In the light of growing inequality globally, it is important to consider how to make tourism, one of the world's largest industries, more inclusive. This concern is set in the context of, first, the growing use of tourism as a tool for social integration in Europe, not least in relation to making refugees welcome, and second, new expectations in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that development should be inclusive and that the Global North and the private sector will take more responsibility for this. We provide a definition and suggest elements of an analytical framework for inclusive tourism, and note where inclusive tourism sits in relation to other terms that engage with the social and economic development potentials of tourism. Elements of inclusive tourism are illustrated with reference to a range of examples from around the world. This illustrates how marginalized people might be ethically and beneficially included in the production and consumption of tourism. However, it also demonstrates how formidable the challenges are to achieve substantial social change through inclusive tourism given constraints both within the sector and in the wider political economy.

SDG1 presents the global community with an important, but highly challenging goal. When discussing tourism’s potential to contribute to SDG1 to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”, the multidimensional nature of poverty must be considered rather than focusing solely on economic deprivation. Specifically, we need to shift the focus beyond how tourism can foster economic growth, provide jobs and income, to considering sociopolitical aspects of poverty and how structural inequalities are impeding people’s development. The contradictions involved in poor people, in poor locations, with poor labour rights, putting on smiling faces to serve rich guests of former colonial powers and to clean up their messes, should not be overlooked if we are genuinely interested in challenging the negative aspects of global tourism and making it more equitable and sustainable in the future. Thus, if governments and tourism industry players wish to do more than pay lip service to SDG1, they will need to make some significant changes to the way in which they work. This article will draw inspiration from tourism businesses in Fiji that are addressing SDG1 and related goals, and discuss how they have the potential to contribute to longer-term sustainable development.

For over twenty years, tourism researchers have examined how to determine whether destination communities are being empowered through tourism: there is much we can learn through analysis of that work. We outline and critique the most commonly used empowerment framework in this field as was first published by Scheyvens in 1999, which has four dimensions (psychological, social, economic and political) but which has been adapted and extended in a variety of ways. We also consider two other frameworks, and the application of a revised model in the South African context, before proposing that the Scheyvens framework would be strengthened through the addition of environmental and cultural dimensions. We draw theoretical inspiration from nested circle approaches to sustainable development to embed the dimensions of community empowerment within a series of ‘enabling factors’ that might support possibilities for community empowerment to occur, and, in turn, the empowerment dimensions and enabling factors are situated within a wider circle of the natural environment. We have structured this all into a new Empowerment and Sustainable Development Framework.

While some geographers have embraced active learning as a means to engage students in a course, many others stick to conventional teaching methods. They are often deterred by suggestions that it can be difficult to implement active learning where students have no prior knowledge of a subject, that active learning requires too much work of lecturers and students, and that there are significant institutional constraints to implementing active learning. In this article the authors draw on their experiences of utilizing active learning in five different countries before dispelling myths which continue to constrain the uptake of active learning methods. Finally, they provide simple guidelines for successful integration of active learning in geography courses.

In 2019, Massey University in New Zealand hosted the world’s first research conference on tourism and the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). The aims of this conference were to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to discuss (i) challenges to tourism contributing to the SDGs, and (ii) ways in which tourism can deliver on its potential to be more inclusive, equitable and sustainable. The need for diverse actors to work in partnership to achieve the SDGs emerged as a key theme. This special issue presents several of the papers from that conference, as well as contributions from a broader range of scholars. As is evident in this collection, partnerships in tourism tend to be complex, multi-faceted, subject to multiple legal frameworks and governance arrangements, and are often cross-sectoral, transnational and cross-border. While these overlapping factors can make it challenging for tourism actors to develop effective partnerships to deliver on the SDGs, the articles herein suggest there is considerable promise where stakeholders have shared values and commitments. Tourism scholars need to reflect more on possibilities for constructive partnerships because, as the pandemic milieu has demonstrated, partnerships spanning governments, industries and communities are a fundamental requirement to producing more sustainable tourism futures.