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Ecotourism and Sustainability Strategy

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2016) | Viewed by 23385

Special Issue Editor

College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook Universtiy, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Interests: tourism and sustainability; tourism as a community development tool; tourism and wellbeing; tourist experiences; heritage interpretation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a long, complex, and contested relationship between ecotourism and sustainability.  In early discussions of tourism and sustainable development, ecotourism was often proposed as the form of tourism more likely to contribute to the sustainable development of destination communities. This proposal was subject to criticism in the early 1990s and continues to be a source of discussion and debate, with more recent studies questioning the value of ecotourism as a sustainability strategy. Despite these concerns there are examples where ecotourism can make a positive contribution to the Quality of Life of destination regions and support more sustainable practices in tourism generally. This special issue of Sustainability will critically examine the relationship between ecotourism, sustainability, and destination development, with the aim of identifying strategies to improve the sustainability of ecotourism activities.  Authors are encouraged to submit either reviews or original papers that describe strategies to improve the relationship between ecotourism and sustainability at either the destination level or beyond.

The range of relevant topics includes:

  • Ecotourism as a strategy in community development/poverty alleviation
  • Sustainability issues and practice in ecotourism
  • Heritage interpretation in ecotourism
  • Cross-cultural issues relevant to ecotourism
  • Impacts of ecotourism on different aspects of destination wellbeing or Quality of Life
  • Balancing environmental and human dimensions of sustainability in ecotourism operations

Prof. Dr. Gianna Moscardo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

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

Keywords

 

  • ecotourism
  • sustainability
  • community development
  • sustainable tourism

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

712 KiB  
Article
Young Tourists and Sustainability. Profiles, Attitudes, and Implications for Destination Strategies
by Federica Buffa
Sustainability 2015, 7(10), 14042-14062; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71014042 - 20 Oct 2015
Cited by 82 | Viewed by 14947
Abstract
Global trends highlight the growing tourist interest in authentic and sustainable holiday experiences. Designing strategies that enable destinations to catch this tourist segment is, therefore, becoming more and more important for competitiveness. A long-term outlook calls into question the “next generation” of actual [...] Read more.
Global trends highlight the growing tourist interest in authentic and sustainable holiday experiences. Designing strategies that enable destinations to catch this tourist segment is, therefore, becoming more and more important for competitiveness. A long-term outlook calls into question the “next generation” of actual and potential tourists, i.e., young people: understanding their attitude towards sustainability is paramount to drive tourism development in a direction which is coherent to the forthcoming demand. Drawing from an ad hoc survey of 1156 members of the largest Italian association of student and youth tourism, this contribution (a) discusses youth attitudes towards sustainability, their travel motivations and behavior (b) identifies different profiles of young tourists with reference to sustainability. By using characteristics and dimensions linked with “harder ecotourists” we identify hard path young tourists (HPYT) and soft path young tourists (SPYT). The findings confirm young people’s interest in certain dimensions of sustainability and the influence this interest has on their decision-making processes, motivations, and behaviors. HPYT and SPYT are profiles which should be considered in destination strategies: the strong sensitivity of HPYT to sustainability suggests the possibility of creating offers that optimize the unique features of a territory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecotourism and Sustainability Strategy)
3557 KiB  
Article
A Method for Development of Ecomuseums in Taiwan
by Zhen-Hui Liu and Yung-Jaan Lee
Sustainability 2015, 7(10), 13249-13269; https://doi.org/10.3390/su71013249 - 25 Sep 2015
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 7999
Abstract
One component of the new museology is the ecomuseum, which is intended to preserve cultural/natural heritage and the local landscape in situ, and involves community participation and needs associated with community development. Since the ecomuseum concept originated in Western Europe, ecomuseums must [...] Read more.
One component of the new museology is the ecomuseum, which is intended to preserve cultural/natural heritage and the local landscape in situ, and involves community participation and needs associated with community development. Since the ecomuseum concept originated in Western Europe, ecomuseums must be adapted or localized to various socio-economic environments. In the 2000s, two mining ecomuseums were established in New Taipei City—the Gold Museum and the Houtong Coal Mine Ecological Park. In the early 2010s, two more ecomuseums were established—the Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum and the Togo Art Museum. More than the mining ecomuseums, the Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum emphasized community participation and the vision of the Togo Art Museum was led by the community. Based on an analysis of the Houtong Coal Mine Ecological Park, the Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum and the Togo Art Museum, this study elucidates the various mechanisms of the development of ecomuseums in Taiwan. Ecomuseums should be interconnected with the community and the environment. The three major functions of ecomuseums (community participation, local development, and in-situ preservation) can promote sustainable development. This study uses the “creativity triangle” concept with a three-year cycle of development as an analytical tool. The concept was modified to include three stages of development, which are “estimation”, “preparation”, and “operation”; six steps and 11 tasks are proposed. Despite the unique circumstances of each ecomuseum, this study provides an overview of the development processes and provides a basis for making recommendations for establishing other ecomuseums in Taiwan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecotourism and Sustainability Strategy)
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