Tourism as a stimulus for sustainable development in rural areas : a Cypriot perspective
Part of : Tourismos : an international multidiciplinary journal of tourism ; Vol.4, No.1, 2009, pages 82-95
Issue:
Pages:
82-95
Section Title:
Case studies
Author:
Abstract:
Since the mid 90ies the debate of how to achieve the objective of sustainability inthe tourism sector is en vogue. Often weakly illuminated, however, is theinteresting question as to whether the underlying framework conditions of thetourism industry are consistent with the concept of sustainability. This paper aimson contributing to the dialogue with a new interdisciplinary perspective. Ratherthan putting the emphasis on the question of whether the tourism industry can besustainable or how sustainable it can be, the perspective of this paper focuses onwhether tourism can support sustainable development. This, so far neglected shiftin perspective, opens up a completely new field of academic discussion due to itsremodelling of the interrelationship between sustainability and tourism industry.Therefore, in a first step, the possible influences of the tourism industry towardssupporting sustainable development will be discussed. In a second step, theresults of a qualitative study performed by the authors in the context of theCypriot Agro Tourism will be presented, in order to empirically elicit existinginfluences of tourism on sustainable development in the rural areas of Cyprus.Especially, the case study illuminates the consequences of an efficient interplaybetween strategic and operational decision makers, hence, addressing both,macro and micro issues. The paper concludes, that, in synthesis with localheritage, entrepreneurship and location branding, this innovative form of tourismcan provide a significant contribution to the economic, social and environmentalcomponents of sustainability and can be regarded as a best practice example.
Subject:
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
Cyprus, sustainable development, rural areas, agro tourism
Notes:
Περιέχει σχήματα και βιβλιογραφία
