Sustainable Tourism and Destination Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 September 2025) | Viewed by 2506
Special Issue Editor
Interests: destination marketing and management; sustainable development and tourism sustainability; marketing and consumer behaviour; digital marketing and information communication technologies; corporate social responsibility; destination image and selection decision-making; crises and crisis management and planning; international travel patterns and behaviour; tourism policy-making and planning; food consumption behaviour of international and domestic travellers; educational research and development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Combining the topics of sustainable tourism and destination development may appear to some to be a contradiction. The development of destinations, especially when it is unplanned, is often viewed as the antithesis of sustainable tourism. Symptoms such as overtourism, environmental degradation, and cultural homogenization are frequently cited as evidence that tourism development is not sustainable. However, this Special Issue is aimed at challenging these traditional assumptions with research articles and cases that demonstrate the compatibility of sustainable tourism and destination development.
In the post COVID-19 era, there is greater realization that many communities need tourism; however, its development must be more carefully monitored and managed to be sustainable environmentally, socially, culturally, and economically. Concepts including regenerative, meaningful, transformative, slow, and green have entered the tourism lexicon. However, traces of tourism’s original ills are persisting and continuing to challenge administrations and destination management organizations (DMOs) to strike the optimum balance between growth and long-term sustainability.
Contributions are sought that critically assess new tourism planning, development, and marketing approaches for destinations that embrace sustainability principles, including the guidelines for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- sustainable destination branding;
- technological contributions to sustainable tourism and destination development;
- regenerative tourism;
- slow tourism;
- meaningful tourism;
- transformational tourism;
- tourism demarketing;
- community engagement and community-driven regenerative tourism initiatives;
- indigenous tourism and local knowledge;
- cultural heritage tourism;
- smart tourism development;
- sustainable transportation;
- policy challenges;
- economic models and business opportunities;
- overtourism in tourism regions;
- digital nomadism;
- health and wellness tourism;
- climate action and carbon offsetting;
- regenerative agriculture and agro-tourism;
- empowering local artisans and entrepreneurs.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Alastair M. Morrison
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sustainable tourism
- destination management and marketing
- branding
- regenerative tourism
- responsible tourism
- meaningful tourism
- slow tourism
- sustainable transportation
- corporate social responsibility
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