Sustainable Tourism and Policy Implementation: Lessons from the Case of Calviá, Spain

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Abstract
To date there is much literature identifying the need for sustainable tourism and for policy to address this need, however, there are few studies addressing sustainable tourism at a practical level or the effectiveness of policy implementation. This research focuses on the operational level of policy in order to gain a greater understanding of the barriers and possible solutions to implementation of sustainable tourism policy. This research focused on one of the Mediterranean's most popular sun, sea and sand tourist resorts – Calviá, located in Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, Spain. Calviá is an example of a mass tourism destination which, from a result of tourism pressure in the late 1980s, faced significant economic, social and environmental decline. By taking an integrated and collaborative approach to implement a sustainable tourism policy [using the participatory process of Local Agenda 21 (LA21)] Calviá received much international acclaim. This descriptive case study outlines the motivations behin...