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The temporary closure of Maya Bay – located at Phi Phi Le Island in Thailand’s Krabi province – was an executive decision made to overcome problems of “over-tourism” and degradation of the marine ecosystems. The purpose of this paper is to assess the process of stakeholder engagement by the Thai authorities before they arrived at decisions on the closure of Maya Bay.

A multi-method qualitative research through in-depth interviews and netnography was designed to examine opinions of participants within the context of investigation.

The key findings revolve around the central research question of “how are stakeholders managed and consulted to overcome ‘over-tourism’ in Maya Bay?”. The research question can be sub-divided into three parts – the identification of “over-tourism,” the process of engaging and consulting with stakeholders on solutions to deal with “over-tourism,” and the final decision on selected approaches to overcome “over-tourism.”

The researchers draw upon the views from the five groups of stakeholders to propose recommendations on tackling “over-tourism” issues that local governments and destination management agencies might face. A business, residents, authorities, visitors and environmentalists (BRAVE) stakeholders framework is proposed by integrating five main stakeholder categories – businesses (B), residents (R), authorities (A), visitors (V) and environmentalists (E). This “BRAVE” stakeholders model is then used to assess the various stakeholders’ positions on the issue of “over-tourism” in Maya Bay, including a cost-benefit analysis in an “over-tourism” situation. Particular attention is placed on how different stakeholders work together and converge on a decision accepted by all.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the level of alignment of tourism investment in Jamaica with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts on the country.

This study is interpretive, combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This comprises primary data; collected from interviews of tourism policy makers and experts; and analysis of secondary research data on tourism investments made by government agencies and other organizations that generate and/or provide official statistical data. Interviews are conducted in a semi-structured, open-ended format that enable respondents to provide insights and expound on ideas shared.

The findings reveal that some SDGs have greater alignment with some of the targets of the SDGs than others. The results proffer a possible reason for this; this could be owing to the priorities of the Ministry of Tourism as it relates to investment in tourism development – investment in improved infrastructure is high on the priority of the Ministry, and therefore reflects better alignment to SDG 9, which relates to infrastructure.

This study provides a backdrop from which to assess Jamaica’s investment activities in furtherance of inclusive and sustainable tourism. The findings also inform decision makers – whether they continue on the current trajectory, or in facilitating adjustments to enable tourism investments to better align with the SDGs. The main limitation lies in the fact that the research findings may only be transferable and generalized to the extent that other jurisdictions bear similar macroeconomic characteristics to Jamaica.

This study lends itself to opportunities for future research in other similar small island developing states. It also contributes to the body of knowledge on investments that work to further the aims of the SDGs and provides a base from which to conduct further research.

The social implications of tourism investment closely align with SDGs including tourism that is more inclusive and sustainable; that reduces income inequalities; that is beneficial to all Jamaicans, whether directly or indirectly; and that contributes to the development of human capital.

This study evaluates investment alignment with the SDGs in relation to Destination Jamaica. No previous work has been done to explore this relationship; hence, this research is pivotal in informing decision makers and continuing research in this area.

While the number of tourists worldwide is expected to reach 1.8 billion people by 2030, tourism destinations try to meet demand for increasing tourism. However, some tourism destinations are experiencing a maturity period of destination life cycle intensively. During these mature periods, while they meet the demand above their tourism carrying capacity, they encounter some problematic issues. In tourist destinations such as Venice, Barcelona and Paris, the negative feelings developed by the local people towards overtourism or tourists result in serious problems like negative destination images, tourism phobia, etc. In these destinations, to prevent the negative consequences of overtourism, destination stakeholders should develop solutions to these problems. There are many solution techniques for the problems which cause overtourism. One of them is the different tourism types which have been developed as an alternative to mass tourism. These alternative tourism types can be handled as a method for solving problems revealed through excess demand in tourism destinations at risk. For example, some tourism destinations which have both beach tourism and nature-based tourism types can bring nature-based tourism activities to the forefront with promotion and marketing activities and therefore, the tourism demand could be balanced between these tourism types. In this context, firstly, comprehensive literature review of overtourism and alternative tourism will be conducted in this study. And then the different types of tourism such as ecotourism, cultural tourism and responsible tourism will be discussed in detail and their relation in reducing the negative consequences of overtourism will be investigated theoretically via secondary data. Therefore, alternative tourism potentials will be investigated and tried to present the managerial suggestions for the development of different alternative types of tourism. As a result, it has been seen that, alternative tourism not only contributes to the growth of tourism in both popular and remote destinations but also makes sure that destinations get their fair share in income distribution of the country.

