Exploring sustainable tourism indicators (STIs) for the U.S. with secondary data
In this article, the researchers propose using secondary data to develop a novel composite sustainable tourism indicator while also addressing advantages and limitations of the survey-based approaches used in Europe to measure sustainability in tourism. They apply this indicator to recreation-dependent U.S. counties and find that while some counties improve across multiple sustainability dimensions, others experience inconsistent trends, highlighting the complex relationships between tourism development and local community well-being.
Authors: Luyi Han, Stephan Goetz, Doug Arbogast, and Daniel Eades
Publication: Tourism Economics Date Published: May 22, 2026