ABSTRACT

The sustainability of tourism is increasingly under question given the challenges of overtourism, COVID-19 and the contribution of tourism to climate and environmental change. Degrowth and Tourism provides an original response to the central problem of growth in tourism, an imperative that has been intrinsic within tourism practice, and directs the reader to rethink the impacts of tourism and possible alternatives beyond the sustainable growth discourse.

Using a multi-scaled approach to investigate degrowth’s macro effects and micro indications in tourism, this book frames degrowth in tourism in terms of business, destination and policy initiatives. It uses a combination of empirical research, case studies and theory to offer new perspectives and approaches to analyse issues related to overtourism, COVID-19, small-scale tourism operations and entrepreneurship, mobility and climate change in tourism. Interdisciplinary chapters provide studies on animal-based tourism, nature-based tourism, domestic tourism, developing community-centric tourism and many other areas, within the paradigm of degrowth.

This book offers significant insight on both the implications of degrowth paradigm in tourism studies and practices, as well as tourism’s potential contributions to the degrowth paradigm, and will be essential reading for all those interested in sustainable tourism and transformations through tourism.

chapter 1|21 pages

Introduction

Degrowth and tourism: implications and challenges

part 1|46 pages

Degrowth and tourism entrepreneurship

chapter 2|16 pages

Decommodification as a socially embedded practice

The example of lifestyle enterprise in animal-based tourism

chapter 3|13 pages

Lifestyle entrepreneurs as agents of degrowth

The case of nature-based tourism businesses in Scandinavia

chapter 4|15 pages

Mobility transitions and rural restructuring in Sweden

A database study of holistic simplifiers

part 2|63 pages

Degrowth and tourism destinations

chapter 5|14 pages

Diverse tourism

A poststructural view on tourism destination degrowth transition

chapter 6|15 pages

Global importance, local problems

Degrowth in Italian World Heritage destinations

chapter 7|16 pages

Opportunities and barriers for degrowth in remote tourism destinations

Overcoming regional inequalities?

part 3|116 pages

Degrowth and tourism policy

chapter 9|17 pages

Sustainable growth in tourism?

Rethinking and resetting sustainable tourism for development

chapter 10|18 pages

Rethinking tourism

Degrowth and equity rights in developing community-centric tourism

chapter 12|15 pages

Don’t leave town till you’ve seen the country

Domestic tourism as a degrowth strategy

chapter 13|18 pages

Degrowing tourism

Can grassroots form the norm?

chapter 15|10 pages

Conclusions – degrowing tourism

Can tourism move beyond BAU (Brundtland-as-Usual)?