Increasing worldwide evidence on disruptive unsustainable impacts, caused by growing overtourism, is shaking tourism research agendas and destination management styles. Monitoring the risks of overtourism is becoming a relevant issue for every destination. This paper combines the existing sustainability–responsibility tourism framework from academic research with current industry research on overtourism in order to propose a sustainable tourism impact and stakeholder cooperation based on the overtourism risk monitoring model. Data-based social science statistical methodology and tools were used to identify the residents’ attitudes about tourism impacts and cooperation in the destination of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Ljubljana represents a case of a fast-growing tourism destination, which might lead to overtourism. Research has confirmed some impact factors that negatively influence the satisfaction of local residents with tourism presence. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that increased cooperation mitigates the negative perceptions of residents on tourism presence. In its present form, the proposed monitoring model can be used to examine the overtourism situation and to inform sustainable tourism policy and management for every destination.

Tourism is facing an unprecedented crisis whose sheer scope is dictating global transformation of the industry. The aim of this paper is to explore how different countries and destinations responded to the initial blow of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what is expected in the recovery and restart phases. A crisis management model was developed using data from 31 interviews with tourism organizations. The findings help identify the actions required to build resilience, emphasizing the responsibilities and interventions that can achieve tourism restoration. We point out implications for theory and practice in terms of incorporating policymakers’ perceptions, while also informing tourism organizations about policy development and the reformulation of strategies. This might support countries and destinations choosing the right path in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the negative and taking advantage of the positive repercussions.

This paper contributes to the comparative tourism sustainability debate in the context of mountain tourism destinations. It is based on a published three-dimensional Mountain Destination Innovation Model (MDIM) which claims that tourism development depends on a destination's innovation levels, and is subject to different conditions in a variety of important destination environments (using that term in its broadest sense), including sociocultural, natural, political, legal and technological. The authors comparatively analyzed Austrian, Slovenian and Swiss mountain destinations, which are located in small countries in the Alpine region, and that makes their environments, innovation levels and stages of development relatively easy to compare. The analysis used 88 managers’ replies to a 72 element questionnaire employing both objective and subjective measures about performance with regard to MDIM dimensions. The findings confirm differences in the stages of tourism development, in innovation levels, as well as in the supporting role of their corresponding wider environments. Swiss and Austrian mountain destinations outperformed Slovenian in almost all respects, but not in protection and quality of the natural environment or in inherited sociocultural attractiveness, where significant differences were not determined. The findings could help development and tourism policy authorities to improve the factors that determine sustainable tourism destination development.

Tourism’s vulnerability to crises underscores the need for new or adapted tourism policies that prioritize sustainable tourism development across ecological, economic, and stakeholder dimensions. While past research has highlighted the relevance of sustainable policies for tourism crisis recovery, the research gap lies in the actual implementation of these policies in response to crises. This study examines tourism policymaking in Europe by conducting a quantitative study with 181 tourism organizations responsible for sustainable tourism and its policy implementation. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to reveal how tourism policymakers perceive challenges, the subsequent impact on implemented policies, and the intended sustainability-driven goals. Specifically, policies addressing environmental, technological, promotional, and personnel challenges have been enacted due to the climate change crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and financial recessions. These policies not only aim to pursue economic recovery but also contribute to the sustainable development of tourism, engaging key stakeholders and aligning with broader sustainability goals such as climate action and governance. This study addresses the underdeveloped area of sustainomics by contributing to the discourse on political implementation for sustainable development, providing a critical exploration of how tourism governance can enhance sustainability practices in crisis contexts.

Research question: The research questions are aimed at increasing knowledge about ski resorts’ sustainability. Achieving and maintaining sustainable operations and meeting sustainability requirements may be more important for some resorts than others. RQ1: Which sustainability indicators are part of pillars and requirements of ski resort sustainability? RQ2: Which types of ski resorts are more effective in managing sustainability? Research methods: A survey of ski resort managers from Europe and North America was undertaken. Principal component analysis was conducted on each of the pillars and requirements of sustainability of ski resorts. Identified factors were then inputted into Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests to search for differences between resorts with different lengths of pistes and altitudes. Finally, clustering was used to further define which types of ski resorts exhibit more sustainable behavior. Results and findings: This study shows that larger ski resorts are capable of producing lesser environmental effect per visitor. Higher altitude forces ski resorts to behave more sustainably. There is a clear indication that resorts with longer pistes and higher altitudes are more inclined to implement sustainability management practices and enjoy higher quality environments. Implications: The results advance our knowledge of ski tourism and recreation as a special interest market segment as well as its potential for policy to support sustainable mountain tourism development. Identified advantages and situational conditions to be taken into account for efficient ski resort operations are discussed. A major policy implication of the present study is that big is not always bad when managing a ski resort.

In recent years, the focus of an increasing number of research has been sustainability in ski destinations (e.g., Luthe & Schläpfer, 2011; Škorić, 2008; Unbehaun et al., 2008; Verbeek et al., 2011), which is now well defined and understood. But there still exists a lack of knowledge about what exactly sustainable tourism means to tourists and how important different elements of sustainable development are to them (Wehrli et al., 2012). This chapter aims to advance the understanding of these issues by focusing on one particular subset of the population - young adults (aged 18-34 years), since they are the current and also important future driving force behind tourism demand. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to explore the preferences of young adults when choosing a ski destination and their views on sustainable development of ski destinations. The goal of the research is to identify different segments of young adult ski destination visitors according to the elements that affect their ski destination choice and subsequently establish whether these segments differ in terms of other characteristics, with a particular emphasis on how important different elements of sustainable development of ski destinations are to them. Six clusters with respect to the importance of different elements of sustainable development of ski destinations are identified: anti-sustainability skiers, anti-skiing sustainabilitists, sustainable skiers, sustainable hedonists, solely skiers, and indifferent anti-skiers. The clustering has also practical implications for developing new sustainable products and services in order to better meet the needs and expectations of young adults and target the tailored offers to specific clusters of ski destination visitors. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->