TOURISM AND SOCIETY: Social and Economic Impact Analysis

First Core Section

Scholar Niel Leiper developed the 'tourism system model' in 1979, which identified the tourism sector to operate like a system which goes beyond the organisation of hotels, restaurants, and other forms of cultural attractions. Instead, it involves a combination of the above elements and people to create interdependent relationships (Pung et al., 2020). The tourism system mainly deals with a destination's carrying capacity by comparing its promotional ability (Cimbaljević et al., 2023). As a result, the positive and negative impacts of the socio-cultural aspects revolving around tourism can be explained through the elements of the framework as explained in the below manner.

Positive Elements

Attraction: Any tourism activity starts with attraction, whereby the destination will become appealing to tourists and their intention to visit the same destination will increase. Hence, destinations often manage to influence tourists through their natural attractions such as rivers in Dartmoor, Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, and Isle of Iona in the UK (Thorpe and Fox, 2023). Built attractions like Stonehenge, Brighton Pier, and the Eden Project among other noteworthy culturally significant places to venture into the UK (Keen, 2021).

Figure 1: Man-made attractions in the UK

(Source: Keen, 2021)

Accessibility: Tourists might want to reach natural attractions and man-made attractions relatively faster than others, which ensures hindrance and delay-free exploration (Fletcher, 2018, pp.1–58). In such cases, key destinations like Italy, the UK, and other European countries have developed their transport systems with inter-knitted society people (Buckley, 2023). The latter often have variable ideas regarding the attractions which help tourists to navigate. A common example can be train services handled by ‘FS Treni Turistici Italiani’ which distributes 400 trains around source destinations in the country (Buckley, 2023).

Negative Elements

Accommodation: In recent years, 70% of the hotels have converted themselves since 2019 into luxury status. Rates for the soon-to-be-open 'La Dolce Vita Orient Express' climbed 75% in the last 16 months (Pitrelli, 2024). It is also expected that the rates for the hotel will likely go up after the early half of 2025, which will take average charges from €2000 to  €3500 (Mateer, 2024). These factors are less likely to inspire lower-income tourists and middle-class travellers. Almost 46% of lower to middle-income tourists are less likely to stay in hotels and choose less leisure travel as per the latest trends (Mateer, 2024).

Amenities: These involve factors which assist tourists in their travel retinue and often include infrastructure facilities like roads, power grids, telecommunications connections, and sewage systems (ETC Corporate, 2024). For instance, establishments like the European Travel Commission, ETC have looked to prepare 'crisis management checklists', looking to construct eroded roadways, prevent tourist movement due to extreme weather, political instabilities, and border dispute conflicts launched by different parties (ETC Corporate, 2024). The commission and other institutions are yet to create a pathway through which seamless tourism can flow in popular destinations.

Second Core Section

Another framework explained by Richard Butler during the 1980s was also based on tourism carrying capacity, except the author considered sustainability to be a major influencer in managing fragile tourist limitations and rejuvenating declining populace who inch towards fulfilling tourism expectations (Herrero et al., 2022). As a result, the positive and negative elements supporting the 'tourism life cycle' model can be discussed in the below manner.

Positive elements

Exploration stage: The UN Tourism World Tourism Barometer estimated that 790 million travellers have visited different international destinations across the globe. This trend reflected an 11% rise in the percentage compared to 2023, which was 9% in 2019 (Unwto.org, 2024). The key location which saw a major surge in tourist activity was the Asia-Pacific region. Whereas, both Middle-Eastern and African countries and their respective cities also welcomed 26% and 7% growth respectively (Unwto.org, 2024). This allowed tourism to influence the GDP or gross domestic product by $3.4 trillion.

Involvement stage: According to data source JLL, different investors have decided to compete with luxury hotel chains like Hilton and Hyatt. That allowed the former to launch minimally furnished resorts, hotels, and other guest house facilities which recorded average investments of around $5.7 billion, giving lower-class to middle-class tourists the avenue choosing rest houses and leisurely stay options (Ercan, 2024). This allowed countries like Japan to increase guest capacity by three million visitors, and influence Asia-Pacific-based growth by 60% (Ercan, 2024).

