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Sustainability in Regional Development and Tourism

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (12 July 2023) | Viewed by 9236

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Technology and Management of Viseu (ESTGV) / CISeD—Centre for Research in Digital Services, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Interests: sustainable tourism; tourist satisfaction; tourism planning

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Guest Editor
Department of Society and Conservation, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
Interests: nature-based tourism; ecotourism; community development; international conservation and development; geographies of tourism; GIS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
CERNAS-IPV Research Centre, Campus Politécnico, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Interests: sustainable tourism; regional development; rural tourism; rural entrepreneurship; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce a new Special Issue entitled “Sustainability in Regional Development and Tourism” in Sustainability.

Discourse around sustainability has increasingly expanded in recent years due to the recognition of its importance in all economic sectors. Regarding regional development and tourism, things are no different.

When the theme of the Special Issue revolves around regional development, the positive economic impacts of tourism will be highlighted. However, recently, discussions on tourism planning have underlined the need for sustainability, which focuses not only on economic factors but also environmental and sociocultural issues. It is widely agreed upon that sustainable planning is needed to balance the benefits and costs of tourism; researchers have recognized that the success of sustainable tourism development in this regard is largely dependent on the policies, planning and management tools used.

The most appropriate form of planning for sustainable tourism development involves collaborative work. This has become an important matter in the sustainable tourism discourse, as there is a need to establish regional tourism partnerships with respect to cooperation and coordination in planning at the national, regional and local level.

In this context, this Special Issue of Sustainability opens an opportunity to discuss relevant knowledge about sustainable strategies applied to regional development and tourism planning. We invite researchers to submit original papers that include theoretical and/or empirical methodologies, state-of-art reviews, case studies addressing the importance of sustainability in regional development and tourism.

The Special Issue seeks papers including (but not limited to) the following themes:

  • Sustainable tourism;
  • Rural tourism sustainability;
  • Entrepreneurship and tourism sustainability;
  • Sustainable tourism planning;
  • Sustainable regional development;
  • Regional development;
  • Tourism as a tool for regional development;
  • Regional tourism networks/partnerships;
  • Different planning approaches;
  • Regional development-centred models;
  • Social, environmental and economic components of tourism sustainability.

Dr. Ana Sofia Duque
Prof. Dr. Keith Bosak
Dr. Maria Lúcia Pato
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable tourism
  • tourism development
  • regional development
  • tourism strategies

