Tourism, development and sustainability

The course focuses on the needs and premises of sustainable development in tourism with emphasis on tourism development in Global South. The course examines the conceptual and practical dimensions of sustainable tourism, its relationship with sustainable development in general and the applicability and problems associated with it. The course’s basic concepts include the following: tourism and sustainable development, sustainable tourism, resilience and adaptation, tourism impacts, and sustainability needs at different scales (local-global) and socio-ecological environments, the roles of different actors (stakeholders) in sustainable tourism, tourism development plans and policies, methods to measure sustainability in tourism and tourism development, the role of (responsible) tourist as a consumer. These concepts will be discussed both theoretically and in practice, highlighting their relevance and applicaility in the Global South utilizing case examples. Some topical issues relating with the main theme sustainable tourism, such as pro-poor tourism, regenerative tourism and climate change will be covered in the Global South contexts. In addition, the student chooses one relevant topic to which she/he familiarizes.