Planning for Sustainable Tourism: An Alternative Paradigm

This paper highlights key characteristics of the current mindset identified as responsible for increasing costs (private and public) associated with tourism industry expansion globally. It then identifies common elements of an alternative paradigm, contrasting its features with those of the established paradigm. It then identifies the implications of the new mindset for the attitudes and behaviour of major stakeholders in tourism-government/ destination management organisations, operators, and tourists, as well as researchers. Unless a good proportion of individuals in each of these stakeholder groups change their attitudes and behaviour, no paradigm shift will succeed and the ‘business as usual’ scenario for tourism will prevail, along with its increasing social costs. The paper concludes by addressing the implications for behaviour by different groups of stakeholders.