The Elusiveness of Sustainability in Tourism: The Culture-Ideology of Consumerism and its Implications

Abstract

Sustainable tourism is perhaps the most prominent feature of contemporary tourism discourse. However, despite its prominence for several decades, achieving sustainability remains as elusive as ever. This article explores the concept of the culture-ideology of consumerism developed by sociologist Leslie Sklair (2002) in order to ascertain the implications it holds for understanding how to secure meaningful sustainable tourism. Demonstrating that the current system of neoliberalism and its attendant culture-ideology of consumerism are inherently unsustainable, this article argues we must consciously move away from this value system to one less damaging.