An Integrated Planning Framework for Sustainable Tourism: Case Study of Tunisia

Tourism sector in Tunisia faces several problems that range from economic challenges to environmental degradation and social instability. These problems have been intensified because of the increased competition in the tourism market, the political instability, financial crises, and recently terrorism problems have aggravated the situation. As a consequence, a new framework that promotes sustainable tourism in the country and increases its competitiveness is urgently needed. Planning for sustainable tourism sector requires the integration of complex interactions between economic, social and environmental aspects. Sustainable tourism principles can be implemented with the help of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process, which ensures the full integration of economic, social and environmental considerations while planning for the tourism sector in Tunisia. Results of the paper have broad implications for policy makers and tourism professionals.




References:
[1] Dribek, A. (2012a) Vers un tourisme durable en Tunisie: le cas de l’ile de Djerba. Université de Bretagne occidentale-Brest. Available at: http://hal.univ-brest.fr/tel-00781871/ (Accessed: 17 May 2015).
[2] Dumbar, Burcu (2009) Analysis of Local Sectoral Policies via System Dynamics Approach: The Case of Alanya Tourism Sector. Thesis. Department of Industrial Engineering.
[3] Edgell, D. E., Allen, M. D. M., Smith, G. and Swanson, J. R., 2008: Tourism Policy and Planning: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Elsevier, Oxford.
[4] Ehrhardt, K, and M Nilsson. 2006. “Strategic Environmental Assessment, Advanced Tools for Sustainability Assessment (Sustainability-A Test Project).”
[5] Mason, P., 2003: Tourism Impacts, Planning and Management, Elsevier, Oxford.
[6] Katsoni, V., Arikan, I. & Dündar, A., 2016. Tourism Strategic and Marketing Planning and Cultural Cooperation Channels between Greece and Turkey. In Tourism and Culture in the Age of Innovation. Springer, pp. 351–360. Available at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-27528-4_24
[7] Partidário, Maria Rosário. 2000. “Elements of an SEA Framework— Improving the Added-Value of SEA.” Environmental Impact Assessment Review 20 (6): 647–63
[8] Patton, Carl, David Sawicki, and Jennifer Clark. 2015. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning. Routledge.
[9] Soumaya Hergli, and al. 2012. “Politiques et Stratégies de Développement Durable Dans Le Secteur Hôtelier: Le Cas d’ACCOR.” Management & Avenir 56 (6): 154–68.
[10] The World Bank (2005) ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment for Policies, An Instrument for good governance’. Kulsum Ahmed and Ernesto Sanchez-Triana.
[11] Therivel, R., 2012. Strategic environmental assessment in action, Routledge. Available at: https://books.google.fr/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=7bGZg_TxpPgC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=strategic+environnemental+assessment+in+action&ots=LQLwjL_IrG&sig=ldZun_h7T4YiNunVLFdAki04ims
[12] World Travel and Tourism Council, 2015. Travel and tourism Economic impact 2015 Tunisia. Available at: https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countries%202015/tunisia2015.pdf.
[13] Zolfani, S. H., Sedaghat, M., Maknoon, R. and Zavadskas, E. K. (2015) ‘Sustainable tourism: a comprehensive literature review on frameworks and applications’, Ekonomska istraživanja, 28(1), pp. 1–30