Sustainable Tourism Case Study

2.7 Sustainable Tourism

Tourists travel to the destination for different purposes and this has an impact on the socio-cultural environment (Fletcher et al., 2005). If this industry is managed appropriately, the whole country or destination can benefit. Nevertheless, this industry provides also a number of challenges. Different authors analyzed opportunities and challenges that business tourism provides:

Opportunities • Creates additional jobs

• Promotes infrastructural and social development

• Increases economic flow Fletcher et al., 2005

Challenges • High demand for natural resources

• Socio-cultural disruption

• High possibility of inflation Dwyer, 2005

Figure 2.6 Opportunities and challenges that business tourism provides (Fletcher et

There are quite a few research studies on the positive economic impact that the MICE leaves on the destination. Nevertheless, few studies are to be found providing details of the total impact any MICE activity leaves on the destination. Part of the MICE activities are the incentives. These 'add on' activities can also encourage delegates to repeat visitation (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001). For such reasons, the total impact of a MICE event is much more significant than the spending associated solely with the event. This indirect influence on the host destination is difficult to measure and should be measured with caution (Braun, 1992; Grado, Strauss and Lord,

The challenge is to match the two systems in order to produce a lucrative sector. This calls for increased efforts that can register further growth of existing market segments and in this case Malta, to better position itself amongst its competitors.

The concept of clustering is becoming increasingly popular in tourism and it can support the development of a number of niche markets. This is evidenced by the constantly growing number of co-operative links between different entities and individuals involved in offering specialized tourist products and services (The Cluster Consortium, 1999). It is therefore relevant to study who are the beneficiaries of tourism. As demonstrated in figure 2.8 ,a multitude of stakeholders levels tend to benefit from activities derived from the MICE sector:

Figure 2.8 . Who is benefitting from the MICE sector. Adopted from: (Iccaworld.com,