Economic activity today is still based on a linear model of production and consumption: extract/produce and consume/throw, which exhausts natural resources and generates waste. The current linear economy does not optimize materials nor favour their recycling, reuse or recovery. Hence, the concept of Circular Economy (CE) has received increasing attention between policymakers and stakeholders worldwide. However, the literature on CE was mainly developed for the manufacturing sector, and only a few references are found on the tourism sector even though it is a sector where huge consumption of energy and water, food waste, congestion problems and CO₂ emissions take place. This work aims to evaluate the importance of tourism in the CE literature and to identify current research trends and possible gaps in the literature on CE and tourism. In order to identify papers for this, the authors carried out a literature review of papers in the social science citation index (Web of Science) and Scopus. The keywords used are related to the tourism sector and CE, and the last search was made at the end of January 2020. Only papers published in English have been considered in the sample, which totals to 55 articles. Each contribution is analysed and, according to its content, classified into eight streams; then, the paper identifies two knowledge areas in tourism that this scientific production covers and the areas with lack of knowledge generated. Findings show that more research is needed about tourism’s intersection with CE in order to generate possible solutions towards a more sustainable tourism industry.

Pricing and revenue management (RM) techniques have become a popular field of research in hotel management literature. The sector’s background framework and evolution and the widespread use of new technologies have allowed a customer-oriented approach to be taken to pricing and the development of RM tools, while also contributing to better processes in hotel management performance at individual hotel level. Thus, price optimization (PO) methods that seek to maximize hotel revenue are based on inventory scarcity, customer segmentation and pricing. In the hotel sector, as in the airline industry, different pricing policies have a greater impact than competition measurement effects. This is mainly as differentiation strategies and specific policies at hotels can reduce the pressure of a competitive environment. The main contributions of the article are the presentation, description and classification of the principal RM and PO techniques in hotel sector literature.

Tourism causes important environmental impacts and can generate great pressure on local resources, such as land, water, energy and food, generating large amounts of waste, as well as problems of congestion, noise and air pollution. The circular economy is presented as an alternative model to the linear model, which recognizes the fundamental role of the environment, its functions and the interaction between the environment and the economic system. The hotel sector and the tourism sector in general, have been criticized for not adequately addressing environmental problems and global warming. In order to carry out the transition to a circular economy (CE), it is essential to innovate in business models, designing a circular business model. The objective of this work is to design guidelines on possible actions and opportunities that allow us to carry out a successful transition towards a circular model in hotel companies, as well as to design a model for this transition in a tourism destination, analyzing the roles of the different agents in this transition. Findings identified the main opportunities and benefits of this transition in the hotel sector and describes a three-axis model to carry out this transition in a tourism destination, identifying the roles of public administrations and DMOs, resident population and the tourism sector. Future research implications are also discussed.

This paper evaluates the impact of yacht charter tourism on the economy of the Balearic Islands, one of the most popular yachting tourism destinations in the Mediterranean. Empirical evidence, from a sample of yacht charter tourists and a database on charter firms in the Balearics provided by the National Charter Federation, gives information on daily tourist expenditure, the number of charter tourists and firms' turnover and employment. More than 100,000 tourists come annually to the Balearics to charter yachts. Average daily expenditure per tourist, including charter cost and other spending on hotel accommodation, bars and restaurants, shopping and other items, is €170; however, average daily expenditure varies depending on the typology of boat rented. When tourist spending in the country of origin is included, average daily expenditure rises to €203.90. Daily expenditure is higher than that of a traditional tourist (€105.20) and similar to that of a golf tourist (€211). Finally, yacht charter activity in the Balearics contributes to the generation of around 866 jobs in the archipelago.

This paper analyses the importance of environmental innovations as a key competitiveness factor for tourism firms in the Balearic Islands. Empirical evidence from a sample of tourism firms confirms the importance of environmental innovation, especially in the lodging and accommodation sector and as firm size and/or scale of operations increases. Firms belonging to a corporation are more environmentally innovative than independent firms. Environmental innovations are mainly process and technological ones. When investing in new destinations, Balearic hotel chains transfer and incorporate environmental technologies in new establishments. Finally, the main objectives when introducing environmental innovations are to satisfy customer needs and to improve service quality and the image and competitiveness of the firm.