sustainable tourism development case study

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Sustainable Tourism Case Studies

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The Sustainable Tourism Case Studies Clearinghouse aims to provide examples of how the tourism industry is addressing a variety of challenges – from workforce housing to coastal degradation. NC State University students have designed these case studies to highlight solutions from tourism destinations across the United States and around the world, so community leaders and tourism stakeholders can adapt solutions to fit the unique challenges of their destination.

NC State students want to know what sustainable tourism challenges you are facing. Solutions to these challenges will be shared in the NC State Extension Sustainable Tourism Case Study Clearinghouse. Share the challenges you’d like solutions for  HERE with a brief survey .

Photo: NC State University

Case Studies

• Voluntary Visitor Fee Programs (2024)
• Policies and Planning Strategies for Tourism Workforce Housing (2023)
• Use of Oyster Reefs to Reduce Coastal Degradation in Tourism Destination Communities (2023)

Current Student Researchers

The development of these case studies are supported with the NC State College of Natural Resource’s Lighthouse Fund for Sustainable Tourism. 

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Sustainable Tourism Case Studies

Innovative and promising practices in sustainable tourism..

Innovative and promising practices in sustainable tourism.   Edited by Nicole Vaugeous, Miles Phillips, Doug Arbogast and Patrick Brouder

The intent of this volume is to provide an opportunity for academics, extension professionals, industry stakeholders and community practitioners to reflect, discuss and share the innovative approaches that they have taken to develop sustainable tourism in a variety of different contexts. This volume includes nine cases from across North and Central America reaching from Hawaii in the west to New England in the east and from Quebec in the north to Costa Rica in the south. Case studies are a valuable way to synthesize and share lessons learned and they help to create new knowledge and enhanced applications in practice. There are two main audiences for this volume: 1) faculty and students in tourism related academic programs who will benefit from having access to current case studies that highlight how various stakeholders are approaching common issues, opportunities and trends in tourism, and 2) extension agents and practitioners who will gain important insights from the lessons learned in the current case study contexts. Volume 1 in its entirety:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16372 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8748

DESCRIPTION

Introduction…………………………..3

• Indigenous Tourism and Reconciliation: The Case of Kitcisakik Cultural Immersions……………….7
• Hawaii Ecotourism Association’s Sustainable Tour Certification Program: Promoting Best Practices to Conserve a Unique Place ……22
• Transdisciplinary University Engagement for Sustainable Tourism Planning…………………..38
• Expanding Agritourism In Butte County, California ………………..58
• Recreation Economies and Sustainable Tourism: Mountain Biking at Kingdom Trail Association in Vermont …………………..76
• Kentucky Trail Town Program: Facilitating communities capitalizing on adventure tourism for community and economic development…………….94
• Enhanced performance and visitor satisfaction in artisan businesses: A case study of the evaluation of the Économusée® model in British Columbia…112
• Reverse Osmosis: Cultural Sensitivity Training in the Costa Rican Luxury Ecolodge Setting………………….130
• Stakeholder Engagement and Collaborative Corridor Management: The Case of New Hampshire Route 1A/1B Byway Corridor ………..152

Volume 1 in its entirety:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16372 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8748

• Arellano et al.:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16677 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-9041
• Cox:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16676 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-9040
• Eades et al.:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16675 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-9039
• Hardesty et al.:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16616 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8982
• Kelsey et al.:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16614 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8981
• Koo:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16585 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8953
• Predyk & Vaugeois:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16584 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8952
• Nowaczek:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16530 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8900
• Robertson:  https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16529 ; DOI: 10.25316/IR-8899

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21 Communities in Sustainable Tourism Development – Case Studies

From the book sustainable tourism dialogues in africa.

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A sustainable tourism model transforms economic development: the Egypt case study

Yomna Mohamed, Head of Experimentation

September 12, 2022

Egypt is a world-renowned touristic destination. Tell someone you are visiting Egypt, and the pictures immediately come into focus: the iconic pyramids of Giza, with the mysterious Sphinx standing guard; the beautiful beaches along the coast, warm and inviting; the vibrant and bustling bazaars, infused with the legacy of the pharaohs, teeming with the rich cultures of its people.

