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Sustainable Development in Urban and Rural Tourism

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024 | Viewed by 6675

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Ibiza Island Council University College of Tourism, University of the Balearic Islands, 07800 Ibiza, Spain
Interests: tourism management; tourism marketing; tourist destinations; residents' attitudes; hospitality management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Business, University of A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Interests: corporate social responsibility; human resources; social media; entrepreneurship; business organization; business management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Financial Economy and Accounting Department, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: business; finance and tourism; resource and service management, natural resource, sustainable rural development, water resources management, financial economics; accounting and management; sustainability; entrepreneurship; innovation; quality and environmental management systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the appearance of mass tourism in the 1950s and 1960s, concern about the impacts of this activity on host regions and societies has been permanent and has increased over time. This led to the appearance of a very important area of tourism research, such as residents’ attitudes. Measurements of tourism impacts, including economic, socio-cultural and environmental, were also very important. Normally, tourism development is encouraged for its economic benefits, but there is great concern about the costs to society and the environment.

In recent decades, concern for avoiding the negative impacts of human activity and ensuring economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability has grown rapidly, all to avoid irreversible deterioration and so that future generations do not face a worse situation than the current one. This concern has translated into legislative measures, social awareness, business initiatives and academic research. The measures taken by companies have been grouped under the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and are important in multiple sectors, including tourism.

All academic research on tourism can be considered to seek to improve sustainability in specific cases, situations and aspects. However, research on the sustainable development of tourism tends to focus on the impacts of various types of tourism and how to make it a sustainable activity in the long term by minimizing costs and maximizing benefits. Within these approaches, studies on impacts on local societies and cultures stand out, highlighting how they change due to tourism development. Studies on environmental impacts and resource management (e.g., water, electricity, territory, etc.) are also important, as are the studies on the residents’ attitudes and on the CSR in tourism companies.

This Special Issue seeks to expand the flow of academic research related to a sector of great global importance (tourism) and representing a great concern (sustainable development). Potential topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Alterations in the natural environment of tourist companies and activities;
  • Analysis of the economic, social and environmental evolution of tourist regions;
  • Application of corporate social responsibility in tourism companies;
  • Cultural landscape and rural tourism development;
  • Crisis and resilience in tourism companies and destinations;
  • Difficulties for the management of mature destinations;
  • Management of cultural and natural resources in tourist destinations;
  • Residents’ attitudes, their causes and consequences;
  • Social and cultural changes in societies receiving tourists;
  • Sustainability actions by tourism companies.

Dr. José Ramón-Cardona
Dr. María Dolores Sánchez-Fernández
Prof. Dr. José Álvarez-García
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.

Keywords

  • corporate social responsibility (CSR)
  • cultural landscape
  • economic impacts
  • environmental impacts
  • gastronomy
  • hospitality management
  • local, rural and urban tourism
  • mature destinations
  • overtourism
  • regional development
  • residents’ attitudes
  • social impacts
  • sustainable development
  • tangible and intangible heritage
  • tourism development
  • tourism planning

