From niche to general relevance? Sustainable tourism, research and the role of tourism journals.

This paper considers research issues in sustainable tourism, based on the experience and views of the Editors of the journal dedicated to the subject. It argues that sustainable tourism is more than a niche area of study, and that researchers are now beginning to recognise and examine its full breadth and relevance. It reviews the roles of academic journals in the study of sustainable tourism. It notes the impact and implications for sustainable tourism research and publishing of the rapid growth in tourism journals and papers. It contends that sustainable tourism's relevance would be better recognised if more research adopted broader research perspectives, with subject matter set in its socio-economic and ecological contexts, and approaches embedded in the social and natural sciences. The field would gain from more use of flexible perspectives, notably “postnormal” science and “postdisciplinary” work, and a hybrid mix of approaches.