As the top destination for tourists visiting North Africa, how might Egypt evolve its tourism industry into a sustainable engine for economic development – particularly as the world emerges from the pandemic?  More fundamentally, might tourism sector provide an opportunity to rethink the development model capable of withstanding & thriving in the context of interlinked, largely unpredictable and fast-moving crises – from food security and changing climate, to rapid inflation, polarization, economic downturn & inequality?

This is the critical question facing UNDP Egypt, one of nine country offices selected by UNDP’s Strategic Innovation Unit to join the second cohort of Deep Demonstrations, an initiative financed by the Government of Denmark.

In this post, we detail the context for tourism in Egypt, consider emerging trends in the economic model, and share progress to date in shaping broader system transformation.

The Egyptian Context

Egypt is best characterized as a Low-Cost Mass Tourism Magnet. According to the IMF , the tourism industry employed 10 percent of the population and contributed to about 12 percent of GDP pre-pandemic. Egypt ranks first in Africa, fifth in MENA, and 51 st globally in the travel and tourism development index (TTDI). It is a top performer in the MENA region with regards to environmental sustainability (31), natural and cultural resources (33), and business and cultural travel (22). With over 100 million in population, Egypt is both a prime destination for nature-based activities and a home to rich cultural diversity.

While the pandemic has definitely been an accelerant, the combination of economic factors and new norms that underpin global tourism raise fundamental questions about long-term viability (see fig 1). Even as the global airline industry recovers from the pandemic, the costs of long-haul travel have become increasingly unaffordable – not only in the rising price of fuel but also in its contributions to climate change. The unexpected benefits of lockdown, improved environments and ecosystems, have countries questioning whether they want to return to the risky, crowded, over-reaching pre-pandemic world. And COVID-19 has magnified the vulnerability of local communities who already do not benefit from unsustainable tourism.

fig 1. Macro Trends, or the Opportunity Space for Change

This requires rethinking the model entirely. The circumstances call for collective effort that transforms the system to one based on sustainability, resilience, and putting local communities first.

Looking at the adjacent possible and entry points for unlocking systems transformation

In response, UNDP Egypt has embarked on a journey to rethink the tourism model and develop a portfolio of policy options on sustainable tourism that align with national priorities.

This approach relies not on a singular discrete intervention but a full system-wide transformation. The adaptive framework is designed to continuously learn from experience and detect new opportunities or needs in the system. A portfolio-based approach serves as a dynamic repository of strategic ideas that frame policy, an investment pipeline for funders, and a coordinating mechanism for relevant stakeholders.

In order to design this portfolio, it is necessary to start with strategic intent. This involves three specific actions –

1. Create a shared vision at the national level: 

This frames the possibilities for a transformative agenda and mobilizes stakeholders to build sustainable, innovative tourism in Egypt. A critical mindset shift is seeing investment in the population and nature as an investment in tourism, where tourism becomes an entry point for rethinking the country’s existing development paradigms.

2. Reimagine a tourism industry that benefits all: 

These include activities that strengthen climate resilience and deliver sustainable benefits to local communities at the forefront.

3. Expand the diversity of business models: 

By focusing on innovative and integrated experiences for tourists, Egypt can accelerate and drive sustainable growth in the industry.

Informed by this strategic intent, existing models, and portfolio ambitions, we have identified three main shifts to create in conjunction with our partners and stakeholders, showcased in fig 2.

fig 2. Three Shifts in the Model

As innovation advisors, we have learned to trust the process. Through this system transformation framework, two parallel but complementary pathways have emerged –

1. Continuously exploring and deeply learning the needs and opportunities in the system; and

2. Identifying key policy options that accelerate the investment pipeline

We are taking these shifts and translating them into specific and coherent offers to be pursued with partners. A sample of these is shown in fig 3.

fig 3. Three Shifts, in Practice

A system transformation is premised on collective action and stakeholder engagement around a coherent approach. In this deep demonstration on sustainable tourism, we embarked on a journey to learn about the problem space, design a portfolio of policy options, and activate a set of evidence-based interventions.

We have yet to determine where best to introduce this portfolio of interventions, but we invite all potential partners to learn alongside and act with us as we work together to make tourism a sustainable economic engine in Egypt.

