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The purpose of this paper is to discuss responsibility in tourism destinations. On the basis of a resilience approach, central aspects of leadership and of responsibility in destination networks are introduced and, a contribution to a conceptual analysis of the future viability of tourism destinations is made. This contributes to a better understanding of resilience from a destination management organization (DMO) perspective in the context of shared responsibility.

To achieve this goal, a qualitative interview series was conducted with destination managers in urban and rural areas. The interviews were evaluated using the method of GABEK®, in order to reveal and visualize semantic relationships between the specific statements. This method allows the representation of linkages and relationships of keywords from interview transcripts in the form of network graphs.

A major result is the existence of a network of leaders who take responsibility for tourism development within a tourism destination. Within this network, the destination manager once again plays a key role by developing and formulating visions, goals and strategies. In this context, the relevant employees of the DMO have an important role to play, since they are an important resource of tourism development due to their experience and competences.

The paper contributes to a practical view on the development of visions and strategies. It analyzes challenges and possible ways to communicate with the required political and public actors of the destination as well as with the service providers to regard destination development as a collaborative task.

Overtourism is an emerging concept and a perennial process every destination is going through. It is a cyclic phenomenon derived from the destination, retained in the destination and at last demised by the destination. It's a kind of ‘tourism illness’ spreading rapidly in every destination in the present scenario. The status of overtourism in every destination has been caused by the tourist, of the tourist and for the tourist. In the context of religious places in Odisha, overtourism is a ‘disorder’ that cannot be mitigated, as religiosity, faith and spiritualism have propelled and governed people's sentiment and emotion. Hence ambiguity arises out of making an intrigue situation between a myth or a spiritual sojourn bounded by faith and belief. This chapter significantly contributes by unfolding the existing literature by providing the origin and evolution of overtourism, various stated definitions by the different authors, causes and consequences, and overtourism in religious destinations by adopting an exploratory study, particularly in case of the Golden triangle of Odisha.