The need for more sustainable tourism has long been recognised, with the COVID-19
pandemic precipitating renewed calls for large-scale and rapid transformation of the sector.
Attractive as such calls were, implementing aspirations for more sustainable futures requires
significant ‘buy-in’ from the demand-side and substantive evidence ...
The need for more sustainable tourism has long been recognised, with the COVID-19
pandemic precipitating renewed calls for large-scale and rapid transformation of the sector.
Attractive as such calls were, implementing aspirations for more sustainable futures requires
significant ‘buy-in’ from the demand-side and substantive evidence of tourists desiring
change was lacking. This paper aims to address this empirical deficit and to critically reflect
on early pandemic rhetoric. It reports on a panel survey conducted in Northern Devon, a
destination with long-standing commitment to sustainable development, which respondents
experienced during COVID-19 restrictions. Of three possible trajectories for tourism
development, the majority preferred a sustainable future but a more consumptive trajectory
was perceived as most likely. From its case-study approach, the paper critiques emergent
discourse around sustainability transitions in tourism, highlighting a supply-side emphasis in
extant analysis and the need for closer examination of tourist preferences for transitional
pathways. If conceptual architectures from Transitions Studies are to support implementation
of sustainability transitions in tourism, the Multi-Level Perspective and Transitions
Management approach must consider tourists’ perspectives on destination change more
carefully.