Tourism and Hospitality Trends and Sustainable Development: Emerging Issues in the Digital Era

• First Online: 28 August 2024

Cite this chapter

• Emmanuel Ndhlovu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2339-3068 4 ,
• Kaitano Dube   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7482-3945 4 &
• Catherine Muyama Kifworo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5581-2258 4  

15 Accesses

This chapter introduces the book Tourism and Hospitality for Sustainable Development—Volume Two: Emerging Trends and Global Issues by summarising the key aspects covered by the chapters that make up the volume. This chapter argues that the emergence of new trends in the tourism industry and the pursuit of sustainable development have been accompanied by the advent of digital technology emerging from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). There have been, however, concerns about the implications of novel technologies for pressing global concerns such as the environment, labour market, energy utilisation, and global poverty. However, studies that comprehensively problematise these aspects either do not exist or are still in their embryonic stages. As a result, our understanding of tourism and hospitality trends and sustainable development in the digitalisation era and the various issues accompanying the digitalisation wave remains limited. In seeking to close this gap, the chapters in this volume explore the trends and emerging issues in the global tourism and hospitality industry in the era of digitalisation. The current introductory chapter revisits some conceptual and practical debates on the usefulness of digitalisation in the industry. This is achieved by referring to various sources from grey and academic literature. This is meant to provide a background discussion of the chapters contained in the book. The chapter also outlines the sections and chapters in the book.

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Ndhlovu, E., Dube, K., Kifworo, C.M. (2024). Tourism and Hospitality Trends and Sustainable Development: Emerging Issues in the Digital Era. In: Ndhlovu, E., Dube, K., Kifworo, C.M. (eds) Tourism and Hospitality for Sustainable Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63073-6_1

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COMMUNITY CASE STUDY article

Toward sustainable tourism in qatar: msheireb downtown doha as a case study.

• Department of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

Qatar has developed a strategy of sustainable tourism and development, which focuses on highlighting the spirit of the Qatari identity and heritage. This strategy goes hand in hand together with the line of the Qatar National Vision 2030. Hence, Msheireb Properties, which is a real estate development company and a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, focuses in developing a sustainable tourism strategy. Thus, Qatari cultural heritage presented in the heart of the post-modern futuristic city of Msheireb through the project of Msheireb Museums that are hosted in four traditional houses. Msheireb Properties renovated the four houses in a sustainable way that aimed to create a dynamic relationship between tourism and cultural heritage. Msheireb Properties preserved models of traditional architecture through the establishment of Msheireb Museums. This article discusses the development of sustainable tourism in Qatar and the preservation of the Qatari cultural heritage and identity through the story of two museums in Msheireb, the Radwani House Museum and the Company House Museum.

Introduction

The relationship between the past and the present is vital, as the past is an integral tool for building both the present and the future. Attempts to preserve the cultural heritage of nations vary, as some societies try to highlight their cultural uniqueness from others ( Al-Saadani, 2017 ). For example, China sent a few Terracotta soldiers to an exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, and this loan contributed to promoting the Chinese nation's legacy outside of its borders ( Qatar Museums, 2017 ). China also created a traditional dress for itself in the 1960s, to be unique from its neighbors Japan and Korea ( Lau, 2010 ).

A nation's heritage supports a better appreciation for the history and nobility of the state. Architectural legacies are particularly important. Architectural styles indicate the possibilities of materials and styles that were available locally or imported from the neighborhood through the trade existing at the time and what distinguishes one region from another. Analyzing the architecture, in terms of size, materials, luxury, and the age of its construction, helps illuminate the extent of the state's capabilities and economic factors during different historical periods. More importantly, the preservation of a nation's architectural heritage is a fundamental tool for ensuring sustainable tourism.

The Concept of Sustainable Tourism

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization and United Nations Environment Program, sustainable tourism is an approach that takes full account of its present and future environmental and social impacts and economic influences while addressing the needs of the industry, visitors, and host communities. It implies that sustainable tourism focuses on sustainable practices and impacts in and by the tourism sector. The key stakeholders in the industry acknowledge its impacts, both negative and positive 1 .

In Qatar, the primary focus of sustainable tourism is to minimize the negative impacts while maximizing the positive ones. Analytically, the negative impacts on tourism to a particular destination include damages to the natural environment, overcrowding, displacement, and economic leakage. For instance, sustainable tourism resulted in massive displacement of the original inhabitants and communities in the Msheireb area before its development. Equally, due to the cost of access, some lower-class communities find it challenging to access the newly developed sites. It implies that sustainable tourism comes with a cost that different stakeholders within the immediate environment have to pay for success to achieve.

