Marketing for Sustainable Tourism Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 104
Special Issue Editor
Interests: sustainable tourism; consumer behavior; traveler behaviors; social marketing; behavioral science; behavioral economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
While marketing has contributed to some of the negative impacts of tourism, it has the potential to contribute positively to sustainable tourism development. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” In this context, marketing encompasses activities as diverse as product development, experience design, promotion, brand development, and supply chain management. As such, the marketing mix is an important set of tools to support the sustainable development of tourism in destination communities.
Despite the potential of marketing to significantly contribute to sustainable tourism development, its role in this context has received less attention than other aspects of the phenomenon. Nevertheless, there is a growing interest in the use of marketing techniques to promote sustainability goals (Dolnicar & Ring, 2014; Font & McCabe, 2017).
This Special Issue is designed to showcase research addressing the variety of ways marketing-related activities are contributing to a more sustainable tourism system. It is expected that the Issue will incorporate current research exploring the use of marketing in destination marketing, as well as issues associated with other types of tourism enterprises, including ecotourism and community-based tourism operations. This Special Issue will also incorporate current research into consumer responses to sustainability-oriented tourism marketing.
The following is a partial list of topics appropriate for this Special Issue:
- Identification of “ideal” target markets for destinations.
- Sustainable destination branding.
- Marketing to achieve sustainable tourism goals.
- Social media and sustainable tourism.
- Destination development and placemaking for sustainability
- Supply chain management for sustainable tourism.
- Internal marketing for sustainable destinations.
- Experience design and sustainable tourism.
- Social marketing for sustainable development.
- Behavioral science and tourism experience design for sustainability.
References
- Dolnicar, S., & Ring, A. (2014). Tourism marketing research: Past, present and future. Annals of Tourism Research, 47, 31–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2014.03.008
- Font, X., & McCabe, S. (2017). Sustainability and marketing in tourism: its contexts, paradoxes, approaches, challenges and potential. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(7), 869–883. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1301721
Dr. Jonathon Day
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
- identification of “ideal” target markets for destinations
- sustainable destination branding
- marketing to achieve sustainable tourism goals
- social media and sustainable tourism
- destination development and placemaking for sustainability
- supply chain management for sustainable tourism
- internal marketing for sustainable destinations
- experience design and sustainable tourism
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
