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This study aims to investigate growth differentials among small islands and the impact of tourism specialization on the growth and the economic performance of small islands.

The study is based on trade theory and uses data from a panel of small islands for 1995-2007. It applies panel regression and standard time series methods combined with a qualitative approach.

Small islands experienced stronger basic patterns of growth than many developed countries, especially where economies of scale are not an issue. The findings further suggest that tourism specialization is not harmful to growth, and, in lieu of technological gaps and resource limitations, tourism specialization is a sound option. Size, a lack of complete sovereignty or independence and export orientation do not seem to affect the variance in the real per capita GDP at a greater degree. Finally, small islands may leverage returns to scale in global markets.

While tourism specialization is assumed to enhance growth, in the case of small island destinations, the study did not formally test whether increased terms-of-trade may be perpetually improved.

The study prompted four policy suggestions: small island economies should engage in tourism specialization; small island economies should allocate more resources to the tourism industry than other economic sectors; the success of tourism specialization does not depend exclusively on comparative advantage; and institutional realities and path dependence may play a role in economic performance.

The originality of this study lies in the detection of a paradox in mainstream economics that indicates that small islands may not enjoy sustained economic growth. The detection led to a surprising discovery that tourism specialization may propel growth. The value of the study is twofold: theoretical value is added by suggesting a reconceptualization of the construct capital; and, practical value is strengthened in the sense that tourism specialization may only work under a condition where upon tourism offerings command higher prices than other commodities.

This paper aims to identify factors that affect the sports tourism destination's competitiveness on a small island. Hence, this study looks at and evaluates these factors. The study then comes up with a model that clarifies the interrelationships between these factors.

The authors broke down the data analysis process into three steps. The first step was to conduct a literature review and use industry and academia experts' help to determine the essential aspects (fuzzy Delphi method). Then, a hierarchical model was developed, and the factors were categorised using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach. Factors' driving and dependency power were also determined using MICMAC analysis.

This work has identified 13 key factors related to the sports tourism destination's competitiveness on a small island. For a small island like Kish Island, the two independent variables (government support and destination political stability) that define the institutional framework for the destination are most important. Building corresponding competitive and support strategies to address these two independent variables is thus beneficial.

The research's results provide decision-makers, practitioners, and researchers with new insights into the hierarchical model of determinants. The study will fill the existing gap between theory and practice.

Sports tourism destination managers on small islands may benefit from the proposed model since the model will enable them to organise the managers' priorities better to enhance the managers' destinations' competitiveness and provide tourists with a more accurate depiction of the destination.

According to the authors' knowledge, the research design presented in this article has provided the first attempt to hierarchical analyse these factors and develop a model for sports tourism destination competitiveness on small islands and destinations with less-developed economies. This study fills the gap in the destination competitiveness and sports tourism literature by not only identifying the key influencing factors but also examining the interactions between these factors and providing empirical evidence supporting their relationships.

Drawing on theories of development economics and sustainable tourism, this research explores the differences between sovereign and nonsovereign small island tourism economies (SITEs) and identifies the antecedents and effects of overtourism in the Caribbean.

The research design is based on a comparative case study of selected Caribbean SITEs. Case study research involves a detailed empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. The main purpose of a case study is to provide a contextual analysis of the conditions and processes involved in the phenomenon under study. A comparative case study is an appropriate research methodology to explore new multi-faceted concepts with limited empirical evidence.

The results confirm previous studies that nonsovereign SITEs have a distinctive overdrive toward tourism specialization. Moreover, the findings indicate that overtourism is driven by both global and domestic policy factors and generates significant economic volatility, social inequality and ecological stress. The paper discusses the tourism policy implications of the evolving economic disconnectedness, environmental decay and social tensions in SITEs in the Caribbean.

Policy recommendations are presented for transitioning toward a more inclusive development and strengthening the resilience of small island tourism development in the Caribbean.

This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of sustainable tourism development across the Anglophone Caribbean region from the post-independence period of 1962 to the 2020s. The perspective explores the implications of insularity, tourism investment and the pace of technology adoption on the potential realisation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean States.

The viewpoint uses secondary data from grey literature such as government policy documents, academic literature, newspapers and consultancy reports to explore the central themes and provide a conceptual framework for the paper.

The findings reveal that Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are nearer to the light-green single-sector approach to sustainable tourism development. The overarching findings reveal that the region’s heavy focus on economic priorities results in less attention to competitiveness challenges such as environmental management, social equity and technological innovations.

