The Sociala Sustainability of tourism: a multidimensional model

Abstract

Research on the sustainability of tourism has focused on analysing its environmental and economic impacts, with the social  dimensions being pushed into the background and frequently overlooked. However, the expansion of tourism activities and their increasing influence in a wide range of spheres makes it necessary to redefine the conceptual frameworks and analytical perspectives used to evaluate their development. This study aims to identify the dimensions of social sustainability in tourism, which are essential for improving operational strategies to measure it. Guided by key concepts found in the literature,  85 practical experiences were selected. In reviewing them, four dimensions were established to structure the measurement of the social sustainability of tourism: “Quality of life”, “Sociopolitical organisation and Governance”, “Local identity”, and “Rights and social justice.” Finally, the presentation and critical discussion of this model question the viability of the suggested approach, concluding with some ideas about the best way to reorient the epistemological perspective.

Keywords:

sustainable tourism; social impacts of tourism; tourism policy; epistemology of tourism; tourism sustainability; tourism development

References

Åhman, H. (2013). Social sustainability. Society at the intersection of development and maintenance. Local Environment, 18(10), 1153-1166. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.788480

Aspinall, A., Cukier, J., & Doberstein, B. (2011). Quality of life assessments and social sustainability: Ski tourism development in Invermere, Bristish Columbia. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 13(2), 179-201. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1464333211003845

Assefa G., & Frostell B. (2007). Social sustainability and social acceptance in technology assessment: A case study of energy technologies. Technologies in Society, 29(1), 63-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2006.10.007

Biart, M. (2002). Social sustainability as part of the social agenda of the European community. In T. Ritt (Ed.). Soziale Nachhaltigkeit: Von der Umweltpolitik zur Nachhaltigkeit? (pp. 5-10) Informationen zur Umweltpolitik, 149.

Birenboim, A., Antón-Clavé, S., Ganzaroli, A., Bornioli, A., Vermeulen, S., Farkash, M.Z., Alcaraz, A. P., & Ivars, J. (2023). Touristification, smartization, and social sustainability in European regions. Current Issues in Tourism, 26(3), 353-357. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2022.2051449

Blühdorn, I. (2007). Sustaining the unsustainable: Symbolic politics and the politics of simulation. Environmental Politics, 16(2), 251-275. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644010701211759 Boström, M. (2012). A missing pillar? Challenges in theorizing and practicing social sustainability.

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 8(1), 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2012.11908080

Bourdieu, P. (1973). L’opinion publique n’existe pas. Les Temps Modernes, (318), 1292-1309. Boyer, R. H. W.; Peterson, N. D., Arora, P., & Caldwell, K. (2016). Five approaches to social sustainability and an integrated way forward. Sustainability, 8(9), 878. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090878

Buckley, R. C. (2012). Sustainable tourism: Research and reality. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(2), 528-546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2012.02.003

Cañada, E. (2018). Too precarious to be inclusive? Hotel maid employment in Spain. Tourism Geographies, 20(4), 653-674. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2018.1437765

Cañada, E. (2020). Sesc Bertioga. Donde el turismo social construye esperanza. Alba Sud. Chiu, R. L. H. (2002). Social equity in housing in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: A social sustainability perspective. Sustainable Development, 10(3), 155-162. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.186

Chiu, R. L. H. (2003). Social sustainability and sustainable housing. In R. Forrest, , & J. Lee (Eds.) Housing and Social Change: EastWest Perspectives. (pp. 221-239) Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203402634

Choe, J., & Lugosi, P. (2022). Migration, tourism and social sustainability. Tourism Geographies, 24(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2021.1965203

Colantonio, A. (2009). Social sustainability: A review and critique of traditional versus emerging themes and assessment methods. LSE Research Online. https://tinyurl.com/3fruatvd

Colantonio, A., & Dixon, T. (2009). Measuring socially sustainable urban regeneration in Europe. Oxford Brookes University. de Jong, A., & Varley, P. (2018). Food tourism and events as tools for social sustainability? Journal of Place Management and Development, 11(3), 277-295. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-06-2017-0048

de Kadt, E. (1979). Tourism. Passport to development? Perspectives on the social and cultural effects of tourism in developing countries. Oxford University Press.

