Abstract
While tourism is often seen as a welcome source of economic development, conventional mass tourism is associated with numerous negative effects, such as the destruction of ecological systems and loss of cultural heritage. In response to these concerns, a term that has surfaced recently is, sustainable tourism. This article attempts to define sustainable tourism and asks the question of whether this new term is an acceptable criteria or is merely a marketing ploy to attract the morally conscious tourist.
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Paul Lansing is a professor of Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a J.D. Degree and a Graduate Degree in International Business.
Paul De Vries received an M.Sc BA, in Strategic Management from the Rotterdam School of Management, RSM Erasmus University.
Appendix
Appendix
World Tourism Organization (WTO) (2004) Sustainable tourism development requirements, retrieved from the web-site of the World Tourism Organization.
“Sustainable tourism should:
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(1)
Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
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(2)
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
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(3)
Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation. (WTO, 2004a, b)”
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Lansing, P., Vries, P.D. Sustainable Tourism: Ethical Alternative or Marketing Ploy?. J Bus Ethics 72, 77–85 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9157-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9157-7