Negative elements

Development stage: Recognisable reports published by the UN World Tourism Organisation revealed an over-tourism trend which has raised concerns around popular destinations like Hawaii, Greece, and even beaches in Spain, apart from smaller national parks located in the US, and Japan. Lax governance has also accentuated the rise in tourist numbers without guaranteeing them any assured services in return (Saul, 2023). For instance, tourist accommodations having increased by 19.9% based on day and night stays influencing cities of Europe, allowed hotel service distributors like Airbnb to cancel bookings after it was shortlisted by the tourists (Cheer, 2023). Also, per-resident stay in destinations like Prague has gone up by 14.1%, which allowed local tourism agencies to stop taking bookings. In some cases, the government has even been compelled to charge fines worth €270 per tourist for overcrowding popular tourist zones (Saul, 2023).

Consolidation stage: To boost tourism demand, 97 countries from the European continent to the UK, US, and other exotic territories, curtailment of excessive tourism entries have been prevented As a result by the conclusion of 2024, domestic travel is supposed to witness only 3% growth in travelling, whereas only 19 billion tourists are expected to lodge for day and night plans by the year of 2030 (Tufft et al., 2024, p 26). This has even hurt major travel franchises that fail to deliver customised business services in different destinations.

Stagnation stage: Report published by the World Tourism Organisation or WTO, reveals that the tourist capacity has been declining in the last few years (Tufft et al., 2024, p 26). This is courtesy of changes in physical and environmental factors influencing a destination, which is causing an unacceptable decline in the quality of visitor satisfaction (Mohan, 2023). Even if destinations like India-based Kerala are showing a 20.1% year-on-year jump in tourism activities, at least 32% of other popular destinations have even received trends of leaving tourists (Mohan, 2023).

Third Core Section

Sustainability is defined by the World Tourism Organisation as practices which "take full account of current and future" impacts of tourism across the "economic, social and environmental" dimensions (United Nations, 2023). This definition acknowledges the present impacts of tourism about the future impacts, thereby promoting a long-term perspective for stakeholders to ensure tourism itself is not threatened due to unsustainability. This also illustrates three elements of sustainable tourism, making it economically, socially and environmentally encompassing under the aforementioned three elements (United Nations, 2023). Sustainable tourism can be capable of addressing socio-economic and socio-cultural issues associated with tourism, which will be illustrated across these three elements.

Economic Sustainability: Economic dependency is created at an excessive proportion when a country's economy relies on tourism further and further; Venice earned over €2 billion annually from tourists before this resulted in overtourism that threatened the local community's well-being (Hardy, 2019). Consequently,  efforts to curb tourism were introduced, such as a €5 access fee for daytime visitors (The Economist, 2024). However, this did not deter overtourism as the local communities are highly dependent on tourism spending to sustain their livelihoods (The Economist, 2024). Such developments must be addressed by diversifying the local economy to provide alternative forms of livelihood for local community participants in tourism.

Social Sustainability: Tourism can also cause unsustainable outcomes for the local community intangibly, through the transformation of the local culture and traditions by coming in contact with foreign travellers commercially. The commercialisation of mass tourism erodes local cultural norms and affects household generational gaps, as the youth are particularly vulnerable and economically deprived in locations like Amhara, Ethiopia (Alamineh et al., 2023). Their exposure to such practices results in a correlation of mass tourism with substance abuse, crime and other socially negative developments (Bingöl, 2021).

Environmental Sustainability: The environment can also be negatively affected by a high volume of tourism, due to the lack of local infrastructure capabilities to handle the waste generation from this increased volume of overall people (Salvia et al., 2021). Consequences like littering, and erosion of local resources like groundwater are among the immediate negative impacts of mass tourism (Pásková et al., 2024). Therefore, controlling the volume of tourism entry becomes the main outcome that stakeholders should focus on, as resources are finite and scarce and therefore integral for sustainable protection against mass tourism.

