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From Mass to Sustainable Tourism: a Sociological Inquiry into Change in International Tourism Trends


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1 Department of Tourism & Hotel Management Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.
     

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Mass tourism implies the participation of large number of people in tourism who avail a standardized holiday which is rigidly packaged and inflexible. Such practices brought immense economic gains for the states and the entrepreneur but yielded disturbing environmental and cultural impacts in equal proportions-ultimately seriously questioning the efficacy of mass tourism. Mass tourism faces a vacuum primarily because of unresponsive approach to the changes occurring at the micro- and macro-levels on the globe. These changes, including the sociological ones, require a review of the ongoing practices in tourism so as to add a responsible dimension to it. Growing concern for sustainable tourism can be seen as an expression of the desire for change. The rise in popularity of nature-based tourism identifies the future tourism market in natural areas. The shift is loud and clear. The 'new' tourism sets the principles and philosophy of its own-which is more sustainable and responsible in nature and contents.

The present paper examines the mass tourism as a concept and practice and the malaise it has developed over the years. The factors responsible for the malaise and the factors responsible for increase in demand of nature-based tourism that also looks into the question of sustainability are looked into the paper. The sociological inquiry necessitates the analysis of changes in the tourists' profile and the social environment around the tourist. The paper makes an effort to know the role of social factors in influencing the international tourism trends. The methods used in the paper include the references and inferences from the related literature along with the observations and conclusion from different case studies who have suffered a lot due to mass tourism. The analysis in the paper reveals that mass tourism fails to acknowledge the changes and thus has created a vacuum manifested in the literature as tourism crisis.


Keywords

Mass Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, International Tourism, Sex Tourism, Ecotourism
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  • From Mass to Sustainable Tourism: a Sociological Inquiry into Change in International Tourism Trends

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Authors

S. S. Boora
Department of Tourism & Hotel Management Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.

Abstract


Mass tourism implies the participation of large number of people in tourism who avail a standardized holiday which is rigidly packaged and inflexible. Such practices brought immense economic gains for the states and the entrepreneur but yielded disturbing environmental and cultural impacts in equal proportions-ultimately seriously questioning the efficacy of mass tourism. Mass tourism faces a vacuum primarily because of unresponsive approach to the changes occurring at the micro- and macro-levels on the globe. These changes, including the sociological ones, require a review of the ongoing practices in tourism so as to add a responsible dimension to it. Growing concern for sustainable tourism can be seen as an expression of the desire for change. The rise in popularity of nature-based tourism identifies the future tourism market in natural areas. The shift is loud and clear. The 'new' tourism sets the principles and philosophy of its own-which is more sustainable and responsible in nature and contents.

The present paper examines the mass tourism as a concept and practice and the malaise it has developed over the years. The factors responsible for the malaise and the factors responsible for increase in demand of nature-based tourism that also looks into the question of sustainability are looked into the paper. The sociological inquiry necessitates the analysis of changes in the tourists' profile and the social environment around the tourist. The paper makes an effort to know the role of social factors in influencing the international tourism trends. The methods used in the paper include the references and inferences from the related literature along with the observations and conclusion from different case studies who have suffered a lot due to mass tourism. The analysis in the paper reveals that mass tourism fails to acknowledge the changes and thus has created a vacuum manifested in the literature as tourism crisis.


Keywords


Mass Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, International Tourism, Sex Tourism, Ecotourism

References