Whereas other products are produced somewhere in order to get into the shopping racks of the consumers tourism is just the opposite: the consumer travels to his product.

Once this is destroyed or exhausted, it cannot be replaces offhand. The consumer will simply look for another destination. If it becomes less attractive, (e.g. by a lack of quality or originality, price competition will increase and the product can be sold normally only accordingly cheaper. Hence specially in tourism the question of sustainability is of existential importance for the respective destination.


Sustainable tourism does not only gain income. It can contribute to protect nature and cultural heritage as well as local traditions significantly.

Many of the famous national parks and monuments, but also ancient customs, would have not survived without tourism. This specially concerns regions which do not have other income options than tourism. And, sustainable tourism can also contribute meaningful to education.

Sustainability in tourism helps by environmentally friendly design of tourism infrastructure and environmental management policies to save natural resources. Many examples in developing countries are showing, that tourism often plays the role of the cutting edge.