Fourth Core Section

The United Nations defines accessibility in tourism as "the creation of environments" through which people with different requirements, such as dietary limitations food intolerance, or physical disabilities, are accommodated equally within a universal design (UNWTO, 2022). The universality of accessibility is aimed primarily at making tourism more inclusive, sustainable and capable of creating a stronger socio-economic impact (Grdić et al., 2019). Accessible tourism has also been associated as a "critical dimension" of sustainable tourism from the Triple Bottom Line model of sustainability, where accessibility is characterised across the "People, Planet and Profits" dimensions that are associated with sustainability for the community, the environment and commercial businesses (Darcy et al., 2010). The interrelationship of tourism and accessibility, as such, can be illustrated from these three dimensions as follows.

People: The World Health Organisation identified 16% of the global population as experiencing “significant disability”, requiring tourism destination sites to accommodate such potential tourists through inclusive design under accessibility (WHO, 2022). For instance, it is commonplace for tourists to avail wheelchairs in international airports. This commonality resulted in 80% of travellers who need such special assistance being fully satisfied with the available provisions in international airports, as per the 2023 Global Passenger Survey by the IATA or the International Air Transportation Association (Shabani, 2023).

Planet: Accessibility in tourism is likely to become more prominent; target 8.9 under the UN SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 Agenda directly references the implementation of policies for promoting sustainable tourism (UN, 2017). Therefore, tourism stakeholders must aim to integrate accessibility opportunities under universal frameworks like the UN SDGs under the 2030 Agenda, as the multitude of targets and goals makes it capable of being adaptable to suit the unique needs of tourism stakeholders across global destination sites. As the SDGs are agreed upon by 191 UN member countries, it is a universal platform through which accessibility can be driven in the tourism industry globally as well (WHO, 2022).

Profits: Travellers with disabilities represent a nearly $60 billion market segment globally, indicating a positive opportunity to generate sustainable profits among stakeholders (Catalano, 2024). Accessibility at a large scale is only focused on by a few entities like the Ilunion Hotel chain in Spain, which was developed by the Spanish government body ‘ONCE Social Group’ (Cruz-Morato et al., 2021). Their success indicates accessibility can make tourism more effective in generating sustainable revenue, as such measures increase tourism participation in regional areas while tapping into an underdeveloped market segment from a competitive business perspective. Other nations like Italy are acting more progressively, due to Italy's Ministry of Disabilities actively issuing grants to upgrade accessibility features for people with various challenges like mobility and hearing impairments (Catalano, 2024).

The IATA also recognises a global shortcoming in understanding “invisible disability” which ultimately affects overall accessibility, through such invisible disabilities like autism or deafness among travellers (IATA, 2024). Accessibility in tourism can itself become limited by the more immediate perceivable visibility of travellers with overt physical disabilities, like requiring wheelchair accessibility due to physical impairments, compared to the more opaque perception to identify travellers with such aforementioned challenges (IATA, 2024). Stakeholders must move forward with such considerate awareness to ensure accessible tourism ideals are fully realised.

Fifth Core Section

Community participation in tourism essentially means the involvement of local community members in facilitating tourism activities at any destination site. It is defined more linearly as an outcome of the redistribution of power to “facilitate the conscious incorporation” of marginalised locals (Wondirad and Ewnetu, 2019). In tourism, therefore, community participation as an interrelationship is identifiable by both positive and negative interrelationships. For a balanced perspective, a positive example of community participation in tourism is the Phobjikha Valley Conservation Area in Bhutan (Dema et al., 2023). By interacting with locals directly, visitors learn about local cultural practices authentically and engage in conservation efforts to protect local species like black-necked cranes. Conversely, community exclusion in Thailand results in 70% of tourist spending leaving the country through foreign-owned stakeholders like airlines, hotels and even tour operators (Chaitanya and Swain, 2023). This illustrates the nature of interrelationships in community participation and can be further expounded by applying the community participation model (Wu et al., 2013). This approach requires perceiving the interrelationship through the following factors.