Dempsey, N., Bramley, G., Power, S., & Brown, C. (2011). The social dimension of sustainable development: Defining urban social sustainability. Sustainable Development, 19(5), 289-300. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.417

Doppelt, B. (2012). The Power of Sustainable Thinking: How to Create a Positive Future for the Climate, the Planet, your Organization and your Life. Routledge.

Eizenberg, E., & Jabareen, Y. (2017). Social sustainability: A new conceptual framework. Sustainability, 9(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9010068

Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks. The triple bottom line of 21st Century business. Capstone.

Estivill, J. (1979). Lloret de Mar: destruccions i resistències d’un poble en mans del turisme. Papers. Revista de Sociologia, 10, 175-201. https://tinyurl.com/3vxspwmu

European Commission (2001). A sustainable Europe for a better world: A European Union strategy for sustainable development Commission’s proposal to the Gothenburg European Council) [COM/2001/0264 final]. https://tinyurl.com/2t-6dycnf

Femenía, F., & Ivars, J. (2021). Do smart tourism destinations really work? The case of Benidorm. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 26(4), 365-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2018.1561478

Fitchett, J., Lindberg, F. & Martin, D. M. (2021). Accumulation by symbolic dispossession: Tourism development in advanced capitalism. Annals of Tourism Research, 86, 103072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103072

Fletcher, R. (2011). Sustaining Tourism, Sustaining Capitalism? The Tourism Industry’s Role in Global Capitalist Expansion. Tourism Geographies, 13(3), 443-461. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2011.570372

Francés-García, F., & La Parra-Casado, D. (2022). Herramienta multidimensional para la medición de la calidad de la participación en salud. Gaceta Sanitaria, 36(1), 60-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.gaceta.2021.03.009

Galán, J. J., Martín, A., Ruiz, J., & Mandly, A. (1977). Costa del Sol. Retrato de unos colonizados. [Cuadernos de Campo Abierto, 3]. Campo Abierto Gaviria, M. (1974). España a go-go: turismo charter y neocolonialismo del espacio. Turner. Gil, J., & Sequera, J. (2018). Expansión de la ciudad turística y nuevas resistencias. El caso de Airbnb en Madrid. Empiria, (41), 15-32. https://doi.org/10.5944/empiria.41.2018.22602

Godschalk, D. R. (2004). Land use planning challenges: coping with conflicts in visions of sustainable development and livable communities. Journal of the American Planning Association, 70(1), 5-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360408976334

Greenwood, D. J. (1989). Culture by the pound: An anthropological perspective on tourism as cultural commoditization. In V. Smith (Ed.). Hosts and guests: the anthropology of tourism. (pp. 171-186) University of Pennsylvania Press.

Habermas, J. (1973). Legitimationsprobleme im Spätkapitalismus. Suhrkamp. Helgadóttir, G., Einarsdóttir, A. V., Burns, G. L., Gunnarsdóttir, G. P., & Matthíasdóttir, J. M. E. (2019). Social sustainability of tourism in Iceland, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 19(4-5), 404-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2019.1696699

Howarth, D. (2000). Discourse. Open University Press. Howarth, D., Norval, A. J., & Stavrakakis, Y. (2000). Discourse theory and political analysis. Manchester University Press.

Huete, R. & Mantecón, A. (2018). El auge de la turismofobia ¿hipótesis de investigación o ruido ideológico? Pasos. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 16(1), 9-19. https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2018.16.001

Hughes, E., & Scheyvens, R. (2016). Corporate social responsibility in tourism post-2015: a Development First approach. Tourism Geographies, 18(5), 469-482. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2016.1208678

Jacobs, M. (1999). Sustainable development: a contested concept. In A. Dobson (Ed.), Fairness and futurity. Essays on environmental sustainability and social justice. (pp. 21-45). Oxford University Press.

Johns, H., & Ormerod, P. (2007). Happiness, Economics and Public Policy. Institute of Economic Affairs, Research Monograph 62. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1020246

Jokinen, M., & Sippola, S. (2007). Social sustainability at tourist destinations. Local opinions on their development and future in northern Finland. Arctic Centre Reports, 50, 89-99.