However, tourism's positive impacts on its destination include cultural heritage preservation, job creation, wildlife preservation, cultural interpretation, and landscape restoration. In its entirety, sustainable tourism takes a holistic approach that looks at the socio-cultural, environmental, and economic aspects of tourism development. It implies that for excellence to be achieved in sustainable tourism, key stakeholders must strike a balance between the three core dimensions to ensure its long-term sustainability ( Trahant, 2018 ; Waheeb and Zuhair, 2018 ).

Globally, sustainable tourism has made tourism a significant economic activity in and around protected sites, forests, museums, and other attraction points. Well-planned sustainable tourism programs can create opportunities for the visitors to experience human communities, interact with natural areas, and actively learn about the significance of local culture and conservation needs ( Pedersen, 2004 ). As such, it remains imperative to outline the triple bottom line of sustainable tourism as per the International Ecotourism Society.

Economically: Sustainable tourism works to contribute to the overall economic well-being of the immediate environment. It generates equitable and sustainable income and resources for the local community, stakeholders, and shareholders within the area. The activities involved in sustainable tourism have a direct benefit on neighbors, owners, and employees. However, there are situations where detrimental impacts could be witnessed through the displacement of communities 2 .

Environmentally: The activities of sustainable tourism have a low impact on natural resources. It strives to minimize the damage to the habitats, flora and fauna, marine resources, water, and energy. In totality, it works to benefit the overall environment and the people interacting with it.

Socially and culturally: As revealed by the International Ecotourism Society, activities involved in sustainable tourism do not harm or interfere with the culture or social structure of the community. Instead, it values and respects the norms, values, traditions, and cultures of local people. It creates a collaborative shareholding of communities, governmental institutions, individuals, tour operators, and communities in planning, developing, evaluating, and monitoring diverse roles in conservation 3 .

In totality, the conceptual exploration has shown that sustainable tourism strives to meet the needs and preferences of present host regions, tourists, and stakeholders while offering opportunities and protecting the environment and biodiversity for the future. It guarantees that sustainable management of all-natural resources is done in a manner that social, economic, and aesthetic needs are fulfilled while enhancing the vital ecological processes, cultural integrity, life support systems, and biological diversity. In the context of sustainable tourism, Qatar is one country that has focused on tourism as a cultural, economic development strategy.

As a cultural and economic development strategy, sustainable tourism strives to utilize available resources for the social, economic and aesthetic well-being of both locals and foreign tourists. It also protects resources and opportunities for future generations. It stresses safeguarding and protecting the traditions and cultural heritage of communities. It seeks to preserve historical resources for future generations by using tourism to prevent undesirable socio-economic impacts and to promote local communities socially and economically ( Vehbi, 2012 ). Sustainable tourism also encounters the contemporary needs of tourists and host countries by managing a state's resources, while preserving its cultural heritage and promoting essential ecological development ( Pedersen, 2004 ).

Qatar's Socio-Historical Transformation

Heritage plays a critical role in Qatar's socio-historical transformation as it links the people with their culture and history while offering a sense of identity. Qatar's heritage resources have been having a significant impact on tourism. Although Qatar's heritage has been a source of pride, the increased modernization of cities such as Doha has seen historical buildings, districts, and centers become victims. They are brought down and replaced with modern buildings. Even though heritage preservation still thrives in Qatar, the rapid disappearance of the historically developed fabric of the nation has been a concern as it is difficult to retain the real-feel heritage retention. It remains imperative to integrate the concept of heritage, social identity, and history when exploring sustainable tourism in Qatar ( Vehbi, 2012 ).

Historically, Qatar began being inhabited in the early fourth Century. However, much of the history is traced to the eighteenth Century after the Al-Thani family emerged as the first rulers of the nation. The desert situation of Qatar's environment affected the establishment of human settlement due to the harsh and unbearable hot climate. As a result, many opted to live along the coast with the renowned old settlement known as Al-Bidda. Around the 1800s, the Al-Thani decided to relocate to the coast, where they established Doha as the main settlement next to Al-Bidda. By 1887, it was placed as a British protectorate. To date, Doha, the capital of Qatar, has transformed with high rising physical and economic developments due to the increase in revenue from petroleum resources.

