Rethinking Destination Planning Through Sustainable Local Development

Dear Colleagues,

Tourism destination planning began in the mid-20th century with a focus on infrastructure improvement, business development, and marketing. However, since the mid-2010s, the role of destination planning has evolved to encompass a wide range of issues including environmental sustainability, innovation, culture, and social equity. In addition, the climate crisis and building resilience for destinations have become critical components of effective tourism planning.

One of the most significant theoretical implications of this evolution is the shift towards a more integrated approach to tourism planning. This suggests that existing theories that have historically considered tourism planning in isolation need to be re-evaluated and possibly expanded. There is now a clear need to consider tourism planning within the broader context of sustainability and local development. This will enrich the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Furthermore, tailored approaches to different types of destinations are needed to make tourism planning flexible and adaptable to the unique challenges and opportunities of each destination. For policymakers, these findings suggest that it is time to reassess the role of tourism in local planning; the multifaceted nature of tourism planning needs to be recognized, and climate-resilient measures should be included as a standard part of tourism policy. Equally important is the recognition that cohesive and integrated local policies require a redesign of local tourism governance structures.

In conclusion, this Special Issue aims to enrich the interdisciplinary dialogue on the contemporary challenges facing destination planning and to stimulate a variety of contributions that highlight the multifaceted nature of modern tourism planning. This is an indicative rather than an exhaustive list of topics:

• Integrating tourism planning into social justice strategies;
• Integrating tourism planning into strategies for resilient destinations;
• Integrating smart tourism into sustainable local development;
• Tourism as a development option in a degraded or declining area;
• Crisis and emergency management in a destination;
• Planning for sustainable and environmentally friendly destinations;
• Planning for accessible destinations;
• Planning for social sustainability in small destinations;
• Destination planning through alternative forms of tourism;
• Planning for ethical/responsible tourism;
• The future of destinations;
• Interdisciplinary approaches to destination planning;
• Current challenges for destination management organizations;
• Tourism governance at the local level;
• Spatial planning for destinations;
• Cultural planning for destinations;
• Cultural heritage integration in destination planning;
• Destination branding and social sustainability;
• Sustainable destination marketing.

Dr. Efthymia Sarantakou
Dr. Alkmini Gkritzali
Dr. Sotirios Varelas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 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.

• destination planning
• local development
• integrating tourism planning
• resilient destinations
• sustainable tourism development
• sustainable destination marketing
• social sustainability