The research presents a comprehensive overview of the tourism development trajectory of other tourism-dependent island-states. The research offers lessons and cross-learning opportunities that may be useful to decision-makers within SIDS. The main limitation is that the findings may only be transferable and generalised to the extent that other jurisdictions bear similar macroeconomic governance structures and cultural characteristics to Caribbean SIDS.

This paper provides a meaningful discussion and contributes to the body of knowledge on the history of Caribbean tourism development, the challenges and future potential of sustainability and lends itself to opportunities for future research in the Caribbean and other SIDS.

The study outlines the social implications for inclusive, responsible and sustainable tourism that can potentially take Caribbean SIDS from slow growth to efficiency in developing the tourism product, including the technological environment. This can reduce inequalities, contribute to socio-economic development and improve the region’s human capital.

This paper provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of Caribbean tourism development specific to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean States. No previous work has been done to compare tourism development within this grouping. Hence, this paper is essential in informing decision-makers and providing the foundation for continuing research in this area.

这篇观点性论文对英语加勒比地区从1962年独立后到本世纪20年代的可持续旅游发展进行了比较分析。该研究前瞻性探讨了牙买加、巴巴多斯、特立尼达和多巴哥以及东加勒比国家的保守性、旅游投资和技术采用速度对潜在实现可持续发展目标的启示。

该研究利用灰色文献中的二手数据, 如政府政策文件、学术文献、报纸和咨询报告, 进行中心主题探索, 并为论文提供概念性框架。

研究结果显示, 加勒比小岛屿发展中国家(SIDS)更接近于以轻绿的单一部门方式实现可持续旅游发展。总体研究结果显示, 该地区过于关注经济优先事项, 导致对环境管理、社会公平和技术创新等竞争力挑战的关注较少。

本研究全面展现了一些依赖旅游发展的岛屿国家的旅游发展路径概览。这项研究为小岛屿发展中国家的决策者提供了可能有用的经验和交叉学习机会。本文研究局限在于, 只有在与加勒比小岛屿发展中国家类似的宏观经济管理结构和文化特征的行政区, 研究结果才可能转移和推广。

这篇论文提供了有意义的讨论, 有助于认知加勒比旅游发展史、可持续发展的挑战和未来潜力, 并为加勒比和其他小岛屿发展中国家的未来研究提供了机会。

该研究概述了包容性、负责任和可持续的旅游发展的社会启示, 这些启示可能使加勒比小岛屿发展中国家从缓慢发展转变为开发旅游产品(包括技术环境)的效率。这有助于减少不平等现象, 促进社会经济发展, 并改善该地区的人力资本。

本文提供了加勒比旅游发展的综合比较分析, 具体到牙买加、特立尼达和多巴哥、巴巴多斯和东加勒比国家。此前没有研究对这些国家的旅游业发展进行比较。因此, 这篇论文为决策者提供必要信息和为这一领域的继续研究建立了基础。

Este trabajo ofrece un análisis comparativo del desarrollo del turismo sostenible en toda la región del Caribe anglófono desde el período posterior a la independencia de 1962 hasta la década de 2020. Se explora las implicaciones de la insularidad, la inversión turística y el ritmo de adopción de la tecnología en la posible realización de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) en las islas de Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad y Tobago y los Estados del Caribe Oriental.

El análisis se basa en datos secundarios bibliográficos a partir de documentos de política gubernamental, literatura académica, periódicos e informes de consultoría para explorar los temas centrales y proporcionar un marco conceptual en este documento.

Las conclusiones revelan que los pequeños estados insulares en desarrollo (Caribbean Small Island Developing States, SIDS) están más próximos del enfoque del turismo como único sector económico o sostenibilidad débil para el desarrollo del turismo sostenible. Las conclusiones generales revelan que la fuerte concentración de la región en las prioridades económicas hace que se preste menos atención a los retos de la competitividad, como la gestión medioambiental, la equidad social y las innovaciones tecnológicas.

La investigación presenta una visión global de la trayectoria de desarrollo turístico de otros Estados insulares dependientes del turismo. La investigación ofrece lecciones y oportunidades de aprendizaje que pueden ser útiles para los responsables de la toma de decisiones en los SIDS. La principal limitación es que las conclusiones sólo pueden ser transferibles y generalizadas en la medida en que otras jurisdicciones tengan estructuras de gobernanza macroeconómica y características culturales similares a las de los SIDS del Caribe.

Este documento ofrece un análisis significativo y contribuye al conjunto de conocimientos sobre la historia del desarrollo del turismo en el Caribe, los retos y el potencial futuro de la sostenibilidad, y se presta a oportunidades para futuras investigaciones en el Caribe y otros SIDS.

