A Review of “Tourism and Sustainable Development: Reconsidering a Concept of Vague Policies”

Tourism and Sustainable Development: Reconsidering a Concept of Vague Policies is about sustainability and, in particular, sustainable development, and this book, by Jörn W. Mundt, provides a review of its conceptual history, definitions and links to tourism. I like this book. It is a little eclectic and certainly not a standard text in the area of tourism and sustainability. I would suggest it is a good read for those looking for some alternative views and who have read some of the works that are more geared towards the tourism textbook market. This book certainly is not that, which I see as a positive thing.

As an academic endeavour it does not sit centrally in the tourism area, but brings a range of other views from other disciplines to the table. The book offers conceptual insights into the complex interactions that surround sustainability and reserves only three of its eight chapters for tourism. The result is a critical examination of sustainability that highlights its links to tourism. As such the book offers a platform for mainly academics to investigate some of the wider ideas around this topic. It contains chapters that deal broadly with the theme of sustainability and is logically laid out with eight chapters, with Chapter 3 (Excursus 1 – I have to admit I had to look this up and found it listed as an appendix or digression that contains further exposition of some point) and Chapter 5 (Excursus 11) being used to divide up the book. Chapter 1 acts as an introduction or preface and possibly should be titled as such.

Chapter 1 provides a sound overview of the exploration of what sustainability is across its history and various fields of interpretation. I found it to be well organized and presented, although I would have liked to have seen a little more on how sustainability has evolved in terms of its relationship to tourism at this stage in the book, given its title. Aside from needing to provide a little more depth on this issue it is a very thorough and interesting introduction and it does well in addressing the issue of experience. As Jamal and Everett (2004) note, ‘experience’ is a contested concept with multiple meanings and interpretations within both tourism studies and the global tourism industry. Such contestations require tight definitions of concepts in order to establish a reciprocal discourse and this chapter does this well.

Chapter 2 explores the concept of sustainability and does so successfully. I like the section on ‘development is not growth’. The critical edge is continued into the third chapter (Excursus 1 – our first digression) with section titles such as ‘Markets of violence’ and the ‘The dubious character of aid’, which suggests ‘…Western donors, fail to deliver because neither the governing elites nor their benefactors are acting responsibly …’ (p. 43). A final section in the chapter questions the idea of ‘pro-poor tourism’, maintaining it ‘… may be seen as just another marketing tool for development agencies …’ (p. 74). I found myself liking this digression (excursus) and applaud the critical edge it takes of what I think the author should address as ‘free market neo-liberalism’.

Chapter 4 is a sound exploration of the ‘three pillars’ of sustainability and gives us a short but well-formulated insight into ‘the three dimensions of “sustainability”…’ (p. 76). It is particularly focused on ‘social sustainability’ which I find interesting not only because of what it maps out, but because here is one of a few authors who directs attention to the social and, as Jamal and Everett (2004) point out, we find that we often focus on one of two main lines of theoretical development, with the most travelled being the business of tourism. So it is particularly pleasing to find this direction, which is continued into Chapter 5 with its excursus into the two under-researched areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and non-governmental organizations (NGO), and is highly critical of the direction being taken, ‘… reveals pretty much the same dull uniformity in the understanding of “sustainability” …’ (p. 101).

Chapter 6 delves into the complex world of climate change, with the essence of the chapter summarized by ‘Waiting for the one hundred per cent evidence of connectivity between industrial gas emissions and temperature rise would lead to take the great risk of coming too late to prevent …’ (p. 105) and provides useful insights. Finally, we come to Chapters 7 (‘Why tourism?’) and 8 (‘What is meant by “sustainable” tourism?’) which provide us with some empirical and descriptive dialogue on the tourism industry and sustainability. It is interesting to note that we are now dealing with the defining of ‘sustainable tourism’ which for many might be a little dyslexic at the finish of a book on the topic, but I think given the nature of this text it is well conceived, as it now has a stronger context. Tourism academics have for many years ignored the context of the theories and approaches of tourism within other discipline areas; this book has provided this well.

Finally, the conclusion (Chapter 9), where we find a justification of the book's structure, ‘The survey of sustainability strategies with regard to tourism requires a distinct understanding of the term “sustainability” and its application for tourism’ (p. 159), which is again interesting in its placement at the end of the book – this is not meant as a criticism as it works well. The final section on ‘Scientific markets and the “Taylorisation” of Academia’ is of value and has focused on German-speaking countries, reflecting the author's background, but its relevance to the book's topic is questionable possibly, as in the quote used by the author, ‘… has sometimes allowed us to become more, not less, parochial’ (p. 168).

Overall I like the book. It was a good read and provided a balanced set of chapters on the area, with possibly the need for the concluding chapter to provide us with some idea of where the future lies for ‘sustainable tourism’. I liked the irregularity of the chapters in terms of word size so that the chapters are able to deal with the information needed to provide a sound basis for the topic covered. I would like the linking of what is a book that comes from an economist's background to a little more of the social sciences literature but this is possibly more a reflection of my background. The book is worth the read and, as with Jörn W. Mundt's Tourismuspolitik (2004), provides a useful addition to this area of our knowledge.