Purpose

Mass tourism in urban settings has proven to be economically significant in many parts of the world. To date, however, the academic debate on sustainable tourism has focused primarily on the ecological and socio-cultural sustainability of tourism in rural and coastal, rather than urban, settings. This paper aims to review the emerging debate on sustainable urban tourism, its complexities and challenges, and questions how urban destinations that are striving to become sustainable cities, can leverage benefit from the implementation of sustainable policies and practices to achieve tourism ‘destination’ competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a qualitative, exploratory research approach using in-depth interviews to seek responses from key stakeholders on their views and experiences of sustainability in the context of an urban destination. Thematic analysis is used to analyze and present the findings.

Findings

This study concludes that destinations need to be viewed in their broader regional context. Rather than be viewed solely as destinations that are ‘kind to the environment,’ sustainable urban destinations need to demonstrate a deeper commitment to all stakeholder groups, and especially local residents, to provide a fair and desirable ecosystem for achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Originality/value

This paper reflects on the potential relationship between ‘urban sustainability’ and the ‘destination competitiveness’ of an urban tourism destination. This then will provide the platform for sustainability to truly contribute to future destination competitiveness.

中文翻译：

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利益相关者对城市目的地环境中可持续性的看法：提高目的地竞争力的包容性途径

目的

城市环境中的大众旅游已被证明在世界许多地方具有重要的经济意义。然而，迄今为止，关于可持续旅游业的学术辩论主要集中在乡村和沿海地区而非城市环境中旅游业的生态和社会文化可持续性。本文旨在回顾关于可持续城市旅游的新兴辩论、其复杂性和挑战，并质疑正在努力成为可持续城市的城市目的地如何利用可持续政策和实践的实施带来的好处来实现旅游“目的地”竞争力。

设计/方法/方法

本文采用定性、探索性的研究方法，通过深入访谈来寻求关键利益相关者对城市目的地背景下可持续发展的看法和经验的回应。主题分析用于分析和呈现调查结果。

发现

本研究得出的结论是，需要在更广泛的区域背景下看待目的地。可持续城市目的地不应仅仅被视为“善待环境”的目的地，还需要向所有利益相关者群体，尤其是当地居民展示更深层次的承诺，为实现联合国可持续发展目标提供公平和理想的生态系统.

原创性/价值

本文反思了“城市可持续性”与城市旅游目的地“目的地竞争力”之间的潜在关系。这将为可持续发展提供平台，真正为未来的目的地竞争力做出贡献。