Jover, J., & Díaz-Parra, I. (2022). Who is the city for? Overtourism, lifestyle migration and social sustainability. Tourism Geographies, 24(1), 9-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1713878

Jurdao, F. (1979). España en venta. Ayuso. Kitheka, B. M., & Backman, K. S. (2016). Gaps identified in tourism-environment policy in Kenya: a content analysis to assess sustainable tourism policy in the country. International Journal of Tourism Policy, 6(3/4), 235-255. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTP.2016.081525

Lee, K., & Jung, H. (2019). Dynamic semantic network analysis for identifying the concept and scope of social sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 233, 1510-1524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.390

Leposa, N. (2020). Problematic blue growth: a thematic synthesis of social sustainability problems related to growth in the marine and coastal tourism. Sustainability Science, 15, 1233-1244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00796-9

Littig, B., & Grießler, E. (2005). Social sustainability: A catchword between political pragmatism and social theory. International Journal Sustainable Development, 8(1/2), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSD.2005.007375

López-Gay, A., Cocola-Gant, A., & Russo, A. P. (2021). Urban tourism and population change: Gentrification in the age of mobilities. Population, Space and Place, 27(1), e2380. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2380

López-González, J. L., Medina-Vicent, M. (2020). Las Kellys y el turismo: de la invisibilidad del cuidado a la visibilidad política. Digithum, (25), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.7238/d.v0i25.3175

Mantecón, A. & Velasco, M. (2020). Beyond tourismphobia. Conceptualizing a new framework to analyze attitudes towards tourism. En C. Ribeiro, A. Quintana, M. Simancas, R. Huete, & Z. Breda (Eds.) Handbook of research on the impacts, challenges, and policy responses to overtourism. (pp. 60-74). IGI Global. DOI:10.4018/978-1-7998-2224-0.ch004

McGuinn, J. (Coord.) (2020). Social sustainability. Concepts and benchmarks. European Union. McKenzie, S. (2004). Social sustainability: towards some definitions. [Hawke Research Institute Working Paper Series nº 27]. University of South Australia.

Milano, C., & Mansilla, J. A. (Coords.). (2018). Ciudad de vacaciones. Conflictos urbanos en espacios turísticos. Pol·len edicions. Miles, M., & Huberman, A. (1994). An Expanded Sourcebook of Qualitative Data Analysis. Sage.

Missimer, M., Robèrt, K. H., Broman, G., & Sverdrup, H. (2010). Exploring the possibility of a systematic and generic approach to social sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(10-11), 1107-1112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.02.024

Nair, B. B. & Dileep, M. R. (2020). Responsible tourism: Integrating social sustainability through women empowerment. e-Review of Tourism Research,18(3), 424-450. https://tinyurl.com/3xc5nvh8

Nash, D. (1977). Tourism as a Form of Imperialism. In V. Smith (Ed.). Hosts and Guests. The Anthropology of Tourism. (pp. 129-138) University of Pennsylvania Press.

Nugraheni, A. I. P., Priyambodo, T. K., Kusworo, H. A., & Sutikno, B. (2019). The social dimension of sustainable development: defining tourism social sustainability. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Engineering, Science, and Commerce, ICESC 2019, 18-19 octubre,

Labuan Bajo, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. https://eudl.eu/doi/10.4108/eai.18-10-2019.2289855

Nugraheni, A. I. P.; Priyambodo, T. K.; Sutikno, B., & Kusworo, H. A. (2020). The social dimensions’ aspects of sustainable tourism development analysis: a systematic literature review. Social Sciences and Humanities, 4, 00001. https://doi.org/10.29037/digitalpress.404348

Nunkoo, R. & Ramkissoon, H. (2012). Power, trust, social exchange and community support. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(2), 997-1023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2011.11.017

Pitkänen, K, Karppinen, T. K. M., Kautto, P., Pirtonen; H., Salmenperä, H., Savolahti, H., Schubin, E., & Myllymaa, T. (2023). How to measure the social sustainability of the circular economy? Developing and piloting social circular economy indicators in Finland. Journal of Cleaner Production, 392, 136238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136238

Polese, M., & Stren, R. (Eds.) (2000). The social sustainability of cities. Diversity and the management of change. University of Toronto Press.