This paper aims to look at the relationship between film tourism and ecotourism and questions whether the two are compatible or mutually exclusive.

Entertainment films are making a deep impact on international tourism development, with popular movies playing an increasingly influential role in tourists’ choice of holiday destination. Areas with high natural value are frequently used as film locations, their image as a nature-loving escape paradise emerges and is coincided with a growth of film-induced visitors, willing to participate in nature-based activities. Tourism has always been a fundamental component of the areas of high natural value concept, and with this unparalled growth of the film tourism and ecotourism, it was inevitable that one day they will meet and interact in natural areas. This paper provides case studies where filmic intervention shapes tourist nature-loving imaginings, triggers ecotourism activities but also raises environmental concern of locals, and films like The Beach (2000) and Deliverance (1972) and the TV series Pride and Prejudice (1996) are subject to discussion.

In many cases, the natural areas have not the carrying capacity to cope with large increases in film-induced visitors, and this results in a number of possible undesirable consequences, from the loss of privacy to the destruction of the natural environment. This paper suggests that film tourism and ecotourism are compatible if tourism policy planners follow strategies, such as environmental education initiatives, that engage film tourism stakeholders and the film industry in creating solutions to environmental challenges.

Film tourism planning hasn’t yet focused on the tools for environmentally sound management of a destination. This paper argues that film tourism literature needs to develop marketing and policy perspectives to inform appropriate environmental management of film tourism planning and enhance environmental sustainability of a destination.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the emergence of overtourism, outline the issues and contributing factors, as it relates to cities, and to suggest possible mitigation measures that might be taken by policy makers.

This paper draws from a review of literature looking at longitudinal issues of tourism development overtime and what has contributed to the phenomena of overtourism. A discussion of implications is provided from this review.

As tourism is an industry which has historically been poorly managed, greater political will and actual acknowledgement of the problem, as well as action by all levels of government are the necessary first steps to address overtourism.

This paper outlines key elements that contribute to overtourism and provides global examples which may help practitioners identify key critical issues in their own destinations and identify appropriate actions.

This paper identifies issues raised by local resident populations and possible responses.

This paper provides a critical overview of overtourism issues, as it relates to cities and discusses potential mitigation and reduction efforts, thereby providing an explanation of why overtourism has become so prevalent.

Tourism has been an important activity in the past. Today tourism is a high revenue generation industry in many countries. But recently, many destinations are suffering from overtourism. Overtourism is a real-life phenomenon experienced by destinations. Overtourism is defined as many tourists visiting a particular place simultaneously which has resulted in the falling or unacceptable quality of life. It is just the opposite of wellness tourism, a better place to live and a better place to visit. The term overtourism was first used on Twitter as #overtourism back in August 2012. In 2017 UNWTO ministers addressed overtourism at the World Travel Market. In the last few years, there have been anti-tourism movements in popular destinations such as Barcelona, Santorini and Copenhagen. These movements' main aim is the attention of press attraction and have led to different proposed actions by tourism decision-makers in making a policy to control overtourism. In recent years overtourism has become an important and discussed issue in media and academia. In this context, the term is still not widely defined and open to numerous discussions. This chapter aims to clarify the root causes of overtourism, the emergence of overtourism and how social media is responsible for and impacts overtourism. The methodology of this chapter is a general review literature of overtourism issues. The chapter states that the government poorly managed without a bigger political force and genuine knowledge of the government's difficulty and action are taking first in the tourism industry. This chapter identifies the social movement of overtourism raised by residents.

This chapter sets out to analyze the impact of the Covid-19 virus on the holidays provided by UK group tour operators (GTOs) and the implications for overtourism. With tourism arrivals expected to fall by up to 30% in 2020 and a slow return to pre-Covid-19 levels for 2021 and beyond, the industry is possibly suffering the loss of up to 100 million travel-related jobs (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2020). GTOs will need to assess and possibly change the way they do business to initially survive and subsequently build up tourism numbers in the coming years.

This chapter identifies how GTOs could alter their holiday proposition to reassure travellers including the challenges of operating international tours when airlines have reduced capacity, the need to consider alternative age demographics who are more likely to travel and assessing existing itineraries to visit rural or small town locations rather than cities where numerous itineraries travel to now.

Finally, this chapter discusses and describes the significance of the findings with insights about possible opportunities based upon the approaches taken by various countries to target potential holidaymakers and the need to create a ‘crisis management plan’ for current and future countries. This may result in operational adjustments to meet these new requirements including the changing outlook of potential customers and the possibility of offering domestic tours to meet the current demand.