ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the changing conceptualizations of the tourism industry, particularly as they relate to sustainable tourism (ST). It argues that having identified the potentially negative environmental impacts of tourism and having moved beyond a simple recognition of the economic benefits of tourism, development planners need to advance again beyond the reactionary interpretation that ST is synonymous with ecotourism. The chapter presents a discussion of the need to facilitate the conceptual shift through the development of indicators that can assist in monitoring whether tourism is moving toward or away from sustainability. Tourism is a complex and fragmented phenomenon that despite its critical role in the global economy does not conform to classical definitions of industry and product. The profit-driven, immediate economic return orientation of the tourism industry is in direct conflict with the need to protect the social and environmental resources that are under increasing pressure.
