Sustainable Travel Development

Dear Colleagues,

Global tourism has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020. During this long period of limited, or even interrupted, travel, all the players—holidaymakers, professionals, communities and States, and researchers—have been encouraged to rethink the practices and models that have structured the tourism market in recent decades. There is one major concern in this regard: how can one travel in the world of tomorrow while respecting the environment and ensuring better economic and social balance in the context of societal change and global crises? This is the main concern of this Special Issue.

Global tourism has grown considerably over the past 20 years (+ 133%) and 1.8 billion international trips are expected by 2030 per WTO, to which must be added the hundreds of millions of tourists travelling within their own countries. However, this tourism has very significant negative impacts on the environment, especially as 95% of holidaymakers are concentrated in 5% of the world’s areas, often favouring the same periods of the year, with a predilection for natural sites (primarily coastal and mountain areas). Thus, the carbon footprint of tourism is significant; it is responsible for about 8% of humanity’s total greenhouse gas emissions, three quarters of which are due to transport alone. In some very popular areas, it is a major consumer of natural resources (energy, water, food and raw materials), and it puts pressure on ecosystems, particularly the most fragile ones, by generating pollutants and waste. In addition to these environmental impacts, there is the inflation of housing and food prices, the impoverishment of local cultures and heritage, and over-tourism in various destinations, such as Venice. However, tourism has many positive impacts: the creation of jobs in the countries visited, consumption of local products that provide a living for producers and traders, openness and exchanges between cultures, etc.

At the same time, tourism is influenced by global phenomena, in terms of changes and crises, which force it to adapt. Climate change is reducing snow resources in ski resorts, eroding the rocks of glacial massifs, raising sea levels with the risk of small islands disappearing, creating health risks during heat waves with the scarcity of water resources, etc. Global crises, whether economic, security or health-related, limit or complicate international travel. The economic dependence of certain countries, regions and cities on tourism then reveals their fragility. The COVID-19 crisis, thus, reveals the dependence of certain economies on the flow of travellers, whether they are business or leisure tourists. In addition, the new traveller differs from the former traveller because of their permanent interconnection with the world and one’s family through GPS, SMS, e-mail or websites, affinity or even through one’s professional environment, while creating a safety net in one’s movements and a stop to the feeling of adventure or the cut-off from one’s daily life.

In this context, is it possible to sustainably develop global travel by finding satisfactory balances for all stakeholders? The World Tourism Organization defining sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities “, calls for this to be done in the future. Knowing that "sustainable" tourism is not only synonymous with "nature" or "green" tourism, as one can experience "sustainable" tourism in the middle of a city by using public transport, by consuming environmentally friendly products or by visiting less frequented places, news trends or initiatives have been emerging in the context of global geopolitical insecurity, climate change and an unprecedented health crisis. For example, there is an increase in the number of labels and other certifications for sustainable tourism (Green Globe, Green Key, Earthcheck, TravelLife, etc.), regions or natural parks that have invested in environmental preservation, destinations that limit their number of visitors (Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Maya Bay in Thailand, Komodo Island in Indonesia, etc.), and holidaymakers who favour local tourism or slow travel, with less carbon impact.

In terms of foresight, many important issues remain unanswered about the influence of sustainable travel development in the future and its real impacts. Manuscripts addressing new challenges and new trends and its development impacts are welcome. For this Special Issue, papers that address the following topics, among others, are requested:

• Impacts of sanitary, climate and security changes on tourism (island, mountain, etc.) or travel;
• Impacts of societal changes or global crises on the development of tourism or travel;
• Impacts of the degrowth, anti-marketing and slow-travel movements in global tourism or global travel;
• New communications and/or connections in sustainable tourism or sustainable travel;
• Creation of new values or innovations in sustainable tourism or sustainable travel;
• New tourist behaviours in connection with sustainable tourism or sustainable travel;
• New entrepreneurship, best management practices or actions in sustainable tourism or sustainable travel;
• Other relevant topics related to the subject.

Best regards,

Prof. Dr. Patrick Bouchet
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• sustainable tourism
• sustainable travel
• impacts of global change or crisis
• innovations
• new strategies or behaviors