Reframing Sustainability in the Context of Overtourism: A Comparative Five-Dimensional Resident-Centered Model in Athens and Istanbul

Burak Yaprak (), Şehnaz Okkiran and Eleni Vezali
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Burak Yaprak: Department of Business, İstanbul Ticaret University, Örnektepe Mahallesi, İmrahor Caddesi, No: 88/2, Beyoğlu, Istanbul 34445, Türkiye
Şehnaz Okkiran: Rectorate, Gaziantep University, Üniversite Bulvarı, Şehitkamil, Gaziantep 27410, Türkiye
Eleni Vezali: Center for European Projects, University of Thessaly, Argonafton and Filellinon, 38221 Volos, Greece

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-24

Abstract: The rapid rebound of global tourism post-pandemic has intensified pressure on destinations like Istanbul and Athens, bringing overtourism debates into sharp focus. This study examined how five sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental, sociocultural, political, technological) shape residents’ overtourism perceptions and tourism support. Using PLS-SEM analysis of 285 long-term residents’ responses, this study reveals contrasting patterns between cities. In Athens, heightened awareness of environmental, economic, and sociocultural sustainability directly increases overtourism perceptions, subsequently reducing tourism support. Istanbul presents a counterpoint: environmental sustainability concerns alleviate overtourism perceptions, though without significant impact on tourism backing. Notably, political and technological dimensions show no statistically significant effects in either context. These findings demonstrate how sustainability perceptions are locally mediated, with identical factors producing divergent outcomes across cultural contexts. The study advances sustainable tourism literature by: (1) empirically validating context-dependent variations in resident attitudes, and (2) proposing a community-centered evaluation framework for policymakers. Recent study emphasizes the necessity of destination-specific strategies that prioritize residents’ nuanced sustainability concerns over generic tourism management approaches.

Keywords: overtourism; environmental sustainability; economic sustainability; sociocultural sustainability; political sustainability; technological sustainability; resident perceptions; tourism support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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