Analytically, the urbanism and architecture of Qatar provide the eminent image of the urban identity and cultural heritage transformation that has occurred in residential architecture and the built environment. Irrespective of the transformation, one concept that has remained the same is the tradition and social identity as expressed through the practices of the Qatar people. The practices are actively shared through the Islamic world and the region as a whole. Qatar's vision 2030 has worked with a core focus of embracing tourism as a critical cultural, economic development strategy. It thrives under Qatar's vision 2030's four pillars: environmental development, economic development, human development, and social development. It works to bridge the gap between the present and the future generation ( Qatar, 2019 ).

Owing to Qatar's massive development, its rich culture and heritage, history, and globally recognized growth, it has captured tourism as a cultural, economic development strategy by offering visitors an opportunity to view the beautiful contrast between the past and the future presented in a single frame. Among the most notable transformations are the rising and modern-designed technology parks, over 1,400 years of Islamic history, and integration of tradition and modernity seated side by side within the majestic desert landscapes. In order to sustain its tourism, Qatar has adopted the concept of sustainable tourism as reflected through the activities of Msheireb museums.

In 2011, Qatar launched the Qatar National Vision 2030 that provides the blueprint and guidance to its sustainable economic diversification and long-term development. The plan harbors tourism as a designated priority industry. It serves the country with opportunities to build and achieve sustainable economic growth while enhancing its natural and cultural gems. Equally, in 2014, the Qatar Tourism Authority developed the Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 that designs the pathway through which the country will achieve sustainable development for the tourism sector by 2030. The dedication by the sustainable tourism teams through QNTSS 2030 has seen the country welcome over 9 million new visitors. More importantly, the average annual growth of the tourism sector's arrivals has grown from insignificant numbers in the 1990s to over 6% between 2012 and 2016. Such growth has been reflected with a 4.3% increase impact on total Qatar's GDP. Critically, the advancement in modern Qatar's tourism sector has proved the significant social-historical transformation of the country and the reliance on tourism as an important cultural, economic development strategy 4 .

The current state of Qatar connects the concept of sustainable tourism with the broader themes of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG Goal 8, 12, and 14 aligns with Qatar's sustainable tourism concept. SDG goal 8 strives to promote inclusive, equitable, decent work and sustainable economic growth. It works to ensure productive employment for all. Goal 12 focuses on guaranteeing responsible consumption and production. Sustainable tourism in Qatar has worked to reduce the increasing trend in toxic waste products through the adoption of technology and innovation. Equally, it has adopted the environment protection and conservation concept to maintain the value held by natural resources. Local authorities are also actively involved in the protection of natural gems to ensure that the heritage of Qatar is well-preserved ( Qatar, 2019 ).

Additionally, the tourism sector in Qatar strives to conserve marine resources in the region. The dedication aligns with SDG goal 14 that works to conserve and sustainably utilize seas, oceans, and marine resources for guaranteed sustainable development. Through the climate change programs and initiatives, Qatar's tourism sector has attained its sustainable tourism milestones that have increased the conservation objectives and visitor footprints to its tourism areas associated with economic and financial income for the country.

As highlighted by Hmood et al. (2018) , one of the most important sources for the diversification of a country's financial income is tourism. Over the last century, the tourism industry in the world has grown rapidly. Consequently, cultural heritage tourism has become an important source of income for many nations. Investment in cultural heritage tourism has convinced many states of the importance of the preservation and utilization of their cultural heritage. Such tourism has become trendy and is a significant tool in terms of promoting sustainable development. Accordingly, countries have invested their resources to develop the country's architectural heritage and advertise their unique heritage.

Natural resources have been a game-charge in the tourism and development milestones covered by Qatar. With the discovery of oil, life in Qatar changed and developed rapidly, including the development of various professions and architectural designs, and changes in the social life and traditions of Qatari families. To illustrate such changes, four historical houses were converted into museums at Msheireb heritage downtown, located in the heart of the capital Doha. They include the Company House “bait Alshareekah,” the Radwani House, the Bin Jalmood House, and the Mohammed bin Jassim House.

