Sustainability in Tourism and Economic Growth

Dear Colleagues,

The tourism sector is the fastest growing economic sector worldwide. It opens up a lot of opportunities for developing countries and regions in terms of economic development and prosperity. However, the growth in tourism activities is associated with economic, environmental, and social costs which undermine the sustainability of the tourist destination.

On the one hand, growth of tourism supports creation of jobs and value additions as direct effects, and the positive externalities as indirect outcomes. On the other hand, there are negative externalities that need to be managed. The negative externalities induced by the transport of tourists will become one of the greatest challenges for remote island countries in the shadow of the Paris climate agreement. Further, the unbounded growth of tourism in cities like Venice or Barcelona is an increasing risk for these tourist destinations. The adverse effects not only disrupt the environment, but also cultural and social landscapes. Tourism brings many benefits; however, it can also be an agent of disruption, especially when tourism activities affect the living conditions of the disadvantaged persons, erode native culture, and the overall social order of the destinations.

This Special Issue of Sustainability invites research papers to discuss and analyze specific problems of sustainability in light of tourism, economic growth, and development. The Special Issue will cover suitable topics which are related to one or more dimensions of sustainability, and economic growth and tourism. The issue welcomes studies from various disciplines and broad scientific methods. Authors of research papers focusing on tourism and sustainability can conduct investigations using approaches like theoretical constructs and models, econometric analysis, comparative studies, environmental mitigation strategies, environmental compensation measures, and case studies. Studies applying approaches such as these are welcomed in the Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Peter J. Stauvermann
Prof. Dr. Ronald R. Kumar
Guest Editors

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.

• economic growth
• tourism
• land issues
• eco-tourism
• competitive tourism sector
• inequality
• CO₂ emissions
• carbon offsetting
• air transport
• biodiversity
• environmental accounting