natural ecosystems and biodiversity. It is assumed that if the tourism industry is left to its own, it will most likely prefer its business interests over environments or biodiversity. Governments, custodians of the life and well-being of their subjects, are directly responsible for providing a clean environment, nature, and Ecosystem. Therefore, national and local governments are responsible for preparing and implementing tourism development plans and enforcing values and standards for tourism development in conformity with the prerequisites of environmental sustainability. Through institutional governance, governments help tourism development by providing financial and budgetary support, regulatory framework, land, physical resources, infrastructure, etc. Provision and facilitation for Sustainability of Ecotourism and conservation of environment and biodiversity are dependent upon Government-supported interventions as follows:

The regulatory framework for setting up tourism-related entrepreneurship and quality standards can support ecotourism and prevent environmental degradation on any account.

Provision of budgetary support for ecosystem conservation and regeneration of bio-diversity-related projects.

Plan, rehabilitate if needed, promote conservation and protection of socio-cultural, historic, antique, and natural endowments in coordination with other public and private agencies, and deal with the defaulters, if any.

Promoting and undertaking afforestation alongside land conservation and discouraging deforestation, soil erosion, accumulation of solid waste, littering, and any direct or indirect loss or threat to biodiversity.

Setting restrictions for over-tourism beyond capacity and quality standards for transportation, restaurants, hotels, food and drinking water, etc.

Placing enforcement mechanism necessary to ensure application of the regulatory framework and quality standards applicable along with all activities inclusive to the Ecotourism value chain.

Theoretical support and hypothesis development

According to the social disruption theory, rapidly expanding societies usually experience a period of widespread crisis and a loss of their conventional routines and attitudes. The crisis impacts people whose mental health, worldviews, behavioral patterns, and social networks may all be impacted (Çalişkan and Özer 2021 ). According to the social disruption theory, fast community change brought on by population growth will result in a variety of social issues that are signs of a generally disorganized community (Smith et al. 2001 ). Because some types of tourism communities experience rapid expansion accompanied by intensive development and rapid social change over a relatively short period of time, they seem to be great settings for studying various postulations of the social disruption theory.

Place change and social disruption theory are closely connected. According to this assumption, when a community undergoes fast expansion, it tends to experience a generalized crisis that might culminate in several social issues as changes spread throughout the community and among individuals (Rasoolimanesh et al. 2019 ). Place change can result from fundamental community restructuring due to economic development, new class divides, and migration of both long-term and temporary people (Nelson 2001 ). Social unrest, though, is not enduring. Instead, it is transitory; societies gradually adjust to these changes (Deery et al.  2012 ).

The standard of living may initially deteriorate, but due to the adaptability of people and communities, they will gradually reinvigorate and strengthen themselves accordingly. Furthermore, the social disruption proposition reinforces one of the challenges in analyzing the effects of tourism, particularly in emerging nations, since it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the effects of tourism and the overall ongoing development (Park and Stokowski 2009 ) (Fig. 1 ).

Tourism development and growth significantly affect natural environment resources.

Tourism development and growth significantly affect environmental pollution.

Tourism development and growth significantly affect the physical ecosystem of the environment.

Tourism development and growth significantly affect the socio-cultural environment.

Tourism development and growth significantly affect the economic environment of people and the community.

Government policy and support significantly moderate the relationship between tourism development and growth and the environmental factors.

Conceptual framework

Methodology

The study aimed to investigate the association of tourism development and its impact on environmental factors. Therefore, a survey method was employed to collect data by including all the relevant people in the locality. The study is based on stakeholders’ opinions from Pakistan’s most visited tourist areas, including Murree, Swat, Chitral, Naran, Kaghan, Neelum Valley, Malam Jabba, Ayubia, and Nathia Gali. A total of 650 stakeholders were contacted from the above-mentioned tourist destinations through survey. The distribution of the sample is mentioned in Table 1 .

Using quantitative techniques, hierarchical linear regression analysis was employed to investigate the possible relationships between tourism growth and various dimensions of environmental sustainability. The results below reveal that tourism development translates into environmental deterioration, and the relationship between tourism and environmental sustainability is bidirectional.

