Sustainable Tourism: Ethical Alternative or Marketing Ploy?

While tourism is often seen as a welcome source of economic development, conventional mass tourism is associated with numerous negative effects, such as the destruction of ecological systems and loss of cultural heritage. In response to these concerns, a term that has surfaced recently is, sustainable tourism. This article attempts to define sustainable tourism and asks the question of whether this new term is an acceptable criteria or is merely a marketing ploy to attract the morally conscious tourist. Paul Lansing is a professor of Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a J.D. Degree and a Graduate Degree in International Business. Paul De Vries received an M.Sc BA, in Strategic Management from the Rotterdam School of Management, RSM Erasmus University.