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Linking Culture and the Environment

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4 Hypo<strong>the</strong>sizing <strong>the</strong> Shifting<br />

Mosaic of Attitudes Through<br />

Time: a Dynamic Framework<br />

for Sustainable Tourism<br />

Development on a<br />

‘Mediterranean Isle’<br />

DIMITRI IOANNIDES<br />

Department of Geography, Geology <strong>and</strong> Planning, Missouri State<br />

University, Springfi eld, Missouri, USA <strong>and</strong> Tourism Research Institute,<br />

Mid-Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden<br />

Introduction<br />

For over two decades planning practitioners, policy makers <strong>and</strong> academics have<br />

been preoccupied with <strong>the</strong> topic of sustainable development (Redclift, 1987;<br />

World Commission on <strong>Environment</strong> <strong>and</strong> Development, 1987; Gunn, 1994; van<br />

den Bergh <strong>and</strong> van der Straaten, 1994; Berke <strong>and</strong> Conroy, 2000; Dresner, 2002;<br />

Wheeler <strong>and</strong> Beatly, 2004; Sacquet, 2005). Considering <strong>the</strong> concept of sustainability<br />

strives to reconcile existing conflicts among goals of economic growth,<br />

environmental protection <strong>and</strong> social justice, it is unsurprising that this concept<br />

has also emerged as a leitmotif or tourism research (McCool, 1995; Wall, 1997;<br />

Hall <strong>and</strong> Lew, 1998; Bosselman et al., 1999; Butler, 1999; Williams <strong>and</strong> Montanari,<br />

1999; Mowforth <strong>and</strong> Munt, 2003; Butler, 2006a,b; Weaver, 2006; Holden, 2007).<br />

The Journal of Sustainable Tourism which is entirely dedicated to <strong>the</strong> study of sustainable<br />

tourism has now entered its 13th year. O<strong>the</strong>r mainstream journals<br />

includingTourism Management, <strong>the</strong> Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Geographies,<br />

<strong>and</strong> Current Issues in Tourism have published numerous articles over <strong>the</strong> years<br />

dealing directly or indirectly with sustainable development.<br />

Despite ample rhetoric concerning <strong>the</strong> merits of adopting <strong>the</strong> sustainability<br />

paradigm in tourist destinations, most authors continue to criticize<br />

<strong>the</strong> concept for its ambiguity (Butler, 1993; Wahab <strong>and</strong> Pigram, 1997;<br />

Ioannides <strong>and</strong> Holcomb, 2003; Mowforth <strong>and</strong> Munt, 2003; Weaver, 2006).<br />

Especially problematic is <strong>the</strong> issue of reconciling future-oriented goals in<br />

terms of preserving a destination’s natural or cultural resources with more<br />

immediate economic growth priorities. Problems such as this impede <strong>the</strong><br />

©CAB International 2008. Tourism, Recreation <strong>and</strong> Sustainability:<br />

<strong>Linking</strong> <strong>Culture</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Environment</strong>, 2nd edn (eds S.F. McCool <strong>and</strong> R.N. Moisey) 51

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