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3776 KiB  
Article
Mapping Scientific Knowledge of Renewable Energy and Tourism
by Donaji Jiménez-Islas, Miriam E. Pérez-Romero, José Álvarez-García and María de la Cruz del Río-Rama
Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6356; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156356 - 25 Jul 2024
Viewed by 733
Abstract
The need for energy in different global industries encourages the development and application of clean energy. Tourism, being a global development sector, requires energy to maintain the comfort of tourists. The development of technology requires basic science and application studies that allow us [...] Read more.
The need for energy in different global industries encourages the development and application of clean energy. Tourism, being a global development sector, requires energy to maintain the comfort of tourists. The development of technology requires basic science and application studies that allow us to know the scientific evolution and trends in research, which is of great relevance in the fields of tourism and renewable energy. Within this context, the aim of the article is to analyze the evolution of research publications focused on renewable energy and tourism indexed in Scopus from 2008 to 2023 using a bibliometric approach. The search strategy identified 90 documents. Tools such as VOSviewer (version: 1.6.18) and Power BI (version: 13.0.23776.64) were used to assist in conducting the bibliometric analysis and network. The results of this work indicate that there is a growth in the authors’ interest in renewable energy and tourism, with a specific growth rate of 0.1927 years−1. “Environmental Science and Pollution Research” is the journal with the most publications, and China ranks first in publications. Authors prefer to publish in Q1 and Q2 journals to increase the reach of their publications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development in Urban and Rural Tourism)
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19 pages, 27505 KiB  
Article
A Model for Estimating the Tourism Carrying Capacity of a Tourism Corridor: A Case Study of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
by Sui Ye, Ziqiang Li and Jianchao Xi
Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5466; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135466 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 482
Abstract
Research on the tourism carrying capacity (TCC) serves as the scientific basis for ensuring the sustainable development of tourism and is vital for the establishment of tourism corridors. From the novel perspective of the space of flows, in this study, we conducted a [...] Read more.
Research on the tourism carrying capacity (TCC) serves as the scientific basis for ensuring the sustainable development of tourism and is vital for the establishment of tourism corridors. From the novel perspective of the space of flows, in this study, we conducted a set of evaluations of the TCCs of tourism corridors using the methods of space–time consumption and linear programming in operational research. Through empirical investigation of the five tourism corridors in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, we arrived at the following conclusions: (i) The traffic carrying capacity of the tourism corridors amounts to 2,463,600 people/day. (ii) Under the constraints of urban reception service facilities and tourist attraction capacity, the traffic carrying capacity of each section is only 1,782,400 people/day. The research results scientifically reflect the current carrying capacity of tourism traffic in different corridors and sections, as well as the state of road traffic and the urban tourism infrastructure along corridors experiencing overload. This paper not only verifies the feasibility of the proposed theoretical method but also provides an optimization plan and theoretical support for enhancing the sustainable development of the tourism industry on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development in Urban and Rural Tourism)
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29 pages, 33128 KiB  
Article
Ecolodge Tourism Dynamics: A Village-Level Analysis of Marketing and Policy Indicators in Iran’s Hawraman Region
by Mehdi Pourtaheri, Zabih-Allah Torabi, Amir Reza Khavarian-Garmsir, Saeed Sajadi and Colin Micheal Hall
Sustainability 2024, 16(12), 5072; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16125072 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 686
Abstract
Despite growing interest in community-based ecotourism as a pathway to sustainable development, there is a critical lack of research on how localized configurations of marketing and policy factors shape ecolodge performance at the village level. This study addresses this gap by pioneering a [...] Read more.
Despite growing interest in community-based ecotourism as a pathway to sustainable development, there is a critical lack of research on how localized configurations of marketing and policy factors shape ecolodge performance at the village level. This study addresses this gap by pioneering a comprehensive, contextually grounded analysis of the availability and desirability of key marketing and policy indicators across 25 rural villages in Iran’s culturally and ecologically rich Hawraman region. By employing an innovative mixed-methods approach blending statistical analysis, GIS spatial modeling, surveys, and interviews, the research reveals striking heterogeneity in ecolodge constraints and opportunities, even within a localized setting. Spatial analysis uncovers distance decay effects, with peripheral villages facing exacerbated accessibility deficits compared to centrally located ones. Substantial variations in marketing effectiveness and governance capacities underscore the inadequacy of one-size-fits-all tourism planning. The findings make a novel contribution by demonstrating the imperative for transitioning from monolithic interventions to hyper-localized, place-based strategies tailored to each village’s unique barrier and asset profiles. Embracing this paradigm shift promises to enhance the equity and sustainability of ecolodge tourism in rural contexts globally. The study provides an original methodological blueprint for harnessing multi-modal diagnostics to unpack complex tourism dynamics and catalyze transformative, community-centric solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development in Urban and Rural Tourism)
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32 pages, 4199 KiB  
Article
The Importance of the Product “Tourism in Bullfighting Ranches” in Spain from the Perspective of the Breeders
by Paloma Flores-García, José Manuel Sánchez-Martín and Juan Ignacio Rengifo-Gallego
Sustainability 2024, 16(11), 4837; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114837 - 5 Jun 2024
Viewed by 626
Abstract
Bullfighting tourism is a recent tourism modality that is in constant growth, and which consists of visits to bullfighting ranches with the aim of showing what life is like for this animal in its natural habitat. This activity represents a source of extra [...] Read more.
Bullfighting tourism is a recent tourism modality that is in constant growth, and which consists of visits to bullfighting ranches with the aim of showing what life is like for this animal in its natural habitat. This activity represents a source of extra income for many breeders, but it has not yet been adequately promoted and publicized. This study analyzes the supply side of this type of tourism. For this purpose, a non-parametric statistical model has been used and results have been obtained which corroborate that the promotion of this type of tourism is scarce, and that the breeders began to offer this type of tourism to make known what life is like for the fighting bull in the countryside and to increase their income. Furthermore, in this study, it is fundamental to differentiate between bullfighting and bullfighting tourism so that this type of tourism can reach the greatest possible number of people and not be influenced by thoughts against bullfighting, as they are different activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development in Urban and Rural Tourism)
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27 pages, 3588 KiB  
Article
University Students’ Perception of the Dehesa and the Associated Traditional Trades
by Rebeca Guillén-Peñafiel, Ana María Hernández-Carretero and José Manuel Sánchez-Martín
Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3843; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093843 - 2 May 2024
Viewed by 1061
Abstract
The dehesas are one of the most emblematic landscapes of the Extremadura region (Spain). Along with its natural values, it preserves a wide repertoire of knowledge and trades rooted in the history and tradition of rural communities. However, the knowledge and practices that [...] Read more.
The dehesas are one of the most emblematic landscapes of the Extremadura region (Spain). Along with its natural values, it preserves a wide repertoire of knowledge and trades rooted in the history and tradition of rural communities. However, the knowledge and practices that have characterized life in this environment are currently under serious threat. Faced with this problem, this study was based on the premise that, for individuals to commit themselves to the care and transmission of heritage, it is first necessary for them to know, understand and value it. For this reason, the main objective was to determine the knowledge and appreciation of university students with respect to the dehesa and the ancestral practice of grazing. It also aimed to analyze which are the most valued methodologies, activities, and future strategies for understanding and preserving these cultural landscapes and their ancestral practices. To this end, 400 university students were surveyed, and various quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out. Quantitative techniques include analyses based on weighted averages, contingency tables and the chi-square test, while qualitative techniques are based on word frequency analysis and inductive content analysis. Despite coming from an environment dominated by this landscape and being one of the few regions that still preserve the ancestral practice of pastoralism, the results corroborated the students’ lack of understanding of the dehesa and the variety of uses it offers. In addition, it was evident that they have hardly frequented this landscape and have not participated in on-site educational experiences. It also revealed the importance of experiential and sensory activities in the understanding and appreciation of the rural environment and its traditions. The results can be useful for improving the design of educational tourism products based on intangible heritage. It can also be useful for adapting teaching strategies and activities to the level of knowledge and experiences of students, helping to ensure the success of the educational experience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development in Urban and Rural Tourism)
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