Special Issues in Responsible Tourism

Abstract

It is commonly known that tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Tourism at its best has positive economic impacts on target area, e.g. by tourism income, jobs and diversity of regional economy. Also local self-esteem and comfort of living, as well as the image of the region may improve. On the other hand, tourism may limit regional economy, seasonality of the industry may increase, prices of products and services may rise, traditional means of livelihood may suffer. The major concerns are tourismrelated ecological detrimental effects, e. g. effects on climate, soil, water and ice conditions, vegetation and fauna. Many sectors in many countries have started to promote responsible and sustainable tourism through research. This requires multidisciplinary research and proactive planning and cooperation between different actors. The publication combines a wide range of studies conducted in Europe and also presents practical solutions to develop responsible tourism. Part 1 deals with examples of platforms and networks for developing responsible tourism in Finland and part 2 introduces research articles presented at the Four Seasons and Responsibility - The 12th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations – ICRT conference in Jyväskylä.