Tourism Degrowth: Painful but Necessary

Abstract

Despite the well-known adverse effects of economic growth, the core strategic goal of a high proportion of destination managers globally continues to be the pursuit of tourism growth. Proponents of the dominant ‘growth management’ view claim that tourism’s adverse environmental effects can be solved by ongoing ‘decoupling’ of economic growth from resource use through more efficient management of tourism development, supported by improvements in technology. In contrast, ‘heterodox’ approaches, sceptical of the ability of technological change to restrict growth-induced environmental and social degradation, reject the mainstream growth ethic and its action agenda. Arguing that faith in decoupling is a fragile basis for the growth management approach, this paper argues the merits of an alternative ‘degrowth’ approach to tourism planning and management. The paper articulates the nature of ‘degrowth’, the types of policies that can support a degrowth strategy, and the challenges involved in applying a degrowth approach to the tourism industry. It is concluded that, while tourism degrowth is necessary, the approach faces formidable challenges that must be overcome if resident wellbeing is to be maintained or enhanced through tourism development over the longer term. A research agenda is identified, addressing the nature of tourism, the consumption problem, localism and downsizing, effects on resident wellbeing, business degrowth, choice of policy mix, and types of institutional change required to support tourism degrowth.