Based on the global call for more sustainable and inclusive development in tourism, the 2022 conference articulates the critical position of sustainable tourism and explore its role and potential in contributing to a world of diversity and inclusivity of populations and travellers. Given decades of the evolution of the concept of sustainable tourism, there has been an increasing discussions and debates on the definitions and limitations of the ongoing sustainability discourse in tourism, especially when the world and its resource base, travel industry and global-to-local destinations are facing urgent crises such as climate change and epidemics. Sustainable tourism must continue to foster and increase the awareness of its environmental, social, cultural, political and economic value in the dynamic process for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and maintaining their progress. Being suffered from the pandemic, different actors in tourist destinations and industries should be the core focus of academic and policy attention. Nevertheless, tourism is an important area of transformative power to creating a better world and societies from the post-COVID era. More and more academic research must inform the theoretical, policy-related and industrial perspectives of tourism development. Some academics and experts in tourism sustainability have urged for new and innovative views on proposing the concept of regenerative tourism:
“Regenerative tourism represents a sustainable way of travelling and discovering new places. Its main goal is for visitors to have a positive impact on their holiday destination, meaning that they leave it in a better condition than how they found it. A concept that goes beyond "not damaging" the environment and that aims to actively revitalise and regenerate it, resulting in a positive cycle of impacts on local communities and economies: sustainable regeneration.” (Heslinga, 2022)
The COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to rethink how tourism interacts with our societies, communities, economic sectors and our natural and cultural resources and ecosystems. Eventually, how tourism may create more than just “sustainability” but “a sustainable regeneration”.
Tourism scholars and researchers are particularly indispensable in supplying knowledge that guides the response of the tourism sector towards a carbon-neutral, more resilient and inclusive tourism economy under a new normalcy of the pandemic, which ultimately draws theoretical and policy-relevant information for sustainable development. In the academia, the commitment to work together towards a sustainable recovery of tourism should cover a wide range of research areas. In response to the above need for academic contributions to a stronger knowledge base of advancing sustainable tourism development, a number of questions should be considered and addressed:
The upcoming conference in May 2023 seeks to address these questions and beyond. It offers a platform to tourism scholars, researchers, practitioners and students to interact and debate issues relating to sustainable tourism and its role in enhancing transformation and regeneration of destinations worldwide. The conference aims to promote the exchange of academic dialogues and support innovative research and practices in coping with the challenges and recovery of sustainable tourism in this critical time of our world.
The Conference Organizing Committee welcomes contributions to any topical areas in the field of tourism research, and is particularly seeking contributions to the following areas:
Your presentations can be based on a range of tourism forms:
Since 2012, the Department of Geography and Resource Management (GRMD) and the Master of Social Science in Sustainable Tourism (MSSST) programme of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have organized thematic international conferences on sustainable tourism annually. These conferences have attracted well-known and reputable international tourism academics as keynote speakers, invited speakers and presenters to share knowledge and exchange ideas. Apart from researchers and practitioners, students from international, regional and local institutes have also attended the conferences to widen their scope of learning and to gain global perspectives on the development of the tourism industry. All participants have brought together novel ideas and empirical evidence surrounding issues of sustainable tourism.
In the past years,we have successfully organized the following conferences:
The 2016 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Global-Local Understanding with 150 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. Alan LEW (Northern Arizona University, U.S.A.), Prof. Amran HAMZAH (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), Prof. Geoffrey WALL (University of Waterloo, Canada), Prof. Jaume GUIA (Universitat de Girona, Spain), Prof. Richard BUTLER (The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, U.K.), and Prof. Trevor SOFIELD (University of Tasmania, Australia).
The 2017 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Development with 120 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. Alan LEW (Northern Arizona University, U.S.A.), Prof. Amran HAMZAH (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), Prof. Geoffrey WALL (University of Waterloo, Canada), Prof. Honggang XU (Sun Yat-Sen University, China), Prof. Jaume GUIA (Universitat de Girona, Spain), Prof. Philip Feifan XIE (The Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China), and Prof. T. C. CHANG (National University of Singapore, Singapore).
The 2018 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Innovation with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Dr. Dora AGAPITO (University of Lincoln, U.K.), Prof. Amran HAMZAH (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), and Prof. Geoffrey WALL (University of Waterloo, Canada).
The 2019 International Conference on Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. T. C. CHANG (National University of Singapore), Dr. Cristina Ortega NUERE (Ppen University of Catalonia, Spain; and World Leisure Organization), and Jarkko SAARINEN (University of Oulu, Finland).
The 2021 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development and Global Crises with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. Yingzhi GUO (Fudan University, China), Professor Perry HOBSON (Sunway University, Malaysia), Professor Mike PETERS (University of Innsbruck, Austria), and Professor Gabriela TIGU (Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE), Romania).
The 2022 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism for Inclusive Growth with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Professor Simon DARCY (University of Technology Sydney, Australia) and Professor Trevor SOFIELD (University of Girona, Spain).
