On the carrying capacity and the optimal number of visitors in tourism destinations

Abstract

Tourism specialization on the one hand may be a successful tool to achieve fast economic growth, and, on the other hand, may be detrimental for natural resources. Finding the right balance between economic benefits and environmental costs is essential to reach sustainable development, ensuring that tourist numbers do not exceed the carrying capacity of the tourism destination. In this context, the author analyses the determination of the optimal number of visitors in a tourism-based economy and shows that if the tourist number is optimally determined long-run sustainable growth will be possible. He also shows that the optimal number of tourists is strictly smaller than the carrying capacity of the tourism destination, and that such a condition is vital to achieve long-run growth.

Understanding visitor–resident relations in overtourism: developing resilience for sustainable tourism

“…This line is also known as "attractor" in the time-series literature (see Engle & Granger, 1991, p.1). That is along the notion suggested by many tourism researchers; a balance between economic benefits and environmental costs to attain a sustainable development (Yu, Chancellor, & Cole, 2011), where tourist numbers do not exceed the carrying capacity of the tourism destination (Marsiglio, 2015(Marsiglio, , 2017Feliziani & Miarelli, 2012). 14.…”

“…Governments setting their travel visa policies, rather than optimising existing tourism systems to create more profitable, stable, resilient and sustainable entities, often seek to maximize tourism growth. While many tourism destinations have experienced rapid improvement in their living standards, especially those in small island countries; it is questionable whether such benefits can last in the long run (Marsiglio, 2015(Marsiglio, , 2017(Marsiglio, , 2018. Often, significant and uncoordinated growth in tourist arrivals exceeds destinations' capacity, and the adverse impacts of "too many tourists" therefore lead to a considerable deterioration of the locals' quality of life, and trigger visitor-resident irritants (Doxey, 1975).…”

On the implications of tourism specialization and structural change in tourism destinations

“…Therefore, apart from the already mentioned literature on structural change and tourism specialization, our paper is related to another branch of the tourism economics literature, analyzing the determinants of economic performance in tourism destinations. In this framework, two alternative theoretical approaches have been discussed, relying on dynamic models of trade (Hazari and Sgro, 1995;Lanza et al, 2003;Schubert et al, 2011) and tourism capital driven growth models (Cerina, 2007;Lozano et al, 2008;Marsiglio, 2015Marsiglio, , 2017. However, our approach in this paper differs from both of them since we rely on a traditional two-sector endogenous growth model in order to characterize the dynamic effects of structural change on both economic growth and tourist flows.…”

Coffee Tourism Development Potential: Benefit and Consequences

“…Therefore, [4] recommended three ways in anticipating the negative cultural changes, as follow: '1) developing cultural collaboration and partnership; 2) involving community members in the planning and developing strategy for tourism; 3) establishing a long-term tourism vision to boost community participation and preservation.' There are also some positive and negative impacts on the region economic conditions, such as increasing employment opportunities, improving community welfare, and boosting economic growth for sustainable development [5].…”