Polomarkakis, K. A. (2020). The European pillar of social rights and the quest for EU social sustainability. Social & Legal Studies, 29(2), 183-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663919829199

Rivas, J., & Magadán, M. (2007). Los indicadores de sostenibilidad en el turismo. Revista de economía, sociedad, turismo y medio ambiente, 6, 27-61.

Roca-Puig, V. (2019). The circular path of social sustainability: an empirical analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 212, 916-924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.078

Rodríguez, I.; Makkonen, T., & Williams, A. M. (2019). Peer review assessment of originality in tourism journals: critical perspective of key gatekeepers. Annals of Tourism Research, 77, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.04.003

Rodríguez, I., Mantecón, A., Williams, A. M., Makkonen, T., & Kim, Y. R. (2022). Originality: The holy grail of tourism Research. Journal of Travel Research, 61(6), 1219-1232. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211033343

Sachs, I. (1999). Social sustainability and whole development: Exploring the dimensions of sustainable development. In B. Egon, & J. Thomas (Eds.) Sustainability and the social sciences. (pp. 25-36)Zed Books.

Salazar, N. (2022). Labour migration and tourism mobilities: Time to bring sustainability into the debate. Tourism Geographies, 24(1), 141-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1801827

Shirazi, M. R., & Keivani, R. (Eds.) (2019). Urban Social Sustainability. Routledge.

Smith, S. (2006). How big, how many? Enterprise size distributions in tourism and in other industries. Journal of Travel Research, 45(1), 53-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287506288886

Soares, J., Ruiz, T. C. D., & Ivars, J. (2022). Smart destinations: A new planning and management approach? Current Issues in Tourism, 25(17), 2717-2732. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1991897

Sorensson A., & von Friedrichs, Y. (2013). An importance-performance analysis of sustainable tourism: A comparison between international and national tourists. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 2, 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2012.11.002

Stoddard, J. E., Pollard, C. E., & Evans, M. R. (2012). The triple bottom line. A framework for sustainable tourism development. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 13(3), 233-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2012.698173

Turner, L., & Ash, J. (1975). The Golden Hordes. International tourism and the pleasure periphery. Constable. United Nations (1992). Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. https://tinyurl.com/yp9vbz6r

Vallance, S., Perkins, H. C., & Dixon, J. E. (2011). What is social sustainability? A clarification of concepts. Geoforum, 42(3), 342-348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.01.002

Velasco, M. (2014). Gobernanza turística: ¿Políticas públicas innovadoras o retórica banal? Caderno Virtual de Turismo, 14(1), 9-22.

Velasco, M. & Carrillo, E. (2021). The short life of a concept: Tourismphobia in the Spanish media. Investigaciones Turísticas, 22, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.14198/INTURI2021.22.1

Vera, F., & Ivars, J. (2003). Sistema de indicadores aplicado a la planificación y gestión del desarrollo turístico sostenible. En L. Valdes, & J. M. Pérez (Eds.), Experiencias públicas y privadas en el desarrollo de un modelo de turismo sostenible. (pp. 105-129) Universidad de Oviedo.

Wackernagel, M. & Rees, W. E. (1996). Our ecological footprint. Reducing human impact on the Earth. New Society Publishers.

WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development) (1987). Our common future [Brundtland Report]. Oxford University Press.

Williams, A. M.; Rodríguez, I. & Škokić, V. (2021). Innovation, risk, and uncertainty. A study of tourism entrepreneurs. Journal of Travel Research, 60(2), 293-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519896012

Woodcraft, S. (2015). Understanding and measuring social sustainability. Journal of Urban Regeneration & Renewal, 8(2), 133-144. https://doi.org/10.69554/VRWG6415

Zhang, H. Q., Fan, D. X. F., Tse, T. S. M., & King, B. (2017). Creating a scale for assessing socially sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(1), 61-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2016.1173044