Summary

Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development highlights the opportunities and risks of nature-based tourism for economic development and explores selected strategies for sustainability.

The prospect of tourism growth is a potential source of major challenges and considerable threats on a number of levels. The concept of sustainable tourism development has thus become the focus of the debate on this subject. This invaluable book aims to provide useful analytical and empirical tools in support of the idea that sustainability is not just about regulating and controlling the negative impacts of tourism. It is also about policies and actions that aim to reinforce the benefits and reduce the costs of tourism, in order to make it more profitable now and in the future.

The chapters focused on economic modelling offer a valuable overview of the main issues currently debated at the academic level. The book also illustrates a number of empirical instruments that will provide a useful reference for academics and policymakers interested in how to put theory into practice. This study will be of great value to economists, geographers and to those who have a direct or indirect interest in tourism economics.