Tourism Growth and Sustainable Economic Development: A Note on Economic Issues

Abstract

This note highlights issues relating to tourism sustainable development by focusing on the main linkages between policy instruments and policy objectives from an economic perspective. The work is speculative in nature and offers insights for future research in the field. The author concludes that bargaining for values and property rights is the only feasible mechanism for achieving sustainability, which has to be grounded on transparent asset quantification and economic valuation. These intermediate objectives are both achieved by means of economic instruments for creating consensus on self-enforcing (and therefore feasible in policy terms) sustainable development options.