Tourism growth and development were measured through a five-item scale. The environment was measured through 16 items combined scale with sub-dimensions; depletion of Natural Resources=3 items, Polluting Environment=3 items, Physical Effects on Ecosystem=4 items, Socio-Cultural Degradation=3 items, and Economic Environment=3-items. Similarly, our moderating variable, Government Interventions and Support, was measured using a 5-item scale. Table 2 below presents the details of the instruments.

Analysis and results

Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 26. It includes correlation, linear regression, and stepwise hierarchal regression analysis.

Table 3 above shows that our Tourism Growth and Development has significant and positive relationship with Polluting Environment ( r = 0.20**), Physical Effects on Ecosystem ( r = 0.19**), Depletion of Natural Resource ( r = 0.24**), Socio-Cultural Degradation ( r = 0.18**). However, Tourism Growth and Development has positive relationship with Economic Environment ( r = 0.29**) and Government Interventions and Support ( r = 0.13**).

Results of linear regression analysis at Table 4 above depict that tourism growth and development predicts 4.1% variance in Depletion of Natural Resources ( β = 0.20, p <0.01), 3.9% variance in pollution ( β = 0.19, p <0.01), 6% variance in Physical Effects on Ecosystem ( β = 0.24, p <0.01), 3.6% variance in Socio-Cultural Degradation ( β = 0.18, p <0.01), and 8.8% variance in Economic Environment ( β = 0.29, p <0.01).

The study analyzes the applied two-step hierarchal regression. In the first step, Tourism Growth and Government Interventions were treated as independent variables, and their significant impact was measured. In the second step, the interaction term Tourism and Growth× Government Interventions was added, and its impact was measured. The results suggest that Government Interventions and Support moderate the relationship between Tourism Growth and the Environmental variables (Table 5 ).

The study has reported unique findings regarding tourism and its environmental impacts. We found that tourism growth and development generate economic activity on the one hand. However, it has specific adverse environmental and socio-cultural outcomes on the other hand as well. Our study revealed that tourism growth and development predict a 4.1% variance in Depletion of Natural Resources ( β = 0.202*, p <0.01). This suggests that due to the expansion of tourism in the country, natural resources are continuously depleted to meet the needs of tourists. Studies also supported our findings and suggested that revival and reinvigoration of infrastructure in tourism areas were backed up by extensive deforestation, use of local green land, rebuilding of the road network, displacement of biodiversity, and overtaxing the consumption of water and other natural resources (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Sadiq 2021 ; Dogar et al. 2021 ). The prior studies are consistent with our hypothesis that “tourism development and growth significantly affect natural environment resources.”

We further found that tourism growth and development predict a 3.9% variance in pollution ( β = 0.198*, p <0.01), suggesting that tourism expansion may pollute the natural environment. Furthermore, recent national statistics depict that major human activities at local tourism destinations such as Kalam, Sawat, Muree, and Northern Areas have accumulated solid waste and sewage, resulting in polluted air and water. Further, research also suggests that the overflow of tourists to tourist destinations may adversely affect the environment due to human activities (Noordzij et al. 2020 ; Slater et al. 2020 ; Andlib and Salcedo-Castro  2021 ; Callaghan et al. 2021 ). Thus, it is safe to argue that the growth of tourism has a particularly detrimental effect on the environment. These findings also support our hypothesis, “Tourism development and growth significantly contribute to environmental pollution.”

The results reported that tourism growth and development predict a 6% variance in Physical Effects on the Ecosystem ( β = 0.245*, p <0.01). Studies have reported that deforestation and alteration in species’ natural environment for tourism facilities construction may adversely affect environmental health (Kuvan, 2010 ; Azam et al. 2018 ; Hoang et al. 2020 ; Andlib and Salcedo-Castro  2021 ). During post-terrorism and post-Covid-19 times in Pakistan, millions of local tourists moved to popular tourist destinations that required new infrastructure to accommodate these tourists. Consequently, colossal deforestation and other detrimental human activities have negatively affected ecosystem. These findings also support our hypothesis that tourism development and growth significantly affect the physical ecosystem of the environment.

