A Critical Commentary on the SDGs and the Role of Tourism

Fizah Rajani and Karla A. Boluk ()
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Fizah Rajani: School of Public Health Sciences Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Karla A. Boluk: Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada

Tourism and Hospitality, 2022, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-6

Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework provides a set of 17 goals aiming to enhance global well-being by reducing poverty, enhancing health outcomes, responding to gender equality, and mobilizing social justice and peace efforts. Tourism has been centered as playing a key role in marshaling the SDGs, mainly due to its economic impact as a leading global sector. With the onset of the pandemic, it is incumbent upon scholars to take the pulse and consider the broader backdrop inhibiting SDG progress, with the intention of considering how tourism may be a vehicle for progressing the goals. As such, our analysis may serve to be useful for national and local governments, policy advisors, tourism establishments, and enterprises, as well as visitors and host communities. Specifically, we need to attend to some of the challenges inhibiting progress, scrutinize the use of language, which may lead to misinterpretation, and attend to the lack of clarity for building policies supporting decision making. Thus, the aim of this commentary is to examine some of the critiques and challenges inhibiting the realization of the goals, including a lack of awareness, and understanding of the SDGs, including what each goal entails, the division of power, the role of governance, stakeholders, and financial support required for policy and decision making, along with addressing the misconceptions surrounding the implementation of sustainable approaches. Understanding some of the critiques and challenges of the SDGs may improve our understanding of the potential role the tourism sector may play in progressing the goals.

Keywords: tourism; SDGs; critiques; challenges; role of tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z3 Z30 Z31 Z32 Z33 Z38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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