the concerns of tourism sustainability with those of sustainable development
more generally (Wall 1993; Wheeller 1993). In other words,
the concerns of sustainable tourism have become too far removed
from those of its parental concept, resulting in a gap such that principles
and policies of “sustainable” tourism do not necessarily contribute
to those of sustainable development (Hunter 1995a).
However, far from ending shortly after the publication of the World
Commission report (WCED 1987), debate on the detailed interpretation
of sustainable development still continues. It is, therefore, a
considerable over-simplification of the issues merely to call for sustainable
tourism to contribute to the goals of sustainable development
without further elaboration of what the latter are or should be. Even
if one is broadly content with the currently dominant, tourism-centric,
paradigm of sustainable tourism, it is inconceivable that tourism
sustainability research has nothing to learn from the ongoing debate
which surrounds the interpretation of sustainable development. Conversely,
those who wrestle with the abstract convolutions so characteristic
of the general sustainable development debate, might benefit
from a better understanding of the implications of their efforts for
one particular economic sector, such as tourism.
This paper is an attempt to reconnect, conceptually, the concerns
of sustainable tourism with those of sustainable development. Following
a review of the underpinnings of sustainable development,
where areas of debate are highlighted, the paper progresses to consider
the implications for the principles and practice of sustainable
tourism. A key notion to emerge from this exercise is that different
interpretations of sustainable tourism are appropriate under different
circumstances. Sustainable tourism should not be regarded as a rigid
framework, but rather as an adaptive paradigm which legitimizes a
variety of approaches according to specific circumstances.