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The aim of this paper is to profile the World Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) theme issue “Tourism sustainability in the Alpine region: What are the major trends and challenges?” with reference to the experience of the theme editors and writing team.

This paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editors to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting-point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.

It draws on a multidisciplinary approach to identify some key components of sustainable tourism for the French and Italian Alps. It reflects on research and stakeholder interaction that helped to shape the current and future thinking about how Alpine mountain resorts can enhance sustainability in relation to the destination offer, accommodation, transport and mobility and institutional, legal and socio-economic aspects.

The theme issue outcomes provide lines of enquiry for others to explore, and they reinforce the value of WHATT’s approach to collaborative working and writing.

The work reported in this theme issue provides research-based evidence of the need for rapid adaptation to sustainable tourism development for resorts in the French and Italian Alps. Traditionally designed to facilitate skiing and snow sports, the impact of climate change is forcing a rethink to safeguard Alpine tourism – a vital economic activity to these and most mountain tourism destinations.

The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to discuss the current situation of tourism in Tunisia after the revolution and to explore new ways to improve its image.

The paper is based on a literature review of tourism crisis and the current trends in Tunisian tourism.

The paper observes that a crisis can be a source of opportunity for a destination and that a carefully developed communication plan can improve its image.

The sharp decrease in international tourism flows in Tunisia makes it necessary for the destination to set a new tourism strategy aimed at improving its image among European tour operators and tourists.

This paper considers the extent to which a crisis in destination image affords an opportunity to reconsider its tourism strategy and improve its competitive positioning.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and discuss the involvement in sustainable development of French event companies, mostly by identifying facilitators and barriers to their sustainability strategy. Based on the results, some recommendations are provided, which aim at increasing the sustainability of French event companies.

The paper is based on face-to-face and semi-structured interviews with six directors and top managers of French event companies and a consultant in sustainable tourism. The data collected were analysed through a content analysis.

This paper identified different motivations and barriers regarding the involvement of French event companies in sustainability. The main motivations are personal conviction, a greater satisfaction for clients and a cost similar to the one of non-sustainable events. The main barriers are a difficulty in comparing the cost of sustainable and non-sustainable events, a low demand for sustainable events, a lower quality of materials and greenwashing, the issue of measuring sustainability and a profusion of labels.

As the directors of French event companies interviews do believe in the value of sustainability, they should educate their clients and employees towards sustainability. They should also find ways to demonstrate that the price of a sustainable event is not higher than a non-sustainable one.

This paper focusses on the sustainability of event companies in France, comparing companies that are highly involved in sustainability and others that are not involved. In the field of events research, most studies focussed on the degree of sustainability of specific events, whereas this study deals with the sustainability of corporate events companies.

This paper aims to formulate assumptions on home sharing users’ sensitivity toward sustainability in mountain areas and define the sustainability indicators that may be used to search for home-based accommodation in mountain areas.

The paper is based on a literature review of key terms: mountain tourism, peer-to-peer accommodation and sustainability indicators.

Tourists in mountain areas are more likely to be sensitive toward sustainability than in urban areas, so they are likely to expect home sharing websites to provide sustainability criteria for selecting their accommodation.

Home sharing platforms should offer to mountain tourists the possibility to search for and assess home-based accommodation using sustainability criteria.

Most studies on peer-to-peer accommodation were designed in urban areas. The authors state that in mountain areas, tourists are more sensitive toward sustainability and would therefore be more inclined to consider sustainability in their search for a home-based accommodation.

This paper aims to offer some key summary points drawn from the collection of articles gathered in this theme issue as to how Alpine destinations can manage tourism sustainability.

The paper summarizes the contribution made by different articles published in this issue and discusses their connection to the strategic issue of tourism sustainability.

The paper presents four key points that contribute to the debate on tourism sustainability: the sharing economy geared for winter mountain destinations; marketing perspectives on sustainability in winter mountain destinations; sustainability and transportation; and the institutional, legal and socio-economic aspects of sustainability.

Drawing on indicators of tourists’ behavior and from the findings of the articles published in this issue, this concluding study identifies the challenges that winter mountain destinations will have to address in the future. The originality and value of this issue lies in the multidisciplinary approach that was adopted – most research on sustainability tends to focus on a single academic stream. Moreover, the focus is on mountain areas with a cross-border perspective, whereas most research on sustainability is designed for a single country, and wider applicability is bounded by constraints.

This introductory paper aims to provide a broad overview of the significance and contributions of this theme issue.

This introductory paper draws from the papers presented at a conference on tourism and local development in the Alpine region (Courmayeur, Italy, June 26-27, 2017). Sustainable tourism from different perspectives was a core topic at this conference, and it is a theme widely discussed in the literature.

Sustainability in mountain tourism has many facets, and it involves many aspects of tourism management: mobility and mobility infrastructure; global warming, snow shortage and long-term viability of ski stations; pollution and clean air; price of accessibility; stakeholders’ involvement and networking; and cross-border partnerships. The tourism literature has always been in transition, with many disciplines contributing to its development. Sustainability adds new perspectives that enrich the field and broaden the horizon and discussion. Even though each paper has its own specific conclusion, there are several key themes that emerge from most of the papers. Among these, sustainability is stimulating a re-think of the “classical” products and services provided in mountain destinations, particularly in relation to the winter season. Snow, water and other physical resources typical of mountain regions can no longer be taken for granted, and their progressive scarcity requires a long-term view.

The findings indicate that it will be necessary to encourage tourists to try and explore the wider range of products and services that a mountain destination can offer. To facilitate this, tourism operators will need to configure a broader and richer experience in the future. The issue of sustainability involves many stakeholders, who can combine their knowledge, competences and activities to maximize the attractiveness of a location while preserving its resources for the future.

The value of this paper is that it highlights the key themes and perspectives that sustainable tourism is raising.

Profiles the WHATT theme issue: “Tourism sustainability in natural, residential and mountain locations: What are the current issues and questions?” with reference to the experiences of the theme editors and writing team.

The author has used structured questions to enable the theme editors to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting-point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.

This paper identifies some of the key challenge for sustainable tourism in natural spaces and mountain areas with reference to the issues that impede sustainability and possible solutions.

The theme issue outcomes provide indicators and action points for tourism industry stakeholders and for teaching and research in sustainable tourism development.

This paper draws on discussion and applies research to identify and assess the scope and scale of action needed to address tourism sustainability in a diverse range of locations, with particular reference to Europe. Taken together, the theme issue collection of articles provides a rich picture of the changes that are needed and key actions for the future.