Author(s)

S. Bimonte

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of whether sustainable tourism is a balance between the environment, economy and community issues or whether it is up to the community to decide where the balance should lie. To answer such questions and produce a theoretical framework to select the appropriate economic instruments to deal with sustainability in tourism, it proposes an economic interpretation rooted in a property rights framework à la Coase. Moreover, considering the peculiarity of the sector, the paper argues that to implement the appropriate policies for sustainability in tourism, more than elsewhere, a simultaneous proper management of tourism demand and supply, and a set of instruments of a more non-technical than technical nature are required. Keywords: sustainable tourism, technical and non-technical instruments, communities participation. 1 Introduction The point we make in this paper is that in tourism we have to cope with problems that one does not encounter or that present themselves in a different way in other fields. Therefore, it argues that, although sustainable development and sustainable tourism may share some areas of mutual concern, the latter has its own specificities to be considered. These specificities need to be analyzed when selecting policies for sustainable development in tourism (Butler [1, 2]; Bramwell and Lane [3]; Hunter [4]; Sharpley [5]). Because of its specificities, one of the main issues to be addressed when dealing with sustainability in tourism is \“whether sustainable tourism is a process whereby balances should be struck between the environment, economy and community issues or whether it is up to the community to decide where the balance should lie” (Hardy et al [6], p.491). To answer such a question and produce a theoretical framework to select the appropriate economic instruments

Keywords

sustainable tourism, technical and non-technical instruments, communities participation.