What’s in a name? The meaning of sustainability to destination managers

Bibliographic Data

ID21603993
AuthorsJulia N Albrecht (0000-0002-5409-0799, University of Otago, corresponding author), Marco Haid (0000-0001-7984-5791, Division for Management in Health and Sport Tourism, UMIT - Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall, Austria), Wiebke Finkler (0000-0003-2470-5307, Department of Marketing, Otago Business School, Dunedin, New Zealand), Peter Heimerl (Division for Management in Health and Sport Tourism, UMIT - Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall, Austria)
Year2022
Volume30
Issue1
Pages32-51
Publication date2022-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Sustainable Tourism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0966-9582 • E-ISSN: 1747-7646
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09669582.2020.1868483
OpenAlexW3128217474
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited50

Destination managers frequently describe strategies, plans, or projects in destinations as part of an overall commitment to sustainable development or sustainability in the destination. The meaning of the term sustainability, however, is highly contested in both academia and practice, and it is not at all clear what destination managers mean when they claim to act in the interests of sustainable tourism. This paper assesses the concept of sustainability and its operationalisation by destination managers at the regional destination level. Our international, comparative study examines two destination regions that emphasise nature-based tourism, the Tyrolean Oberland, Austria, and the South Island of New Zealand. Twenty-two high-ranking destination managers representing 20 destinations were interviewed. We demonstrate how colloquial, academic, and applied interpretations of sustainability are tangled and intertwined in day-to-day destination management. The types of destination management interventions that are described as sustainable and the extent to which the economic component of sustainability is prioritised vary strongly across destinations and destination regions. The study results demonstrate that in order to achieve sustainability in destinations, stakeholders need to develop a shared understanding of what constitutes sustainable destination development, and how it can be meaningfully operationalised

Business · Destination management · Destinations · Political science · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Sustainable tourism · Tourism · Computer Science · Cruise Tourism Development and Management · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Marketing

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