Transport and Tourism: Is there a Sustainable Future?

Abstract

In response to the recent global economic downturn, tourism is being cited as one of the sectors which can drive economies out of recession. It is argued that tourism has a key role to play in any long-term economic recovery programme; the UNWTO (2008a) has referred to tourism as being a part of an emerging Green New Deal (New Economics Foundation, 2008). In the meantime, in order to ensure that the tourism sector survives the economic downturn the UNWTO has established a Tourism Resilience Committee to inform and advise countries how to stimulate markets (UNWTO, 2008a). One view is that the tourism growth of previous decades can be sustained and that countries should be equipped to adapt to the new economic and environmental conditions through adaptation processes. The vision is one of continued growth. For example, a senior official of the UNWTO has recently referred to the potential of tourism in the following terms: