Transitional Tourism

Sustainable Development Goals, Broad Prosperity (in Dutch, Brede Welvaart), Equitable Tourism, Circular Tourism, Degrowth, Regenerative Tourism, Destination Stewardship and Doughnut Economics. All these terms and concepts are com monly used by Destination-Management and Marketing Organisations (DMMOS), as well as by the travel industry when talking about tourism that focuses on greater sustainability and social resilience. But what do these terms actually mean? There are just so many of them. In many cases they are not clearly defined and they often overlap, or even relate to each other. It’s hardly surprising then that there is much confusion about them, including how they can be used in practice. An added com plication is that they can become buzzwords, or used in the ‘real’ world in ways that they were not initially intended for. How can we prevent this happening to the concepts that are now being popular ised? With this document, we aim to clarify the various terms used in discussions about tourism’s transition. While we use ‘Transitional Tourism’ as an overarching concept, our goal is not to introduce another ‘buzzword’. Instead, we encourage you to focus on the underlying processes driving this transition. Among the ques tions that we will answer are: What do the different concepts stand for? In what ways are they similar? What are the differences between them? To what extent, and in which ways, are they meant to contribute to a sustainability transition in tourism? How are they used in practice? And perhaps most importantly of all, how can we use the combined insights afforded by these approaches to facilitate a true transi tion in tourism? We’ll take you through it step-by-step.