There are increasing concerns over the relationship between tourism and sustainable development. Sustainable Tourism Futures re-assesses the sustainability paradigm and outlines the ways in which sustainable tourism is possible, offering key insights into the fundamental shifts in operations, systems and philosophies that need to take place.

A global industry and an important tool for economic development, international tourism is facing an increasingly uncertain future. Global environmental change, including climate change; increasing fuel prices; and growing criticism from environmental and social interest groups are posing substantial challenges to the belief that international tourism can be sustainable at current rates and patterns of growth. This book therefore aims to answer the questions of if and how tourism can be a sustainable industry. The book concludes that sustainable tourism is possible but that it requires fundamental shifts in operations, systems and philosophies. The various contributions identify a number of means by which this can be accomplished but stress that sustainable tourism still has a long way to travel before it can reach its destination.