Marketing for sustainable tourism

Abstract

The Special Issue entitled “Marketing for Sustainable Tourism” deals with a topic currently debated both in the scientific community and inside business organizations at the global level. From the supply side, the adoption of sustainable business models has become vital to competition in the market. The interpretation of new trends, needs, and behaviors of tourists is essential both for business organizations and destinations to be the first movers in the definition of new products, services, and experiences. The tourism industry involves multiple sectors (e.g., hospitality, restaurant, transport, entertainment, and information and communication technology (ICT)) and the question of sustainability cannot be avoided. In addition, the tourism industry affects the economic growth of the destinations, as the offer of tourism products and services involves various stakeholders (public entities, private actors, and local communities) with different roles and amounts of power. Within this scenario, sustainable tourism must find a balance between the needs of stakeholders and the needs of tourists. Given this scenario, the complexity and the cross-disciplinary approach needed for sustainable tourism management and marketing are evident. Such complexity emerges from the variety of topics discussed in the 14 papers published in this Special Issue. The contributions analyze the marketing strategies adopted by tourism destinations and/or tourism enterprises to avoid overtourism, to manage mass sustainable tourism, and to encourage and promote sustainable tourism products and services. The different studies examine both choices and strategies of the actors involved in the tourism offer, and the choices, behaviours, and/or satisfaction levels of tourists, to identify the factors that can support and/or redefine business and destination marketing strategies. The papers provide a wide range of case studies conducted in various international tourist destinations (situated in Europe, USA, and Asia) based on many different research methods, techniques, and empirical analyses.