Observed Factors: Such factors are easily observable, due to their tangible characteristics affecting participation and spending by tourists. For instance, European tourists participate more frequently than Asian tourists, due to broader “monetary and time budgets” creating restrictions on the latter group of tourists (Wu et al., 2013). In the case of observed factors, community participation is also evident from the involvement of government bodies such as the high-value, low-impact policy of controlled tourism followed by the Royal Government of Bhutan since 1974 (Travel Trade Journal, 2024). Similarly, the Maasai Mara tribe in Kenya acts as tour guides for visitors in the Maasai Mara National Reserve (Holland et al., 2021).

Unobserved Factors: Tourism preferences can also reduce opportunities for local communities to engage. For instance, Cohen’s Tourist Typology categorises tourists as either drifters, explorers, or mass tourists of the individual and organised types (Ceylan et al., 2020). The drifter-type of tourists is more open to experiencing unfamiliar and novel experiences, positioning them towards interacting with local community members more directly. In contrast, the mass tourist type of individual seeks a gentrified experience, such as staying at international hotel chains like Hyatt over staying at a locally hosted place by the community members i.e. AirBnB hosts or local small hotel owners (Ceylan et al., 2020). Since this is a psychological construct, it is not observable as a determinant of the interrelationship between tourism and community participation.

Ultimately, community participation can mitigate adverse risks, like the aforementioned 70% outflow of tourist spending that impoverishes local community members in Thailand. However, this can create a risk of reprisal if confronted directly, as powerful corporations collude with local governments to develop tourism attractions from unethical actions like forced evictions in Tanzania (Ahmed, 2024). Therefore, the issue must be addressed on a larger scale by involving multiple stakeholders, such as international charity organisations, to remove exclusionary practices for local communities.

Conclusion

The essay’s discussion, across the five core sections, has identified various socio-cultural and socio-economic impacts of tourism. Certain key examples include the impact of over-tourism resulting in the participation of foreign corporations in Thailand, which resulted in an economic leakage of 70% of tourism spending that took place in the country. This key example illustrates a socio-economic impact, as the outflow of tourism spending reduces the socio-economic upward mobility of local community members, beyond the other socio-cultural impacts like erosion of local cultural traditions that was also illustrated in the example of Amhara, Ethiopia.

These findings were joined by other key examples, in which socio-economic impacts were more threatening in the long term in the example of Venice. By trying to curb overtourism, Venice applied measures like making tourists pay more to access the city, which nonetheless failed to stem the flow of mass tourism. This was owing to the eagerness of local stakeholders to continue to draw income from tourists, as their livelihoods depended on it from the lack of economic diversification in Venice.

The sustainable growth of tourism must continue and focus on including accessibility for diverse tourists, which makes it compatible with identified frameworks such as the UN SDGs. Similarly, the involvement of multiple stakeholders such as international charities can help alleviate local community challenges to increase their representation among stakeholders for diversifying community participation. These findings were also validated from a theoretical perspective through the application of relevant models and theories i.e. Butler’s Tourism Life Cycle model or the Community Participation model. The continual monitoring of these situations in the tourism industry is critical to ensuring tourism as a business industry can continue to exist in the long-term, as it will safeguard against erosion of critical destination resources like groundwater that can otherwise threaten the future of visiting tourists and local community members alike.

References

Ahmed, K. (2024). World Bank suspends Tanzania tourism funding after claims of killings and evictions. The Guardian. [online] 23 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/23/world-bank-suspends-tanzania-tourism-funding-after-claims-of-killings-and-evictions [Accessed 18 Nov. 2024].

Alamineh, G.A., Hussein, J.W., Mulu, Y.E. and Taddesse, B. (2023). The negative cultural impact of tourism and its implication on sustainable development in Amhara Regional State. The Negative Cultural Impact of Tourism and Its Implication on Sustainable Development in Amhara Regional State, [online] 10(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2023.2224597.

Bingöl, S. (2021). From escape to seeking: understanding drug tourists. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, [online] 20(4), pp.1–17. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2021.1960853.

Buckley, J. (2023). Italy announces special tourist trains and ‘cruise’ rail routes. [online] CNN. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/italy-tourist-trains/index.html [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Catalano, R. (2024). The disabled traveller market represents billions in untapped revenue. [online] www.bbc.com. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240116-the-disabled-traveller-market-represents-billions-in-untapped-revenue [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Ceylan, D., Çizel, B. and Karakaş, H. (2020). Destination image perception patterns of tourist typologies. International Journal of Tourism Research, [online] 23(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2414.

