Tourism and Sustainable Development Mastering the Challenge

The sustainability of tourism is a major challenge for the industry. With its various research projects, Tourism and Sustainable Development, one of the University's interdisciplinary focus areas, is contributing to overcome that challenge. 

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The interdisciplinary focus area Tourism and Sustainable Development is making a contribution to environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable tourism. It does so by means of applied research, consultancy, education/training and continuing education. 

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Lecturers and research associates from the University's five Schools (Engineering and Architecture, Business, Social Work, Art and Design, Music) work together in teams assembled on a per-project basis. With their various disciplines and perspectives on the topic, the know-how they contribute covers a range of aspects of sustainability. This broadly diversified knowledge is concentrated within a School and allows projects on sustainable development in tourism to be tackled expertly and coherently. 

Tourism and Sustainable Development covers a wide range of activities. For that reason, the interdisciplinary focus area has defined four main areas: 

  • Resources 
  • Technology 
  • Design
  • Participation

These four aspects are strongly and autonomously anchored outside the tourism economy, which itself is embedded in an economic, ecological and social setting. This gives rise to the possibility that ideas and concepts, which were first developed not for tourism, but for the corresponding aspects or topics within which they were anchored, could then be transferred to tourism.  

Wanderer geniessen den Ausblick oberhalb des Zentralschweizer Nebelmeers.

Book «Nachhaltige Entwicklung im Tourismus: Die Luzerner Perspektive»

This book presents a selection of the activities and outcomes arising from the first four years' work of the interdisciplinary focus area Tourism and Sustainable Development. It also features various internal and external authors' thoughts on the future of sustainable develpment in tourism. 

Examples of projects

Sanfte Mobilität in Tourismusdestinationen

«Light-touch» Mobility in Alpine Destinations

This project is promoting light-touch mobility in four car-free tourist resorts. This know-how is being disseminated through the publication of a manual.

Brettsimulation

Sustainability in Tourism – Board simulation

The board simulation Sustainability in Tourism allows seminar participants to experience issues of sustainability and to learn about the effects of sustainability measures.

Kuh auf einer Alp, Entwicklung und Vermarktung von nachhaltigen Angeboten in einer Destination

Development and Marketing of Sustainable Products at a Destination

Five Swiss destinations are looking to offer sustainable products on the tourism market.

Schnitzen, Wechselwirkung von immateriellem Kulturerbe und Tourismus

Interaction of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism

This project illustrates the reciprocal effects of intangible cultural heritage and tourism, as well as the related opportunities and limitations of a more sustainable exploitation of intangible cultural heritage by tourism while taking account of its preservation.

Objectives and research questions 

Objectives

  • Demonstrate the fundamental importance of tourism within a wider context.
  • Contribute to a more sustainable development of tourism.
  • Generate an increase in value for tourism and its segments.
  • Develop and apply new approaches, models, tools and scenarios.
  • Teach and pursue interdisciplinarity.
  • Develop new cooperative and unconventional perspectives.
  • Initiate projects between different Schools.
  • Strengthen the autonomy of Switzerland's universities in the market.

Research questions

  • How can design, technology and participation make a substantial contribution to a more sustainable development of tourism? 
  • How should mobility in tourism develop or change to address the conflicting aims of sustainable development and the exploitation of resources? 
  • What is the best way of addressing the conflicting aims between the preservation of traditional local cultural forms of expression and the promotion and marketing of tourism? 
  • What is the best way of reconciling the conflicting aims between involving land occupancy/habitat destruction on the one hand and tourists' desires for natural landscape and related activities on the other? 
  • What is the best way of resolving the conflict between the tourist destination as a place where money can be made and a place where people live? What is the best way of addressing the conflict of aims between safeguarding resources and resource-intensive touristic activities?