This article focuses on the Company House Museum and the Radwani House Museum as examples that demonstrate Qatar's use of sustainable tourism. These historical houses present information that illustrates the life of the Qatari family in the twentieth century. This article analyses the importance of museums in bridging the gap between the past and present through their architectural heritage and the presentation of social and economic developments that occurred in Qatar in the twentieth century.

It highlights how Qatar is using sustainable tourism to preserve cultural heritage within the new development of a futuristic downtown Msheireb. It also highlights the role of Qatari museums in narrating these developments that led to the emergence of Qatar today. This article focuses on the efforts of the state to preserve its cultural heritage while modernizing and globalizing as a result of the oil industry boom.

Architectural Heritage as a Tool of Sustainable Tourism

Kabila, Jumaily, and Melnik define sustainable tourism as “a development model which administrates all of the resources for the economic, social and aesthetical needs of locals and visitors, and provides the same conditions for future generations. Most definitions of sustainable tourism emphasize the environmental, social and economic elements of tourism” ( Hmood et al., 2018 , p. 3). Architecture as a tangible heritage material plays a similar role to pieces that can be sent around the world in exhibitions. However, because architecture remains in its place, visitors can enjoy it as an outdoor gallery. To explain the importance of the contribution of architectural heritage in promoting sustainable tourism and creating income for a country, it is useful to examine the model of Vienna. In 1990, Vienna hosted approximately 3.15 million visitors, of whom ~1.1 million visited museums that reflected the city's architectural legacies. In addition, 487,000 tickets were sold to attend a theater dating back to 1870. In 2001, Vienna submitted a request to include its city center on the UNESCO World Heritage List ( Republic of Austria, 2020 ).

The city of Vienna could attract tourists because it refused to convert the architectural heritage into static, non-interactive museums. Instead, the city managed and activated these historical sites by housing local businesses in these traditional/historical buildings and obliged the residents to establish entertainment activities and programmes that engaged the public ( Republic of Austria, 2020 ).

Likewise, in Qatar, there is a growing interest in efforts to preserve the Qatari architectural heritage. The policy that the Qatari government is following in preserving the nation's architectural heritage has had a positive socio-culture impact. It offers its population the opportunity to learn about their ancestors' legacies, culture, heritage, and traditions. Meanwhile, it also creates spaces where tourists can experience and encounter the local cultural heritage. Qatar Museums (QM) protects heritage buildings and gives them new energy despite the transformation of the environment around them under the slogan “A new life for old Qatar.” QM is keen to develop sustainable tourism, which ensures that locals maintain their relationship with the past under the current transformations. Therefore, heritage experts try to develop solutions that enable them to integrate the old material heritage with the present, while making some sacrifices. Sustainable tourism is a very important element for a country like Qatar, as the state is considered a leading center in the region due to its strategic location and possession of the best aviation network in the world, Qatar Airways. The cancellation of entry permit visas for 80 countries, prepared Qatar to expect a large crowd of tourists, specifically in the year 2022 for the FIFA World Cup. The state hopes to preserve visitors' access even after the World Cup ends by establishing rules for sustainable tourism investment ( Skytrax, 2020 ). To invest in tourism, it was necessary to highlight the Qatari identity and enable it as one of the factors of tourist attractions after the end of the World Cup. The government has focused on designing buildings that highlight the Qatari architectural style, such as the cultural village of Katara, Msheireb Museums, Souq Waqif, Souq Al-Wakra, Souq Ruwais, and finally the opening of the National Museum of Qatar in 2019. Therefore, the Qatari government aspires to promote its tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets.

QM succeeded in including the historical fort of Al Zubarah on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Organization. The next step was a plan to revive this historical place by, for example, inaugurating a tourist programme “Window on the Past” at Al Zubarah fort. The programme adopted a mechanism of breaking the deadlock by reviving activities through conducting guided tours, presenting local foods, displaying handicraft workshops, riding camels, and other traditional activities that might interest tourists ( Qatar, 2021 ). In addition, to enhance the engagement of the visitors within museums and cultural sites and to make these areas more active, some Qatari museums, such as the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar, established parks and bazaars ( Museum of Islamic Arts, 2021 ). Reviving these legacies is one of the pillars of national development. Qatar's National Vision 2030 emphasizes social development, which focuses on the preservation and protection of national cultural heritage and Islamic values and identity ( Qatar Planning Statistics Authority, 2021 ). This emphasis reflects the strenuous efforts by QM to engage the community with museum practices.