The study reported a total of 3.6% variance in socio-cultural degradation ( β = 0.189*, p <0.01) due to tourism growth and development. These findings suggest that tourism’s growth and development may lead the inhabitants to imitate the foreign tourists regarding their living standards, which may endanger their traditional culture. Thus, our hypothesis that “tourism development and growth significantly affect the socio-cultural environment” is confirmed.

Further, it was found that tourism growth and development predict an 8.8% variance in the economic environment ( β = 0.297*, p <0.01). It is established from the literature that tourism growth and development generate economic activity in the country. Development projects such as the construction of infrastructure, hotels, and road networks generate economic activity to facilitate international and indigenous tourists, positively affecting the community’s living standard (Baloch et al. 2020 ). Thus, our hypothesis, “tourism development and growth significantly affect economic environment of people and community,” is confirmed.

Due to tourism growth and development, our study reported a 1.8% variance in Government Support and Interventions ( β = .133*, p <0.01). However, more recently, the Government of Pakistan has devised specific interventions that may help curb the adverse impacts of detrimental environmental factors. For example, developmental schemes such as the Billion Trees Plantation drive and Road-Infrastructure Network Development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative may prove moderators to curb the negative impacts of tourism growth on the environment (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Rauf et al. 2019 ; Siddiqui and Siddiqui 2019 ). Therefore, the hypothesis, Government policy and support, significantly moderates the relationship between tourism development and growth with the environment is confirmed based on these findings.

Suggested model for ecotourism framework

Through its detailed review of existing literature, prevailing tourism policies, and empirical inputs from the stakeholders’ perspectives, the study has identified a wide range of obstacles limiting the development and growth of ecotourism in Pakistan. The study suggests National Tourism Management authorities carefully invest in ecotourism destination’s planning and development in coordination with the environment development agency. The suggested model for ecotourism framework is initially meant for the tourism destinations specifically designated for ecotourism. However, selected points can also be extended to the quality management parameters set for the National Parks, Conservation and Protracted Areas, Museums, National or International event sites, etc. The national tourism authorities are to lay particular emphasis in their forthcoming National Tourism Policy on the development and promotion of Sustainable Ecotourism having, with focus on the following key areas:

Identify and classify four to five ecotourism destinations, including ecotourism-centered activities of value chains for priority development, which are administratively possible within budgetary constraints. However, the development plan shall consider the integral benefits of other developmental schemes such as the Billion Trees Plantation drive, Road-Infrastructure Network Development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative, International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) programs in the area.

While staying within the alignment of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) calling for ‘environmental sustainability’ and the development vision of each designated destination, the Tourists Management System shall take into cognizance of issues like managing capacity of the place, quality parameters for the conservation of the environment, and allowable activities thereof.

Identify degenerated destinations of religious, socio-cultural, or historical significance for their rehabilitation under the Regenerated tourism program.

Tourism Destinations that have been over-consumed and exhausted (e.g., Murree, Galiaat, Naran, Malam Jabba) because of over-tourism shall be planned for their reclamation through regenerated tourism. However, to facilitate the success of the regeneration of their tourism potential following is to be catered for:

To deflect the tourist pressure upon these destinations, the potential tourists from nearby cities and metropolitan areas be provided with nearby alternative destinations for leisure tourism as stay-tourism sites.

To prevent the environment from air pollution, the traffic load on the destination be curtailed through an effective traffic management strategy, provision of off-destination parking for combustion engine vehicles, and encouraging electric driven or hybrid vehicles for nearby parking.

Provision of clean drinking water through public infiltration plants, public toilets, solid waste carriers, and recycling of sewage and used water is recommended in the most visited areas of the destination.

Signposting at appropriate places, giving social messages encouraging to maintain cleanliness, avoid littering, ensure nature conservation, and humility toward biodiversity.

Develop all-inclusive, comprehensive execution plans to expedite the investments for the sustainable ecotourism, encouraging public–private cooperation, community involvement, and infrastructure mapping guaranteeing environmental conservation and safeguards.

