Abstract
In this book, our intention is to explore the topic of destination development from different theoretical and conceptual perspectives, with a focus on culturally different case examples involving researchers with a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. To date, destination development has received surprisingly little attention in the context of tourism studies although it is one of the core tasks of destination managers. Destination development is of key con-cern when addressing economic resilience, reducing environmental impacts or avoiding negative consequences for local communities – examples of sustainability issues that threaten the very existence of many destinations. However, issues such as these also present destinations with strategic opportunities both in the present and for the future. Sustainability issues are not unique to tourism, but concern society as a whole, as highlighted by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Kohl et al.,2022; Lim et al., 2018). For example, SDG #12 Responsible Consumption and Production, which is particularly important for the hospitality segment, also has high social relevance due to its relevance for societal waste generation, waste disposal, waste recycling and waste avoidance. Likewise, SDG #10 Reduced Inequalities and SDG #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities are both pertinent in the context of creating accessible destinations, but they also relate to the quality of life and wellbeing of residents with disabilities who live in the destination communities. As such, our aim with this book is to address sustainability pressing concerns, to identify new and future routes for destination development scholarship to pursue that can directly, or implicitly, help decision-makers build resilient and sustainable destinations for all tourists, including those with different requirements, the residents and the natural-cultural ecosystem.