Strategies for a Sustainable Tourism

Over the past twenty years, the European society’s attitude towards tourism has changed dramatically, consequently affecting such concept as tourist motivation, types of accommodation and even modes of tourism itself. This has meant business operators have had to reassess tourist demand and change direction towards a different typology of tourism, i.e. one that is respectful of the environment and local cultures. At the same time, attention has shifted towards optimizing quality and diversifying options for tourists by focusing on architectural strategies that promote environmental sustainability and energy efficiency in the planning, execution and management process. From this perspective, the concept of sustainable tourism takes shape by tallying a set of appropriation modes concerning the territory ranging from the fabric of the urban environment, the buildings, technological and constructive solutions through to “spatial dynamics” and lifestyles. Here, architectural design and management processes aim at protecting and preserving the socio-cultural authenticity of the host communities, their landscape and their environment and attempt to relate appropriately to local cultural contexts and their complex layers. Such processes configure accommodation to be in harmony with the land, and try to solve the key issues related to tourist mobility (arrival/departure and local transfers), land capacity limitations (land use, landscape degradation, biodiversity and the actual tourist activities themselves), energy consumption, water consumption, waste management, and social, cultural and economic development.