El estudio esboza las implicaciones sociales del turismo inclusivo, responsable y sostenible que puede llevar a los SIDS del Caribe de un crecimiento lento a la eficiencia en el desarrollo del producto turístico, incluyendo el entorno tecnológico. Esto puede reducir las desigualdades, contribuir al desarrollo socioeconómico y mejorar el capital humano de la región.

Este trabajo proporciona un análisis comparativo exhaustivo del desarrollo del turismo en el Caribe, específico para Jamaica, Trinidad y Tobago, Barbados y los Estados del Caribe Oriental. No se ha realizado ningún trabajo anterior para comparar el desarrollo del turismo dentro de esta agrupación. Por ello, este trabajo es esencial para informar a los responsables de la toma de decisiones y sentar las bases para continuar la investigación en este ámbito.

While tourism is mostly considered a crucial driver for local development, its impact in terms of sustainability and attractiveness of local destinations must also be taken into account. This is especially true for small islands, where tourism may determine detrimental effects in the long term to the limited space and resources. The “sustainable tourism” approach considers this phenomenon and proposes possible solutions to problems such as the loss of public space, waste management, energy and water over-consumption, traffic congestion, air, water, and visual pollution. This chapter presents and discusses the results of a survey that has been carried out in Ischia, a small Mediterranean island located in the Gulf of Naples in order to explore the propensity toward sustainable mobility of both tourists and residents. In particular, the mobility patterns of the respondents have been deeply investigated both at home (domestic behavior) and on holiday (tourist behavior). The results suggest that the promotion of a higher level of cooperation among different stakeholders and local governments is of paramount importance in order to achieve sustainable tourism on islands. This may also generate important effects in terms of destination attractiveness.

This paper aims to conceptualize and illustrate how some island societies – in spite of their apparent openness, vibrant tourist economies and generally welcoming disposition – develop exclusionary attitudes to a range of immigrants, resulting in effective limits to their much vaunted hospitality culture.

In the context of a global review, the paper reports a qualitative study of immigrant experiences and perceptions from 2005 empirical survey data, as well as the personal observations of the author on Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest and only fully island province.

While the bonding social capital of island communities tends to be strong, their bridging social capital tends to be weak. Other aspects of island life – including perceptions of smallness, affirmation of island identity, high population density, gentrification, the threat of invasion and the fear of the other – impact on the interaction of the “come heres” with the “from heres”. The paper shows divisions in islander attitudes between (short‐term stay) tourists and (longer‐term stay) immigrants in sharp relief.

This analysis queries research assumptions about service, hospitality and tourism and provides a conceptual framework for the dynamics of visitation to island destinations.

These findings critique service quality, relationship management and attitudes to potential clients.

The paper connects immigration research to attitudes to tourism, using an island studies lens as its analytical tool and provides an insightful view of the contested dynamics of place, notions of hospitality and exclusion.

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the published works about tourism in the island. Island destinations, especially smaller ones, suffer the negative effects of tourism more than other destinations. This is because of the characteristics of island destinations and the negative impacts arising from their inadequate management by different stakeholders. For these reasons, and conversely because tourism favors the social and economic development of islands, there has been a great deal of research published on insular tourism in the literature at a global level. Despite the number of studies carried out from different approaches, none have synthesized this scientific production. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is the use of a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a thorough review of studies published on tourist development in island destinations.

The authors use a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a comprehensive review of the published studies on tourism development in island destinations in the past decade with special emphasis on the items analyzed, places of analysis and scientific journals that have addressed this topic.

The results of the analysis of the literature show the interest of the study of tourism in island destinations. This interest is partly due to the attraction that tourists have for this type of destinations and the need to promote their sustainable management as tourism destinations (Cusick, 2009, Hall, 2011, Cave and Brown, 2012, López, Orgaz, Marmolejo and Alector, 2016). In addition, tourism in island destinations constitutes an opportunity for economic development and benefits both the local population and its visitors (Fabinyi, 2010; Porter et al., 2015).

The main limitation of this paper is the great diversity of tourist destinations made up of islands, the complex nature of these destinations and tourism and the quantity and diversity of research carried out into them. This aspect has already been highlighted by other authors and makes it complex to determine which research should be included or excluded in this review.

Importantly, the results allow researchers and decision-makers to identify the main areas of interest in the study of island tourism and the reasons for this interest. They also indicate new areas of interest and in-depth studies. Thus, professionals have a map that shows the most relevant factors in tourism development for this type of destination and the variables that, both from a positive and a negative point of view, influence its development.

