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Tourism and Sustainability in the Evaluation of World Heritage Sites, 1980–2010

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  • Vaughn Schmutz

    (Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28269, USA)

  • Michael A. Elliott

    (Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252, USA)

Abstract

At present, there are myriad concerns about tourism and sustainability at cultural and natural world heritage sites. Based on an analysis of 811 evaluations written between 1980 and 2010 by two official advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee, this paper charts the timing and extent to which such concerns have become central to assessing the value of heritage sites. We find that, over time, issues related to tourism and sustainability expanded considerably in quantity and variety, and recommendations for managing and developing sustainable tourism became a routine feature of site evaluations. Despite the growing prevalence of such concerns, the conceptualization of sustainable tourism and related recommendations provided by the advisory experts remain somewhat ambiguous. Furthermore, our findings reveal regional disparities in the degree to which tourism is seen as a threat to the sustainability of heritage sites and in the likelihood that a state is considered a model of sustainable tourism.

Suggested Citation

  • Vaughn Schmutz & Michael A. Elliott, 2016. "Tourism and Sustainability in the Evaluation of World Heritage Sites, 1980–2010," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:3:p:261-:d:65454
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Lansing & Paul Vries, 2007. "Sustainable Tourism: Ethical Alternative or Marketing Ploy?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 77-85, April.
    2. Paola Gullino & Gabriele Loris Beccaro & Federica Larcher, 2015. "Assessing and Monitoring the Sustainability in Rural World Heritage Sites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-25, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bacsi Zsuzsanna & Tóth Éva, 2019. "Word Heritage Sites as soft tourism destinations – their impacts on international arrivals and tourism receipts," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 45(45), pages 25-44, September.
    2. Salvador Garcia-Ayllon, 2018. "Urban Transformations as an Indicator of Unsustainability in the P2P Mass Tourism Phenomenon: The Airbnb Case in Spain through Three Case Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Petrevska, Biljana & Mihalič, Tanja, 2020. "(Un)Sustainable And (Ir)Responsible Tourism In Ohrid: Residents’ Perception," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 11(2), pages 202-212.
    4. KW Chau & Lawrence WC Lai & Mark H Chua, 2022. "Post-colonial conservation of colonial built heritage in Hong Kong: A statistical analysis of historic building grading," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(2), pages 671-686, February.

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