UDC & JEL

Tourism: current approaches to sustainable development

Marina Lubkina
Ukrainian-American Concordia University

In a market economy, the problem of economic sustainability is relevant for the harmonization of
relations between the three structural subsystems - man, economy and the environment. According
to famous American scientist H. Daly, the adherence to principles of sustainable development
provides the solution to three global economic problems - the allocation of resources, their
distribution and the scale of usage, each of which is a separate goal, and the solution to one of them
is not the solution to the others.1
Among the many definitions of “sustainable development” there is a definition that deserves our
attention. It was given in the report by Gro Harlem Brundtland, according to which sustainable
development is such a development that, while meeting current needs, does not create a risk that the
needs of future generations will not be satisfied.2 The basis of this definition is the principle of
equitable access of different generations to natural resources.

In Ukraine, the definition of “sustainable development” at the state level is fixed in the project of
Concept of Ukraine's transition to sustainable development (1997). It is pointed out that sustainable
development is a process of harmonization of productive forces, ensuring the satisfaction of the
basic needs of all members of society, provided that the integrity of the natural environment is
preserved and phased, creating opportunities for a balance between its potential and the
requirements of people of all generations.

The main idea of ensuring sustainable socio-economic development in general is the management
of natural resource flows, since they are the most important and valuable component of tourism
resources, providing conditions for both industrial tourism activities and for travelers themselves. In
the context of a balanced long-term development of society, the concept of sustainable tourism
development is also interpreted. In international documents and specialized literature, the type of
sustainable development of tourism is also defined as "supporting development", "life-supporting
development." The essence of the concept of sustainable tourism development contains two key
interrelated concepts:

1) the concept of needs, including the ones that are necessary for the existence of the poorest
people, usually through social forms of tourism;

2) the concept of resource constraints, which is the ability of the environment to meet the present
and future needs of mankind. The main component of sustainable development constraints is the
natural environment. However, for tourism, such constituent restrictions as economic, cultural,

1
Daly, H. E. (1997). Beyond growth: the economics of sustainable development. Boston, MA
02108: Beacon Press.

2
Dixon J.A., Fallen L.A. The Concept of Sustainability: Origins, Extensions, and Usefulness for
Policy.–World Bank Environment Department – Divisional Working, Paper No., 1989–1,
Washington, D.C.
social, and everyday ones are significant - those that are caused by the organization of society, the
state of technology, the level of culture and education of the population.

The basic principles of sustainable tourism development, in my opinion, are the following:

1. The evolutionary nature and long-term development. Humanity is truly capable and obliged to
give development a long-term character in order to meet the needs of today's people, while not
depriving future generations from the opportunity to satisfy their needs for leisure and travel.

2. Ecological efficiency of the tourist movement and tourism business, promoting the preservation
and phased reproduction of the integrity of the natural environment and cultural heritage.

3. Balance of all components of sustainable tourism development as a socio-ecological-economic

system. The existing restrictions on the exploitation of natural tourist and recreational resources by
a certain measure are relative, since they are related to the ability of the biosphere to cope with the
consequences of human activity, the structure of the complex of industries in a certain region and
the degree of priority of tourism in it, the level of social organization, as well as the degree of
achievement of science and technology.

4. Social justice of access of different generations to tourist resources: natural and artificial,
economic, cultural and social. The implementation of the principle of social justice provides for the
fulfillment of several tasks: the constant diversification of the offer of tourism services and tourism
products, the regional diversification of the tourism business, the regulation of capital and
demographics flows, social gains in relation to the structure of the population’s income, the volume
and structure of free time, access to health care and education, sports and tourism, culture and
entertainment.

5. The dynamic nature of development. In order to implement the economic policy of sustainable
development, the general principles can be specified as:

1) regulation of the scale of tourism activities and their limitations to the optimal value;
2) payment for the use of tourism resources;
3) differentiation of the size of payment for resources depending on their value;
5) common but differentiated liability for violation of the rules of use of tourism resources;
6) an integrated, programmatic, environmental, and cultural approach to the planning and
management of tourism activities.

The above allows us to conclude that the sustainable development of tourism is such a development
that can satisfy the needs of tourists at the present time, taking into account the interests of the
tourist destination to preserve this opportunity in the future.