Chaitanya, A.K. and Swain, S.K. (2023). Economic leakages in tourism: A comprehensive review of theoretical and empirical perspectives. Tourism Economics, [online] 30(5). doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166231204648.

Cheer, J. (2023). The complexities of over tourism and how we can overcome it #GFC23. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/10/what-is-overtourism-and-how-can-we-overcome-it/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Cimbaljević, M., Panić, A., Pavlović, D., Pavluković, V., Pivac, T., Kovačić, S. and Stankov, U. (2023). Systematic literature review on tourism destination competitiveness research. Turizam, [online] 27(1), pp.51–65. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5937/turizam27-42000.

Cruz-Morato, M.A., Dueñas-Zambrana, C. and García-Mestanza, J. (2021). Disability, Human Resources and Behavioral Economics: The Labour Inclusion Case of Ilunion Hotels of the Costa del Sol (Spain). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, [online] 18(15), p.7932. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157932.

Darcy, S., Cameron, B. and Pegg, S. (2010). Accessible tourism and sustainability: a discussion and case study. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, [online] 18(4), pp.515–537. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09669581003690668.

Dema, Tashi and Kuenzang Gyeltshen (2023). Community Based Sustainable Tourism and Its Impact on Socio-Economic Development of Phobjikha Valley. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, [online] 46(4), pp.12–44. doi:https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2023/v46i41008.

Ercan, N. (2024). Investors flock to hotels amid a tourism rebound. [online] Jll.co.in. Available at: https://www.jll.co.in/en/trends-and-insights/investor/investors-flock-to-hotels-amid-tourism-rebound [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

ETC Corporate (2024). European destinations to strengthen crisis preparedness strategies. [online] ETC Corporate. Available at: https://etc-corporate.org/news/european-destinations-to-strengthen-crisis-preparedness-strategies/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Fletcher, J. (2018). Tourism : Principles and Practice. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson, pp.1–58.

Grdić, Z.Š., Gregorić, M. and Krstinić Nižić, M. (2019). Investigating the Influence of Tourism on Economic Growth and Climate Change – the Case of Croatia. Contemporary Economics, [online] 13(2), pp.111–122. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5709/ce.1897-9254.302.

Hardy, P. (2019). Sinking city: how Venice is managing Europe’s worst tourism crisis. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/30/sinking-city-how-venice-is-managing-europes-worst-tourism-crisis [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Herrero, C.C., Laso, J., Cristóbal, J., Fullana-i-Palmer, P., Albertí, J., Fullana, M., Herrero, Á., Margallo, M. and Aldaco, R. (2022). Tourism under a life cycle thinking approach: A review of perspectives and new challenges for the tourism sector in the last decades. Science of The Total Environment, 845, p.157261. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157261.

Holland, K.K., Larson, L.R., Powell, R.B., Holland, W.H., Allen, L., Nabaala, M., Tome, S., Seno, S. and Nampushi, J. (2021). Impacts of tourism on support for conservation, local livelihoods, and community resilience around Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, [online] 30(11), pp.1–23. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1932927.

IATA (2024). Air Travel Accessibility for Passengers with Disabilities. [online] IATA, IATA, pp.1–5. Available at: https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/pressroom/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-accessibility/ [Accessed 16 Sep. 2024].

Keen, A. (2021). World Tourism Day insights - the UK’s most Instagrammable ‘man-made wonders’. [online] Madebyextreme.com. Available at: https://madebyextreme.com/insights/world-tourism-day-insights-the-uks-most-instagrammable-man-made-wonders [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Kühl, S. (2020). Groups, organizations, families and movements: The sociology of social systems between interaction and society. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 37(3), pp.496–515. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2685.

