Mihalič, Tanja, Segota, Tina ORCID: 0000-0001-7994-1396, Knežević Cvelbar, Ljubica and Kuščer, Kir (2016) The influence of the political environment and destination governance on sustainable tourism development: a study of Bled, Slovenia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24 (11). pp. 1489-1505. ISSN 0966-9582 (Print), 1747-7646 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2015.1134557)

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Abstract

In the context of sustainable tourism development, there are many studies about the exchange process between residents and tourism, yet this issue is practically unexplored with respect to the political environment of tourism. Therefore, this paper introduces and posits that the political environment is a necessary enabler for implementing sustainable tourism. The authors extend the established three-pillar sustainability concept by adding in the political dimension. Then they surveyed how residents' positive and negative perceptions of tourism impacts determine their satisfaction with life in the tourism destination and thus their support for tourism in their community. The model was empirically tested within the context of the long-established Alpine destination of Bled in Slovenia. The findings confirm the importance of the political environment and question the sustainability of Bled's tourism development. It is suggested that the community has relatively weak destination governance due to the underdeveloped political environment. The survey expands and deepens the tourism sustainability debate by adding in the political environment and how it relates to the emerging growth of research on destination governance. The proposed model can be adapted and applied to any destination in order to improve its governance, including the implementation of sustainable tourism development.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Community development, community participation, economic sustainability, environmental attitudes, resident attitudes, sustainable development
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business Faculty of Business > Department of Marketing, Events & Tourism
Last Modified:	27 May 2020 10:50
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/19146

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