Develop and place on the ground an all-inclusive program of capacity building for sustainable ecotourism, regenerative and green tourism services.

Develop and launch Pakistan tourism profile and Sustaining Ecotourism obligatory framework “to promote tourism on the one hand and nurture conscious ecological behavior among the potential tourists of the area”.

In order to fetch local ownership for the ecotourism center developments, all efforts shall be made to share the socio-economic benefits integral to the development scheme with the local population for community development.

As part of the destination management planning, identify complementary value chains and livelihood activities that could be developed as part of the overall ecotourism destination package.

Governments at all levels and the tourism Development and Promotion Agencies Network in Pakistan shall join hands to chalk out and, with a strict enforcement mechanism, a “Regulatory Framework for Ecotourism Friendly Destination” to sustain the efforts and policies undertaken in this regard on the one hand and generate responsible behavior from the tourism stakeholders on the other. Some of the suggestive points could be:

Setting new quality standards facilitating the promotion of ecotourism and environmental sustainability through acts of various bodies operating in the Ecotourism value chain, such as:

Revision of Private hotels Management Act (1976) and Tourists Operators Act (1976) alongside introduction and promulgation of a new “Tourism Destination Management Act” incorporating new quality standards as of today.

Promulgating laws to make all new construction/development projects responsible from any agency in the area, incorporating quality standards needed for environmental sustainability, and promoting ecotourism.

Set measures for the preservation of the local biodiversity and preservation of endangered species, including seeking support from internationally active environment conservation agencies, declaring local hunting illegal, introducing licensing programs for hunting of certain selected animals/ birds on the payment of a handsome amount to be used for the welfare of the local community.

Create awareness programs against deforestation, land conservation, and biodiversity, and maintain cleanliness, inculcating a culture of respecting and enjoying nature instead of spoiling it.

Conclusion, implications, and limitations of the study

The study premise was based on the contention that sustenance of ecotourism focuses on the economic viability of the business interests alongside the conservation and preservation of natural ecosystems, including ethical fairness to the socio-cultural environment of the host community. Ecotourism is a phenomenon that contributes to environmental sustainability through well-planned and careful destination management capable of balancing conflicting interests of business growth and environmental sustainability. Tourism-environment paradox suggests that the sustainability and survival of both are dependent upon the flourishing mode of each other. Quality of environment and sustainability of bio-ecosystem stimulates tourists’ arrivals and over-tourism beyond capacity with irresponsible behavior from tourists negatively influencing the environment and harming the ecosystem of nature. Ecotourism is not inevitably sustainable unless it is economically sustainable and environmentally maintainable besides being socio-culturally acceptable. Socio-culturally intolerable ecotourism means the activity which does not benefit locals and their socio-cultural values. Hence, the study concludes that ecotourism has to positively interplay between economy, environment, and culture without compromising one over others. The pursuit of sustainable ecotourism is not an end in meeting the little comforts of the business interests but rather a means to end the sustainability issues created due to ill-conceived tourism development and unmanageable growth.

Practical implications

Drawing from the findings and conclusions of the research, the study extends the following practical implications for effectively managing the process of tourism development and environmental sustainability in line with the dictates of the philosophy behind ecotourism:

Paradoxically tourism necessitates ecological capitals as primary ingredients for the creation of tourism experiences on the one hand. However, it is also contingent upon the conservation and preservation of ecological integrity on the other. The study suggests that unbalancing this “resource paradox” results in the harshness and tenacity of adversarial climate change, natural calamities, environmental pollution, and endangered biodiversity.

The research findings and the suggested framework for ecotourism imply that sustainable ecotourism principles-based planning is mandatory for destination management to assure effective trade-off between the business interests’ sustainability of the environmental ecosystem.

Tourism development and growth shall be steered through ecotourism principles as its sustainable model offers enduring social, environmental and economic, ecological integrity, and social and cultural benefits for the local community. Therefore, ecotourism is a recipe for preventing environmental degradation and guarantees sustainability of ecosystems nature and its biodiversity. Hence, ecotourism shall stand central priority focus for strategic management to nurture quality experiences from sustainable tourism.