This research shows that the main areas of interest is island destination are the quality of life of the local community, stakeholder collaboration, sustainability, diversification and seasonality, marketing, consumer behavior/perception and segmentation, planning of tourism activity, information and technology, competitiveness and efficiency.

As evidenced by the amount of research carried out, there is a great deal of interest in tourism in island destinations. This interest arises from the specific characteristics and the interest of tourists themselves in this type of destination, as well as from the negative impacts and opportunities generated by island tourism. Nevertheless, the number of references obtained for tourism in island destinations (N = 949) represents only 0.2 per cent of the total number of studies referring to only “island” in the SCOPUS consultation (339,607 studies). Thus, one of the contributions of this paper has been to highlight the need to continue studying and reviewing in greater depth research on insular tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of inclusive tourism in a small-island tourism economy of the Caribbean. Dubbed the “One Happy Island” in the Caribbean, the operationalization and development of direct and indirect channels of inclusive tourism are studied and discussed to foster policy guidance and future studies.

Based on an in-depth case study of Aruba, the findings yield significant insights on the unfolding of inclusive tourism within the context of a maturing small-island tourism economy in Aruba. A mix of historical socioeconomic analysis in conjunction with community resident perspectives provides an expanded framing of small-island inclusive tourism development.

In mature, small-island tourism economies such as Aruba, social and ecological disparities are particularly evident and over an extended period have exceeded direct economic contribution. The case study reveals an Aruban community experiencing significant negative socioecological impacts and subsequent diminishing economic contribution and well-being. Concerns about environmental pollution and destruction, the loss of quality of life and income equality, in addition to over construction and crowding, indicate a growing animosity toward tourism and further tourism growth.

Based on previous studies, this study provides an extended framing of small-island inclusive tourism, which opens opportunities for further testing and validation across other small-island tourism economies. It provides a conceptual critique of classical tourism growth maxims in small-island developing states.

The paper provides rich historical insights using an in-depth case study approach that extends the concept and evolution of inclusive tourism in mature, small-island tourism destinations, especially in the Caribbean, thus providing a contemporary framing of inclusive tourism.

This paper aims to determine the role of heritage tourism in Shetland Island destination development and how this links to tourism public policy in island communities.

The study is conducted in the Shetland Islands, located off the north coast of Scotland, UK. Descriptive and inductive approaches are utilized to enable the researchers to recognize multiple social structures and draw conclusions from observations and specific information. Primary research focuses on semi‐structured interviews with key informants. Data is analyzed via a mix of content analysis and interpretation of the responses through a connected narrative approach.

Seasonality is a key feature of Shetland Island tourism, alongside other key limitations to growth including transport links and climatic conditions. Potential conflicts exist between tourism stakeholders and their perceptions of the effectiveness of the heritage tourism public policy in Shetland, though overall stakeholder collaboration succeeds in enhancing heritage conservation and development.

While the findings relate specifically to the Shetland Islands, the general conclusions offer an example of best practice concerning tourism public policy for heritage‐focused tourism in island communities, which could be used in comparable destinations.

The choice of the Shetland Islands as an example of a cold water island destination offers the opportunity to extend existing research and examine how the community of Shetland embraces the opportunities afforded by tourism as an alternative to traditional industries.

Based on a panel vector error correction model (PVECM), this study aims to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on tourism development in a selected group of 17 small island economies during 1995-2018. In the long run, a positive and direct relationship was found between foreign investment and tourists’ arrival. Moreover, economic performance and tourists’ income were also found to be key determinants of tourism development. It is further observed that there is bidirectional causality between the two variables. Hence, one can argue that FDI is a key element for tourism development. So, if the countries can attract more FDI and grow economically, these elements will contribute positively to the sector in the future.

This work uses rigorous dynamic time series analysis, namely, a dynamic PVECM, which takes into account dynamism and endogeneity issues in tourism modelling. Furthermore, the PVECM is also appropriately suited for integrating short- and long-run analysis.

The results confirm that FDI has been an important ingredient in the tourism development of the island economies in the long run. Interestingly, a bidirectional causality between FDI and tourism development is validated. Moreover, growth will as well be important. So, if the country can attract more FDI and grow economically, these elements will attract the tourists of the future.

Relatively few studies have rigorously studied the relationships between FDI and tourism development, particularly with respect to developing countries and small island states which rely heavily on tourism as well as FDI. As such existing research has neglected dynamic and reverse causality analysis in their respective FDI-tourism modelling. This study thus attempts to address the above and supplement the literature by investigating the direct and indirect relationship between FDI and tourism development for the case of small island economies over the period 1995-2018. Moreover, the implication of foreign capital inflows on tourism futures will as well be developed.