Adoption of tools for sustainable tourism development: role of environmental vulnerability

There is consensus on the need to develop indicators as tools for assessing progress toward sustainable tourism. This effort is constrained by limitations related to data that allow for comparisons across space and time. A proxy indicator exists but its adoption differs significantly among countries. In this paper, we explore possible reasons for this variation. Specifically, we examine the degree to which environmental vulnerability determines the likelihood of adoption. We apply the panel Bayesian and Negative Binomial random-effects models to data for the period 2008-2021. Results show that environmental vulnerability is a statistically significant determinant of the decision of countries to adopt accounting tools for sustainable tourism development. We also find evidence that the absorption capacity and size of the tourism sector explain adoption. Further analysis reveals that these results are stronger for developed countries relative to developing countries. These results have important implications for sustainable tourism policy design, especially in developing countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change.