To revive back the sustainability of the environment, in the areas where over-tourism has degraded the environment, schemes for regenerated tourism shall be immediately launched to mitigate the negative footprints on the sustainability of destinations, including reinforcing protracted conservation sites, biodiversity, and recouping endangered species, afforestation drives, recycling of water and solid waste, refurnishing of landscaping, preservation, and rehabilitation of cultural heritage and refurbishing of depleted infrastructure accordingly. Furthermore, to regenerate and sustain the tourism infrastructure of the destinations experiencing over-tourism, capacity building measures like capacity, recycling of water and solid waste, preventive measures to control air and water pollution, traffic control management, and spread of entertainment facilities shall be the focus of the regeneration plans.

The study implies that government authorities and policymakers have a special role in placing their moderating intervention in terms of policy guidelines, regulatory framework, and budgetary support, provision of inter-organizational synergy in planning and implementation of ecotourism strategies, protection of environmental resource base and conservation of natural and biological ecosystem, sustenance of socio-cultural value of local community over and above their economic and social well-being/quality life for the long run.

The study also implies that public and private policymakers lay down threshold criteria for responsible travel and tourism standards for destination management and its related supply chain. The laid criterion would facilitate management in nurturing “responsible behavior” to plan, protect, conserve, preserve, and sustain natural and cultural resources and responsible socio-economic development without compromising the sustainability of the environment and long-term well-being of the hoist community. The deep-seated adherence to social responsibility protocols by the tourism supply chain network can significantly increase the capacity of tourism destinations and improve the conscious awareness of green consumers along the tourism supply chain. Furthermore, the consciously responsible behavior among stakeholders and legislatures can strike a needed balance between the business interests and environments in favor of sustainability of socio-cultural, economic, and natural capital.

The study elucidates that responsible behavior necessitates purpose-built eco-friendly infrastructure and policy parameters to support the sustainability of environments across destinations. The strategic planning aligned with the sustainability-focused objectives dictates the need for artistic, innovative, and talented people and quality intuitions in harnessing quality tourism services and responsible tourism behavior. Furthermore, the study encourages community involvement in the developmental process, enactment of structural policies, preservation of socio-cultural heritage, and conservation of natural biodiversity as it would foster emotional bondage between the people of the host community and the tourism undertakings. Therefore, community and value chain managers shall collaborate to maximize the perceived benefits of responsible tourism while developing cultural exchanges and planning opportunities for leisure and tourism.

Regulatory measures help offset negative impacts; for instance, controls on the number of tourist activities and movement of visitors within protected areas can limit impacts on the ecosystem and help maintain the integrity and vitality of the site. Limits should be established after an in-depth analysis of the maximum sustainable visitor capacity. Furthermore, the variables and the constructs researched can be replicated to other destinations to seek valuable inputs for sustainable destination management elsewhere.

Study limitation

Besides the functional, practical applications, the study has some limitations. Besides having integral disadvantages of cross-sectional research, the respondents selected for the study were visitors on peak days with the highest tourist arrivals, thereby having experiences of a higher degree of environmental pollution and natural disorder. Furthermore, the research is limited to stakeholders’ perspectives instead of any scientifically generated data or mathematical or econometric model.

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Abasyn University, Peshawar, Pakistan

Qadar Bakhsh Baloch & Syed Naseeb Shah

Air University School of Management, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Nadeem Iqbal

Department of Commerce, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

Muhammad Sheeraz

IBA, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

Muhammad Asadullah

University of Sialkot, Sialkot, Pakistan

Sourath Mahar

Islamia College University Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

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QBB: conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft. SNS: data curation and supervision. NI: visualization, editing, proofreading. MS: review and editing. MA: review and editing. SM: editing, data curation. AUK: review and editing.

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Correspondence to Nadeem Iqbal .

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Baloch, Q.B., Shah, S.N., Iqbal, N. et al. Impact of tourism development upon environmental sustainability: a suggested framework for sustainable ecotourism. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30 , 5917–5930 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22496-w

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Received : 14 December 2021

Accepted : 08 August 2022

Published : 19 August 2022

Issue Date : January 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22496-w

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