What Is Tourism’S Social Sustainability?

The term “social sustainability” refers to the impact of tourism on the local community, particularly in relation to cultural frameworks. The World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as tourism that considers its economic, social, and environmental impacts. This study explores the key aspects of sustainable tourism development, focusing on social sustainability through tourism.

Social sustainability is essential for tourism, as it can support job creation, promote inclusive social integration, protect natural and cultural heritage, conserve biodiversity, and generate revenue. It is part of the analysis of tourism competitiveness and focuses on social issues such as resident quality of life and community resilience. The concept of socially sustainable tourism encompasses various aspects, including community engagement, cultural preservation, social equity, and the well-being of local populations.

Sustainable tourism development (STD) consists of three dimensions: environment, economic, and social. Social sustainability encompasses fairness in distribution, provision of social services, gender equity, and political accountability. Sustainable tourism has the potential to promote social development by creating jobs, redistributing income, and alleviating poverty.

Sustainable tourism practices include human rights, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, and community impact. Preserving and supporting the interests of local inhabitants are crucial for social sustainability in tourism. The living conditions of locals are also a key factor in achieving social sustainability. This study aims to understand how social sustainability has been conceptualized and implemented within the framework of sustainable tourism.

What are the 3 main focus of sustainable tourism?

Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism, including mass and niche tourism. These principles focus on environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, ensuring a balance between these dimensions. Optimal use of environmental resources is crucial for maintaining ecological processes and conserving natural heritage and biodiversity. Respect for host communities’ cultural authenticity is essential for conserving their heritage and traditional values.

Long-term economic operations should provide socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders, including stable employment opportunities and poverty alleviation. Informed participation and strong political leadership are essential for consensus building. Achieving sustainable tourism is a continuous process that requires constant monitoring of impacts and implementing preventive measures when necessary.

What is social responsibility in sustainable tourism?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) measures in the tourism sector include responsible use of natural and cultural resources, minimization of pollution and waste, conservation of landscapes, biodiversity, and cultural heritage, fair treatment of employees, suppliers, and guests, fair use of local products and services, and involvement and cooperation with local communities to improve the quality of life. CSR was first implemented in the late 1990s by international hotel corporations, and many hotel chains now publish annual CSR reports on their websites.

A series of voluntary instruments support businesses in implementing CSR practices, such as CSR-programmes or codes of conduct, competitions for ecologically and socially responsible tourism activities, and the Tourism for Tomorrow Award, an annual award of the Travel and Tourism Council. These voluntary instruments help businesses establish the principle of CSR within their vision and involve management and employees in implementing CSR practices.

What does sustainability mean in tourism?

Sustainable tourism is a sustainable approach to the tourism industry, aiming to minimize both positive and negative impacts. It focuses on job creation, cultural heritage preservation, wildlife preservation, and landscape restoration. The UN Environment Program and UN World Tourism Organization define sustainable tourism as a tourism that considers its economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities. This approach aims to minimize economic leakage, environmental damage, and overcrowding while promoting job creation and cultural heritage preservation.

What are the four principles of social sustainability?

Social sustainability focuses on maintaining and improving social quality through cohesion, reciprocity, honesty, and relationships. It can be supported by by-laws, information, and shared ideas of equality and rights. Sustainable development addresses social and economic improvement, protecting the environment and supporting equality. Economic sustainability aims to maintain capital and enhance the standard of living, while social sustainability focuses on improving social equality.

What are the examples of social sustainability?

Social sustainability is a concept that focuses on the equitable distribution of physical and social resources, such as food, shelter, clean water, clothing, and energy. It is one of the three pillars of sustainability, alongside economic and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability is part of the Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) framework used by investors, businesses, and organizations to assess the sustainability and societal impact of an investment or business practice.

Its main goal is to meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This requires identifying and proactively managing the impacts of business and industry, both positive and negative. Social sustainability is unique in its direct focus on people, focusing on human sustainability both now and in the future.

What is the meaning of social sustainability?

Social sustainability involves managing both positive and negative impacts of systems, processes, organizations, and activities on people and social life. It involves specifying and managing both positive and negative impacts. ScienceDirect uses cookies and all rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. Open access content follows Creative Commons licensing terms.

What is social responsibility in sustainability?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an organization’s commitment to environmental and socially sustainable practices, focusing on the benefits to the environment and social landscapes. The concept dates back to the 1950s, but with growing awareness of green issues like climate change and societal pressure from consumers and governing bodies, CSR has become more relevant for modern businesses. CSR focuses on an organization’s impact on society, including employees, customers, and community members. Businesses can implement CSR strategies to create a fairer work environment, reduce pollution, or support charity initiatives that aid local communities.

How important is sustainability in tourism?

Sustainable tourism, also known as ecological tourism or eco-tourism, aims to protect cultural heritage sites, monuments, and indigenous knowledge from exploitation and degradation. It emphasizes the importance of preserving intangible cultural practices and traditions, enriching tourist experiences and reducing the negative effects of travel on the planet. Sustainable tourism focuses on safeguarding the environment, preserving biodiversity, respecting indigenous cultures, and upholding moral principles throughout the tourism value chain.

It aims to balance visitor needs, local population welfare, and cultural and natural resource preservation. Sustainable tourism involves various stakeholders with diverse interests and responsibilities, from eco-friendly excursions to fostering local economies and cultural harmony. Initially, tourism suppliers supported environmental conservation, while some advocated for the preservation of local cultures and traditions.

What is social sustainable tourism?

Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are essential for all forms of tourism, including mass and niche tourism. These principles focus on the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, ensuring a balance between these dimensions for long-term sustainability. The focus should be on optimizing environmental resources, conserving natural heritage and biodiversity, respecting the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, and ensuring viable, long-term economic operations.

These practices should provide stable employment, income-earning opportunities, social services, and contribute to poverty alleviation. By addressing these aspects, tourism can contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

What is social and cultural sustainability?

Social and cultural sustainability refers to the nation’s commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of its community by recognizing, developing, and sustaining basic human needs such as human rights, equality, health, culture, and religion. Examples of social and cultural sustainability include Māori tourism in the 2000s, which has played a significant role in preserving Māori culture and language, particularly around Rotorua. This expansion in cultural tourism has grown interest in Māori culture worldwide.

What is sociocultural sustainability of tourism?

Environmental sustainability refers to the establishment of postulates regarding all activities within a tourist destination, including sustainable tourism of protected areas, ecological sustainability, and sociocultural sustainability. Ecological sustainability involves the development of tourism with the improvement of natural values, while sociocultural sustainability focuses on the impact of tourism on collective and individual value systems, behavioral patterns, community structures, and quality of life.

The Reserve Natural Park (RK) can be an integral part of the tourism offer, influencing the development of nature-based tourism, ecotourism, cultural tourism, scientific research, excursion tourism, sports-recreational tourism, events, and more. To determine the impacts on residents and visitors, it is necessary to examine their attitudes and satisfaction with sustainable tourism and define guidelines for improving and developing tourism following sustainable tourism and nature protection. However, sustainable tourism in the RK has not been examined yet, preventing a comparative analysis with previously published scientific results.