Reviewing integrated sustainability indicators for tourism

ABSTRACT

Integrated sustainability indicators for tourism (ISIT) address tourism as an element of both economic and socio-ecological systems and as actively integrated in multi-level policy-making and planning. This paper aims to review studies of ISIT in peer-reviewed journals with a focus on methodological approaches. By specifically examining ISIT, this study embraces the interdisciplinary nature of both sustainability science and tourism studies. The results are based on a systematic literature review and categorization of the studies’ academic disciplines, methods and organization of indicators. The results reveal that despite being a relatively young area of study, research on ISIT has developed simultaneously across multiple academic disciplines, and is expanding. There seems to be greater interest in developing new methodologies than applying existing indicator frameworks. Most papers refer to indicators thematically and thus discuss tourism separately in the contexts of environmental, social or economic impact. However, emerging approaches analyze tourism as a system of interconnected components and an element of multi-level policy-making. These approaches emphasize public participation and a continuous redefinition of sustainability challenges in response to changes in socio-ecological systems. Current research on ISIT thus focuses on the interconnectedness of indicators and sustainable development as a dynamic process rather than an end goal.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability
• indicator
• tourism
• integrated
• system
• socio-ecological system

Acknowledgments

Dr David Folkmann Drost and Hugh Atkinson are acknowledged for English proof reading.

Disclosure statement

The authors reported no potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

University of Iceland Research Fund; Friends of Vatnajökull Association, a non-profit NGO and funding body for research in Vatnajökull National Park.

Notes on contributors

Kristín Rut Kristjánsdóttir

Kristín Rut Kristjánsdóttir is a PhD student in tourism studies. Kristín holds a BSc in tourism studies from the University of Iceland and an MSc in sustainability science from Lund University Centre of Sustainability Science. Kristín has participated in several research projects regarding sustainability in tourism development mostly in the northern periphery. Main research interests include sustainable tourism development, public participation, spatial analysis and systems dynamics analysis.

Rannveig Ólafsdóttir

Rannveig Ólafsdóttir is a physical geographer with her main focus on the interrelationship between tourism and the environment. Rannveig works as a professor in tourism studies at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland. Her special research interests are on tourism environmental impacts, tourism and wilderness, wilderness mapping, geotourism, tourism spatiotemporal modelling using system dynamics and GIS, public participation, and sustainable tourism management.

Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir

Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir is a professor of geology and sustainability science at the Institute of Earth Sciences and Institute for Sustainability Studies at the University of Iceland (UI). Her transdisciplinary studies include determining sustainability indicators and ecosystem services for soil as well as developing frameworks, processes and indicators for sustainable communities with food security at the centre.