The Economics of Tourism and Sustainable Development

Tourism is both a growth industry and the world’s number one export earner. It is therefore no surprise that the role of tourism is increasingly gaining prominence in the debate over how we can move towards more sustainable patterns of development. An enormous literature has emerged on the three pillars of sustainable development – environment, culture and economics – and on how tourism impacts and interacts with them. This timely and original book is firmly grounded in the theory and application of economics, in contrast to much of the previous research which has tended to adopt an environmental or sociological perspective.

Although economics has increasingly become a technical subject, this accessible book aims to present important economics results and relate them explicitly to the policy debate. Using a coherent analytical framework, this unique approach offers prescriptions for moving tourism, and economic development more generally, closer to a sustainable ideal. The authors begin by studying the macroeconomic effect of tourism in terms of growth performance and sources of growth. They also examine how the tourism–growth link is affected by the role of imports in the economy, and how tourism impacts upon land use. Further chapters investigate the important issue of forecasting visitor numbers and explore the need for a comprehensive accounting framework to take account of ecologically sustainable tourism. The authors also examine the microeconomic aspects of sustainable tourism and analyse the increasing popularity of environmentally friendly holidays.

Sustainable tourism is a fast-growing subject and this book provides an insightful introduction to the critical economic issues involved. It will interest and inform a broad and varied readership including researchers, students and policymakers interested in tourism economics and tourism management, as well as environmentalists, geographers and development scholars.