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 1999 KiB  
Article
The Digital Economy Promotes Rural Revitalization: An Empirical Analysis of Xinjiang in China
by Lin Zhu, Xuehui Mei and Zhengqing Xiao
Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12278; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612278 - 11 Aug 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2761
Abstract
The digital economy now plays a pivotal role in reshaping the global economic structure and optimizing the allocation of resources. With the popularization of digital technology in rural areas, the impact of the digital economy on rural development is also increasing. In order [...] Read more.
The digital economy now plays a pivotal role in reshaping the global economic structure and optimizing the allocation of resources. With the popularization of digital technology in rural areas, the impact of the digital economy on rural development is also increasing. In order to explore the impact of the digital economy on rural revitalization in Xinjiang of China, this study constructed an indicator system based on the data from 14 prefectures or cities (of the same administrative level as the prefectures) in Xinjiang from 2013 to 2019. The entropy weight method and coupling coordination degree (CCD) model were used to analyze the digital economy level (DEL) and rural revitalization level (RRL) in Xinjiang, and the relationship between the digital economy and rural revitalization was emphasized. Finally, the obstacle degree model was used to reveal the factors that hinder the coupled and coordinated development between the digital economy and rural revitalization. The research shows that: (1) Xinjiang’s DEL generally increased steadily, and digital economy development in 14 prefectures or cities had strong spatial heterogeneity. At the same time, Xinjiang’s RRL showed similar characteristics. (2) The CCD between the two systems was increasing, and the regional distribution features of high-level CCD were in northern Xinjiang and low-level CCD in southern Xinjiang. The coupling coordination was in its infancy, but the interaction between the two systems was increasing, and the development prospect was broad. (3) Overall, the main obstacle affecting the CCD between the digital economy and rural revitalization was the digital infrastructure among four factors, including digital investment, thriving businesses, social etiquette and civility, and effective governance. The degree of this obstacle varied in different phases of coupling coordination development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Regional Development and Tourism)
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20 pages, 495 KiB  
Article
Exploring Business Owners’ Engagement Behavior for Promoting Regional Brands in China: An Empirical Analysis Based on the TPB and ABC Theory
by Na Xu, Yanpu Zhao and Shun Qin
Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11329; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411329 - 20 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1520
Abstract
To help promote existing regional brands and to gain more competitive advantages by encouraging behavior towards promoting regional brands (BPRB) from business owners, this article aims to examine the roles of resource advantage (RA), government policy (GP), consumer pressure (CP), and attitudes toward [...] Read more.
To help promote existing regional brands and to gain more competitive advantages by encouraging behavior towards promoting regional brands (BPRB) from business owners, this article aims to examine the roles of resource advantage (RA), government policy (GP), consumer pressure (CP), and attitudes toward promoting regional brands (APRB) based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the attitude–behavior–context (ABC) theory. Both the direct and indirect effects of RA, GP, CP, and APRB on BPRB are explored in the proposed conceptual model, where the field survey data are from business owners who participated in a regional branding process. A sample of 237 valid responses was used to perform partial least squares (PLS) regression. The results show that RA, CP, and GP significantly and positively impacted BPRB, where GP was the strongest influencing factor, followed by RA and CP. APRB was found to significantly and positively mediate the relationship between RA and BPRB, as well as between GP and BPRB. The findings of all the influencing factors and their rankings in motivating business owners’ behavior, as well as their revealed underlying mechanism, provide a useful theoretical and practical reference for promoting and advancing regional brands’ sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Regional Development and Tourism)
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22 pages, 2474 KiB  
Article
Analyzing the Development Possibilities of the Mountain Area of Banat, Caras-Severin County
by Paula-Diana Peev-Otiman and Nicoleta Mateoc-Sîrb
Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8730; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118730 - 29 May 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1629
Abstract
A county such as Caras-Severin in the mountain area of Banat, with extraordinary natural tourism potential, has a real chance for tourism development only under the conditions of a strong economy and an infrastructure that facilitates and supports tourism activity. In turn, tourism, [...] Read more.
A county such as Caras-Severin in the mountain area of Banat, with extraordinary natural tourism potential, has a real chance for tourism development only under the conditions of a strong economy and an infrastructure that facilitates and supports tourism activity. In turn, tourism, as an economic activity generating jobs and new added value, must contribute, through feedback, to the general economic development of the county. This research offers a case study on the possibilities of tourism development of these areas by exploiting the available natural and anthropic potential. The economic and social development of such a county, including from a tourism point of view, is strictly linked to the general economic development and evolution of Romania, both in the national and international context. To position the contribution of tourism to the development of Caras-Severin County as correctly as possible, we briefly present the general economic situation, including tourism, of Romania, by comparing it with the neighboring and, at the same time, competing countries from a tourism point of view—Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia,—as well as with counties in Romania similar to Caras-Severin County. In terms of its general economic development level, Caras-Severin County is among the least developed counties in the country. In this situation, the development of specific forms of tourism is justified to contribute to the economic development of the area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Regional Development and Tourism)
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21 pages, 4768 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Hotel Building Local Assessment Model: A Case of Northern Cyprus
by Soad Abokhamis Mousavi
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12752; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912752 - 6 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2453
Abstract
Sustainable building design has grown in importance over the past three decades on every scale, from the global to the small, and in every industry, including the building and tourist sectors. While there are many different types of hotel buildings around the world [...] Read more.
Sustainable building design has grown in importance over the past three decades on every scale, from the global to the small, and in every industry, including the building and tourist sectors. While there are many different types of hotel buildings around the world to meet the demands of guests, their diverse existence can also benefit the local environment and communities through sustainable building design. Hotel buildings have the potential to influence and inspire global transmission of sustainable building methods and their advantages since they are built to attract guests and are reflective of the local culture. Thus, this research aims to build a model to assess the sustainability of hotel buildings as a flexible model according to the different regions’ conditions and priorities. The primary method used in this study is to synthesize sustainable building evaluation criteria and various other sustainability measurement methods developed for buildings. The outcome of this model can be used to assess hotel buildings at the early stages of design, new construction, and amid existing building’s renovations. This study further suggested adapting the model according to the local requirements and goals of a selected region after designing the assessment model as a globally applicable one. A mixed-method approach utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data methods was used in this article. The qualitative method was developed based on observation and interviews with different stakeholders, and the LEED certification was used as a platform for the quantitative method. With the assessment parameters model in mind, a localized version of the model was applied to one hotel building as a case study. Results indicate that the hotel building should be assessed using a localized rather than a global model to have a more sustainable hotel building in the selected area. The selected hotel was tested with the developed LEED model and the results show that the hotel, as an independent building, could be more sustainable in terms of environmental sustainability but that when the social and cultural indicators were applied from the localized model, the results indicate that the hotel would not be sustainable. Finally, this study revealed that the localized model could work over all the countries by considering each region’s existing conditions. Subsequently, this model may help the tourism sector and hotel industries in selected contexts to benefit from sustainability in terms of environmental, socio-cultural, and economic aspects. In turn, these improvements help the local people in numerous ways to have a better quality of life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Regional Development and Tourism)
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