Tourism Governance in the Anthropocene

The book aims to address and reflect on the role of governance of the tourism sector in the era of the Anthropocene, also in light of the challenges of climate change and of the Covid-19 pandemic providing an innovative contribution on the discusses lessons for the Future of Tourism in the Anthropocene. The definition of the Anthropocene has caused an increase in ethical concerns about our relationship with nature and fears dictated by the environmental crisis (Holden, 2019). In this scenario, the tourism sector has also begun to question these issues and the experience of Covid-19 pandemic has powerfully brought environmental issues back to the center of attention, also affecting on the perception of landscapes (Burini, 2020). The year 2020 brought about a distinct change in tourism demand with a rediscovery of small villages and locations outside the classic tourist itineraries by tourists, in search of healthy, safe and less frequented places for a new style of vacation, but also by workers staying in their second homes and discovering the smart working experience. In this context, territories and local institutions must activate new forms of multi-level governance of the tourism sector to make the most of the new opportunities and satisfy the new principles that are emerging, such as the need to develop a more responsible, sustainable, slow tourism and at the same time to discover the role of digitalization and technologies to better manage tourist fluxes and demand. The enhancement of landscapes and the participation of local communities for the promotion of local knowledge is crucial in this new governance process (Burini, 2019; Belotti, 2020) to promote a new way of living that can also contribute to fight the environmental crisis and the depopulation of marginal areas. The book will address, among others, the following research questions: how does a destabilizing relationship between human activities and the natural environment relate to tourism? How to decrease significant environmental challenges for international tourism, that are threatening our landscapes? How can local and urban governance encourage of pro-environmental behavior by tourists? These issues are strongly related to the need to start a general reflection on new forms of governance of the tourism sector in the Anthropocene. 

List of contents

Part 1 - TOURISM GOVERNANCE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE: NEW PERSPECTIVES AND METHODS.- Local Tourism Governance: Issues of Equity and Justice in the Use of Nature.- Local Government, Tourism, and (more-than-human) Governance: The DMOs of Cambridge.- Tourism Governance in Mountain Areas in the Anthropocene: Reticular and Polycentric Approaches to Promoting Spatial Justice.- Part 2 MULTI-ACTOR AND COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM GOVERNANCE FACING ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES: A FOCUS ON NORTHERN AND SOUTH AMERICA.- Indigenous Tourism Governance and the Land Guardians Movement: Towards an Ethics of Care and Responsibility in Québec.- Integrating Tourism Governance to Rural Development in the Anthropocene: A Case Study from Post-conflict Communities in Colombia.- From Nature-based Tourism to Eco-tourism Governance in the Anthropocene: The Case of Stelvio National Park in face of 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.- Part 3 ECOTOURISM GOVERNANCE AND TERRITORIAL REGENERATION: A FOCUS ON ITALIAN ECOSYSTEMS.- Proximity Ecotourism Governance: The Role of Landscape beyond Nature Conservation and Heritagisation in the Colli Euganei Regional Park.- Territorial Regeneration, Soil Restitution, and Tourism Governance in the Anthropocene in Lombard Valleys.

About the author

ANDREW HOLDEN
Andrew Holden is Professor of Environment and Tourism at Goldsmiths, University of London and he is visiting Professor at the University of Bergamo (Italy) where he has a co-teaching in Territorial and environment studies. His research focusses on the relationship between cultures and the environment.  His current research interests include:  tourism; connection to nature; mobilities and identity; sustainable lifestyles and culture; and environmental ethics. He has worked on research and consultancy projects related to tourism and sustainability in Nepal, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom. Projects have been funded through the Nuffield Foundation, the European Union and the private sector. He is the author of numerous scientific chapters and books on the subject of the environment and sustainable tourism, including: Environment and Tourism. London: Routledge. 3rd ed. (2016) and Tourism, Povertyand Development, London: Routledge (2013).  
FEDERICA BURINI
Federica Burini is Full Professor of Geography at the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the University of Bergamo where she is Delegate of the Rector for Public Engagement and scientific coordinator of Imago Mundi Lab. Her primary research interests are in the area of participatory processes and collaborative mapping in rural and urban contexts, in order to promote a territorial regeneration in a sustainable perspective. In particular, her research has focused on rural areas of Subsaharan Africa and on European rural and urban areas. She is author of numerous scientific chapters and among her recent publications, the following may be mentioned: Cartographie participative et aménagement du territoire en Afrique subsaharienne. Paris:L’Harmattan (2022) and Tourism facing a Pandemic. From crisis to recovery. Bergamo: University of Bergamo (2020).
 SARA BELOTTI
PhD in Geography of development. She has been collaborating from many years on research projects in the University of Bergamo (Italy) and now she is a Researcher in Geography at the University of Milan (Italy). She has taught at the University of Bergamo, the University of Milan, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy). Her research focuses on the governance of protected areas, the development cooperation, the valorisation of cultural heritage, and the promotion of responsible tourism, through the use of participatory methodologies. Furthermore, she has paid particular attention to the cartographic representation of phenomena through GIS and to the dissemination of research results through digital humanities. In 2020 she published the volume Governance ambientale e turismo di comunità in Africa australe. Il Parco nazionale di Zinave in Mozambico. Rome: Aracne.
 
 
 

Summary

The book aims to address and reflect on the role of governance of the tourism sector in the era of the Anthropocene, also in light of the challenges of climate change and of the Covid-19 pandemic providing an innovative contribution on the discusses lessons for the Future of Tourism in the Anthropocene. The definition of the Anthropocene has caused an increase in ethical concerns about our relationship with nature and fears dictated by the environmental crisis (Holden, 2019). In this scenario, the tourism sector has also begun to question these issues and the experience of Covid-19 pandemic has powerfully brought environmental issues back to the center of attention, also affecting on the perception of landscapes (Burini, 2020). The year 2020 brought about a distinct change in tourism demand with a rediscovery of small villages and locations outside the classic tourist itineraries by tourists, in search of healthy, safe and less frequented places for a new style of vacation, but also by workers staying in their second homes and discovering the smart working experience. In this context, territories and local institutions must activate new forms of multi-level governance of the tourism sector to make the most of the new opportunities and satisfy the new principles that are emerging, such as the need to develop a more responsible, sustainable, slow tourism and at the same time to discover the role of digitalization and technologies to better manage tourist fluxes and demand. The enhancement of landscapes and the participation of local communities for the promotion of local knowledge is crucial in this new governance process (Burini, 2019; Belotti, 2020) to promote a new way of living that can also contribute to fight the environmental crisis and the depopulation of marginal areas. The book will address, among others, the following research questions: how does a destabilizing relationship between human activities and the natural environment relate to tourism? How to decrease significant environmental challenges for international tourism, that are threatening our landscapes? How can local and urban governance encourage of pro-environmental behavior by tourists? These issues are strongly related to the need to start a general reflection on new forms of governance of the tourism sector in the Anthropocene. 

Product details

• Assisted by: Sara Belotti (Editor), Federica Burini (Editor), Andrew Holden (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English, German
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 18.10.2025
• EAN: 9783031956966
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3195696-6
• No. of pages: 270
• Illustrations: X, 270 p.
• Series: Local and Urban Governance
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Individual industrial sectors, branches; Politik der National- Zentral- oder Bundesregierung, Environmental Policy, Sozialforschung und -statistik, Zentralregierung, Anthropocene, Tourism Management, Governance and Government, Environmental Crisis, Local Knowledge, Tourism governance, Pro-environmental behaviour