Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1080/14616688.2025.2581192 |
Licence  |
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| Title (Primary) | Conceptualising destination degrowth for sustainable tourism development in three German biosphere reserves |
| Author | Witt, G.; Zscheischler, J.; Dabard, C.; Mann, C.; Bernzen, A. |
| Source Titel | Tourism Geographies |
| Year | 2025 |
| Department | UPOL |
| Language | englisch |
| Topic | T5 Future Landscapes |
| Supplements | Supplement 1 |
| Keywords | Degrowth; sustainable tourism; sustainable development; model region; society-environment-interactions; UNESCO biosphere reserve; Germany; Wadden Sea; Spreewald; Schorfheide-Chorin |
| Abstract | Tourism is a typical example for conflicts in society-environment-interactions, as it causes increasing pressure on natural resources and ecosystems due to growth expectations. Being especially dependent on healthy society-environment-interactions, tourism in protected areas (PAs) has gained increased attention within sustainable tourism discourses. This includes tourism in biosphere reserves (BRs) as model regions for sustainable development. However, despite a considerable body of research on ‘sustainable tourism’ in protected areas, its focus often lies on strategies of green growth. Notions of ‘degrowth’ have been weakly conceptualised for sustainable tourism in BRs. The aim of this article is twofold: to empirically show how different key actors in three different German BRs (Wadden Sea of Lower Saxony, Spreewald and Schorfheide-Chorin) socially construct different models of sustainable tourism and notions of growth or degrowth against the backdrop of conflicts related to tourism growth and society-environment-interactions. By analysing the results of 24 semi-structured interviews with tourism and BR stakeholders, narratives about growth or degrowth in German BRs are examined. The second aim is to conceptualise degrowth-inspired sustainable tourism in BRs. We conclude that rethinking ‘sustainable tourism’ against the backdrop of the ‘degrowth’-concept can positively contribute to preserve and restore healthy society-environment-interactions and to provide conditions for a high quality of life and good working conditions in the region. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=31571 |
| Witt, G., Zscheischler, J., Dabard, C., Mann, C., Bernzen, A. (2025): Conceptualising destination degrowth for sustainable tourism development in three German biosphere reserves Tour. Geogr. 10.1080/14616688.2025.2581192 |
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