1.1.3. Sustainable tourism practices VS tourism of the past

The historical advance of mass tourism and sustainable tourism has been discussed until now but let’s have a look at what actually the term “sustainable tourism” refers to practically in contrast with tourism practices of the past. 

A brief comparison between tourism of the past and attempts towards sustainable tourism of today include:

  • Tourism initiatives promoting sustainable tourism have as their priority the conservation of biodiversity and minimizing the environmental impact through efficient resource management and waste reduction whereas in the past overdevelopment was observed which led to intense increase of tourism infrastructure causing loss of natural habitat in many cases and to overexploitation of natural resources such as energy, water, land (Weaver, 2007). 
  • In the past, the focus of tourism was to attract as high numbers of tourists as possible having as a target the economic growth while today a more holistic approach is adopted which takes into account the sustainability of resources in order for them to be able to pass to future generations (Weaver, 2007).
  • Nowadays various policies, regulations and accreditation systems exist in order to promote sustainable tourism among the industry whereas in the past those concepts either did not exist or they were not popular. Tourism businesses can seek certification from recognized organizations in order to prove their commitment to sustainable practices and to industry standards for environmental, social, and economic responsibility (GSTC, n.d.).
  • Regarding the involvement of the local community, in the past marginalization of the locals was observed and in most of the cases the community was not consulted in the decision-making process about tourism development. In contrast to this, the contemporary model of sustainable tourism involves local communities in the decision making, tourism planning and management since it is considered that local communities can feel empowered by those practices (Bramwell & Lane, 2000).