Competitiveness, Sustainability and Tourism

Dear Colleagues,

Tourism is a major activity in the global economy, not only because of its economic impact but also because of its social and environmental implications. The management practices and processes adopted by tourist companies and destinations are very heterogeneous and have variable impacts on the sustainability of the ecosystem in its triple aspect. However, the available knowledge about the value of different practices in order to promote both sustainable development and a greater competitiveness is still limited. Although the dominant thesis is that the contribution to sustainability should help the long-term competitive improvement, we still need comprehensive studies and cases that support it and that serve as scientific support for public-private strategies undertaken by tourism organizations with desires to be socially responsible and environmentally efficient institutions

This Special Issue aims to stimulate studies of the interrelationships between competitiveness and sustainability in tourism that help identify the best practices for their convergence. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to include papers that contribute to this knowledge with conceptual or empirical studies that present new ideas, theories, advancements, experiences, evidences or methodologies that support the convergence of economic, social and environmental competitiveness, the factors that help to its alignment and the resistances that can break their complementarity. We welcome research papers and case studies with a focus on a broad range of thematic topics addressing the principles and practices of sustainability, responsibility and competitiveness in tourism industry. Potential submissions can address the following questions, but are not limited to those:

• Sustainability practices are guided by ethical considerations and therefore are influenced by the culture prevailing in the territory and society in which the company is inserted, by the political vision of the development of the ecosystem, by the organization and social pressure, by the location and its exposure to problems of degradation or preservation, by the carrying capacity in terms of tourist flows and residential settlements, and by the positioning of the destination in the markets. What are the pressures and forces at the destination level that condition the adoption of competitive strategies that include sustainability as one of its arguments?
• Sustainability practices at the level of corporate governance (affecting the definition of mission and its implications in social and environmental responsibility).
• Sustainability practices in the workplace (health and safety at work, demand for sustainability in the supply chain).
• Environmental protection practices (conservation of resources, minimization of emissions, recycling, renewable energies, innovations in clean technologies, ecotourism).
• Community engagement practices (social innovation).
• Stakeholder engagement practices (cooperative relations with stakeholders with environmental interests).
• Factors that determine the adoption of these practices in tourism businesses, among others, the structure of ownership (family and non-family, national and international capital, local roots), the availability of capital, the commitment and style of management, strategic focus of the firm, institutional pressure, etc.
• The relative weight for adopting sustainable practices of mandatory regulation versus self-adaptation and self-regulation. Experiences of companies and tourist destinations.

Prof. Dr. César Camisón
Guest Editor

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.

• Competitiveness of tourism firms
• Competitiveness in tourism destinations
• Sustainability in tourism
• Environmental management and competitive advantage in tourism
• Natural resources and competitiveness in tourism
• New responsible business models in tourism
• Sustainable development and tourism growth
• Responsible innovation in tourism
• Drivers of sustainable innovation in tourism
• Green supply chain in tourism
• Quality service, destination image and ecotourism
• Sustainability management practices of tourism firms
• Socially responsible tourism firms
• Regulation versus auto-regulation in tourism