General Article ‘Sustainable tourism’ is not working – here’s how we can change that

Topic Selected: Travel and Tourism Book Volume: 365
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Trips to Antartica are part of the ‘last chance’ tourism to environmentally fragile places. Shutterstock

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia

This year is the United Nations’ International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. UN World Tourism Organisation Secretary-General Taleb Rifai declared it gave:

… a unique opportunity to advance the contribution of the tourism sector to the three pillars of sustainability – economic, social and environmental, while raising awareness of the true dimensions of a sector which is often undervalued.

Sustainable tourism comes from the concept of sustainable development, as set out in the 1987 Brundtland report. Sustainable development is:

… development which meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

British environmental activist George Monbiot argued that, over the years, sustainable development has morphed into sustained growth. The esse...

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