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Towards the development of sustainable tourism in pakistan : A study of the role of tour operators

Ullah, Zia ; Naveed, Rana Tahir ; Rehman, Atta Ur ; Ahmad, Naveed ; Scholz, Miklas LU ; Adnan, Mohammad and Han, Heesup (2021) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 13(9).
Abstract

The literature on sustainable tourism is scant, particularly in the least developed countries. Very few studies touch upon the concept and no holistic theoretical or conceptual frameworks around the idea of sustainable tourism have been formulated. This study aims at exploring the role of tour operators in developing sustainable tourism in Pakistan and how the tour operators (TOs) conceive their role in this regard. TOs were reached through phone calls, emails, and virtual sources as face-to-face interviews were not possible due to COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel by the government. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. Results suggest that the TOs although realize the importance of social, environmental, and... (More)

The literature on sustainable tourism is scant, particularly in the least developed countries. Very few studies touch upon the concept and no holistic theoretical or conceptual frameworks around the idea of sustainable tourism have been formulated. This study aims at exploring the role of tour operators in developing sustainable tourism in Pakistan and how the tour operators (TOs) conceive their role in this regard. TOs were reached through phone calls, emails, and virtual sources as face-to-face interviews were not possible due to COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel by the government. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. Results suggest that the TOs although realize the importance of social, environmental, and economic dimensions of tourism on the communities but have no management systems in place to cater accordingly. There are no incentives in place by the government facilitate TOs to design and implement such systems. The TOs do not select a destination based on Global Sustainable Tourism Council criterion, but rather the selection of destination is mostly demand-based and profit-oriented. The study suggests that corporate profit motive is the sole criterion for decision making and is one of the major causes impeding sustainable tourism in Pakistan. The role of TOs in developing sustainable tourism is vague as the TOs do not have any systems in place to implement sustainable models. The study recommends that efforts need to be put in place to incentivize sustainable tourism in Pakistan and proper laws should be set forth by the authorities to comply by the TOs. The role of TOs is important and understood, however, there is a need to put proper systems in place.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Community, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Sustainable tourism, Tour operator, Tourism management systems
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
13
issue
9
article number
4902
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85105624540
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su13094902
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1ec18f82-b9dc-41f7-bccb-3bc669e450cd
date added to LUP
2021-05-27 15:06:11
date last changed
2022-04-27 02:03:32
@article{1ec18f82-b9dc-41f7-bccb-3bc669e450cd,
  abstract     = {{<p>The literature on sustainable tourism is scant, particularly in the least developed countries. Very few studies touch upon the concept and no holistic theoretical or conceptual frameworks around the idea of sustainable tourism have been formulated. This study aims at exploring the role of tour operators in developing sustainable tourism in Pakistan and how the tour operators (TOs) conceive their role in this regard. TOs were reached through phone calls, emails, and virtual sources as face-to-face interviews were not possible due to COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel by the government. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. Results suggest that the TOs although realize the importance of social, environmental, and economic dimensions of tourism on the communities but have no management systems in place to cater accordingly. There are no incentives in place by the government facilitate TOs to design and implement such systems. The TOs do not select a destination based on Global Sustainable Tourism Council criterion, but rather the selection of destination is mostly demand-based and profit-oriented. The study suggests that corporate profit motive is the sole criterion for decision making and is one of the major causes impeding sustainable tourism in Pakistan. The role of TOs in developing sustainable tourism is vague as the TOs do not have any systems in place to implement sustainable models. The study recommends that efforts need to be put in place to incentivize sustainable tourism in Pakistan and proper laws should be set forth by the authorities to comply by the TOs. The role of TOs is important and understood, however, there is a need to put proper systems in place.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ullah, Zia and Naveed, Rana Tahir and Rehman, Atta Ur and Ahmad, Naveed and Scholz, Miklas and Adnan, Mohammad and Han, Heesup}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Community; Global Sustainable Tourism Council; Sustainable tourism; Tour operator; Tourism management systems}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Towards the development of sustainable tourism in pakistan : A study of the role of tour operators}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13094902}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su13094902}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}