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Evaluating Tourist Destination Performance: Expanding the Sustainability Concept

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  • Wenbin Luo

    (College of Tourism, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China)

Abstract

Performance evaluations are a critical tool in promoting the sustainability of tourist destinations. The literature shows a lack of consensus on basic terminology and definitions of destination performance. While research focuses on business efficiency, areas such as development effectiveness, social equality, and environmental integrity are still not well understood, even though these are salient elements of sustainable development. This paper provides a framework for evaluating destination performance under the 4E rubric of economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and environmental quality, which reflects a more holistic and effective destination performance. The information entropy weight method and a multi-factor comprehensive evaluation model are developed and applied to an international destination, Zhangjiajie, China, which was selected as a case study to test the framework developed. Results show that the economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and environmental quality aspects should be considered when evaluating tourism development performance. The empirical analysis shows that based on these criteria, Zhangjiajie’s destination performance improved measurably during the test period from 2005 to 2009. The results indicate that significant events, natural disasters, and financial crises influence performance most.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenbin Luo, 2018. "Evaluating Tourist Destination Performance: Expanding the Sustainability Concept," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:516-:d:131953
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    3. Eman Ahmed Aly Ismail, 2020. "Forecasting the number of Arab and foreign tourists in Egypt using ARIMA models," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 11(2), pages 450-454, April.
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    5. Henky Lesmana & Sugiarto Sugiarto & Christiana Yosevina & Handyanto Widjojo, 2022. "A Competitive Advantage Model for Indonesia’s Sustainable Tourism Destinations from Supply and Demand Side Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-31, December.
    6. Kyriaki Glyptou & Nikos Kalogeras & Dimitrios Skuras & Ioannis Spilanis, 2022. "Clustering Sustainable Destinations: Empirical Evidence from Selected Mediterranean Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, May.
    7. Chenmingyang Jiang & Xinyu Du & Jun Cai & Hao Li & Yi Peng & Qibing Chen, 2025. "Study on the Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Driving Mechanisms of Tourism Ecological Security in the Jianmen Shu Road Heritage Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-29, February.
    8. Kai Wang & Chang Gan & Yan Ou & Haolong Liu, 2019. "Low-Carbon Behaviour Performance of Scenic Spots in a World Heritage Site," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, July.
    9. Leonidas Hatzithomas & Christina Boutsouki & Fotini Theodorakioglou & Evanthia Papadopoulou, 2021. "The Link between Sustainable Destination Image, Brand Globalness and Consumers’ Purchase Intention: A Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, August.
    10. Lidia Blanco-Cerradelo & M. Isabel Diéguez-Castrillón & José Antonio Fraiz-Brea & Ana Gueimonde-Canto, 2022. "Protected Areas and Tourism Resources: Toward Sustainable Management," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    11. Christian Rainero & Giuseppe Modarelli, 2020. "The Attractive Power of Rural Destinations and a Synergistic Community Cooperative Approach: A “Tourismability” Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-41, September.
    12. Octavi Bono i Gispert & Salvador Anton Clavé & Martí Casadesús Fa, 2023. "The Internalization of Participation and Coherence Dimensions of Governance in Tourism Destination Management Organizations—An Exploratory Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-29, January.
    13. Yuetao Yang & Gowhar Ahmad Wani & V. Nagaraj & Mohammad Haseeb & Sameer Sultan & Md. Emran Hossain & Mustafa Kamal & Syed Mehmood Raza Shah, 2023. "Progress in Sustainable Tourism Research: An Analysis of the Comprehensive Literature and Future Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, February.

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