Mateer, N. (2024). Middle-income travelers opting for shorter hotel stays, budget options: report. [online] Hotel Dive. Available at: https://www.hoteldive.com/news/middle-income-travelers-spending-less/724070/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Mohan, S. (2023). Overcrowding a worry, state to study ‘carrying capacity’ of major getaways. [online] The New Indian Express. Available at: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2023/sep/28/overcrowding-a-worry-state-to-study-carrying-capacity-of-major-getaways-2618825.html [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Page, S.J. (2019). Tourism Management. Milton Park, Abingdon Oxfordshire : Taylor & Francis, pp.1–650.

Pásková, M., Štekerová, K., Zanker, M., Lasisi, T.T. and Zelenka, J. (2024). Water pollution generated by tourism: Review of system dynamics models. Heliyon, [online] 10(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23824.

Pitrelli, M. (2024). The reason luxury travel is so expensive these days. [online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/01/why-is-luxury-travel-so-expensive-high-prices-arent-curbing-demand.html [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Pung, J.M., Gnoth, J. and Del Chiappa, G. (2020). Tourist transformation: Towards a conceptual model. Annals of Tourism Research, 81, p.102885. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102885.

Salvia, G., Zimmermann, N., Willan, C., Hale, J., Gitau, H., Muindi, K., Gichana, E. and Davies, M. (2021). The wicked problem of waste management: An attention-based analysis of stakeholder behaviours. Journal of Cleaner Production, [online] 326, p.129200. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129200.

Saul, L. (2023). Hospitality trends: Unveiling the harsh reality of overtourism. [online] Hospitality Insights.ehl.edu. Available at: https://hospitalityinsights.ehl.edu/hospitality-trends-unmasking-the-realities-of-overtourism [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Shabani, A. (2023). 80% of Passengers With Disabilities Satisfied With Air Travel Accessibility, IATA Survey Shows. [online] SchengenNews. Available at: https://schengen.news/80-of-passengers-with-disabilities-satisfied-with-air-travel-accessibility-iata-survey-shows/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

The Economist (2024). Venice’s new admission fee cannot curb overtourism. [online] The Economist. Available at: https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/05/13/venices-new-admission-fee-cannot-curb-overtourism [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Thorpe, A. and Fox, G. (2023). Lakes, mountains and distant isles: 15 of the most tranquil places to visit around the UK. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/aug/20/lakes-mountains-and-distant-isles-15-of-the-most-tranquil-places-to-visit-around-the-uk [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Travel Trade Journal (2024). Bhutan’s successful ‘High Value, Low Volume’ tourism mantra. [online] Travel Trade Journal. Available at: https://traveltradejournal.com/bhutans-successful-high-value-low-volume-tourism-mantra/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Tufft, C., Constantin, M., Pacca, M., Mann, R. and Gladstone, I. (2024). The state of tourism and hospitality 2024. [online] Mckinsey.com, New York: Mckinsey.com, pp.1–68. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/travel%20logistics%20and%20infrastructure/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20tourism%20and%20hospitality%202024/the-state-of-tourism-and-hospitality-2024-final.pdf [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

UN (2017). Sustainable tourism. [online] Un.org. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sustainabletourism [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

United Nations (2023). Sustainable tourism | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. [online] sdgs.un.org. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-tourism [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

UNWTO (2022). Accessible Tourism | UNWTO. [online] www.unwto.org. Available at: https://www.unwto.org/accessibility [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Unwto.org (2024). UN Tourism World Tourism Barometer | Global Tourism Statistics. [online] www.unwto.org. Available at: https://www.unwto.org/un-tourism-world-tourism-barometer-data [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

WHO (2022). Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities. [online] www.who.int. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240063600 [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

WHO (2022). Sustainable Development Goals. [online] www.who.int. Available at: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/sustainable-development-goals [Accessed 18 Sep. 2024].

Wondirad, A. and Ewnetu, B. (2019). Community participation in tourism development as a tool to foster sustainable land and resource use practices in a national park milieu. Land Use Policy, [online] 88(1), p.104155. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104155.

Wu, L., Zhang, J. and Fujiwara, A. (2013). Tourism participation and expenditure behaviour: Analysis using a scobit based discrete–continuous choice model. Annals of Tourism Research, [online] 40, pp.1–17. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2012.09.002.