Similarly, the Qatar Foundation (QF) seeks to activate and revive historical sites within post-modern Qatar through Msheireb Properties (MP). Msheireb Properties is a real estate development company and a subsidiary of QF. The company establishes ventures to support the goals of Qatar's National Vision 2030. Thus, MP focuses on the national development of innovative and sustainable projects that protect the Qatari cultural heritage. MP preserved models of traditional architecture through the establishment of Msheireb Museums. MP used a mechanism of architectural heritage documentation and sustainable tourism to enhance and enrich civic inheritance and heritage tourism without preventing modernization by renovating four historical buildings and reusing them as museums ( Msheireb Properties, 2021a ).

MP renovated the four houses in a sustainable way that aimed to create a dynamic relationship between tourism and cultural heritage. MP tried as much as possible to maintain the authenticity of the houses as a Qatari architectural inheritance. Keeping their authenticity as buildings with their collections, narratives, and roles was an essential component of their cultural importance. Heritage tourism enriches both sustainable tourism and cultural tourism, with an emphasis on maintaining natural surroundings and cultural heritage as much as possible in its original form. Heritage tourism rests on the importance of the cultural and natural environment. Such tourists prefer to visit heritage and historical sites, such as old souqs, forts, castles, museums, preserved parks, and nature reserves. They also prefer a minimum amount of environmental damage and impact ( Hmood et al., 2018 , p. 3). The renovation of those four historical houses created great opportunities for modern people to have a direct experience with the memory and intangible untold heritage and direct contact with the past. It allows the current generation to experience the places, learn about past activities and hear their ancestors' stories with all their ups and downs ( Msheireb Properties, 2021a ). This analysis of the preservation of the Qatari architectural heritage in Msheireb downtown focuses on two primary aspects. First, this preservation aimed to improve and develop the beauty and artistic features of the architectural heritage. Second, it aimed to introduce the futuristic city of Msheireb with its new architectural language in a manner that did not risk losing or harming the authentic local heritage. This approach leads to the questions, to what extent does the new Msheireb preserve the natural surroundings of the original old Msheireb? and does the current Msheireb reflect the old Msheireb downtown?

Msheireb the Old City

Traditionally, Msheireb means “a place to drink water,” as this town was built around a well that was generous enough to serve the whole area, which attracted the community that settled there ( Msheireb Properties, 2021b ). Historically, the town was a vibrant neighborhood that centered around Kahraba Street, which means “electricity,” an area that was the first to receive electricity in Doha. In the past, the shops were confined to the traditional souqs, or marketplaces, known to the people in Qatar, such as Souq Waqif, the internal souq and the Qaysariya souq. These souqs opened in the early morning and closed in the afternoon for a lunch break, then reopened in the afternoon until sunset only. At the beginning of the 1960s, with the acceleration of the development that began in Doha, a new market appeared with new stores that differed from the traditional souqs. These stores had glass facades, modern decorations and new imported goods displayed in elegant and attractive ways that Qataris had not previously known. In this area, modern restaurants opened and served foods that were unknown in Qatar, such as shawarma sandwiches, hummus, mutabal, mixed grills, and grilled chicken. Modern groceries and supermarkets also opened in the area. In addition, the shops in this street were open from morning until midnight. Al-Kahraba Street, or “electricity street” at that time was not only a commercial street for buying and selling but also a cultural and tourist landmark that became famous among all the countries of the region for its modernity and vitality.

Tourists from outside Qatar and locals alike toured this street, enjoying its atmosphere by walking, buying imported goods, and enjoying new options of food and drink. The movement in the street did not stop until dawn, as this street was the only outlet for people, young and old, rich and poor ( Al-Malki, 2013 ). Annually, tens of thousands of locals and visitors go to Msheireb Downtown to see and interact with the Qatari architectural aesthetic that integrates the country's sustainable and functional practices commonly known as the “Seven Steps” to protect and nurture Qatar's built and cultural heritage. A key attraction for the visitors is the close-knot pedestrian streets that reflect and foster the strong social ties held by the Qatari people.

The rapid growth of Qatar has produced some challenges, such as transforming the original identities of the state's cities and their ways of living. These transformations created a huge gap between traditional Qatari architecture and lifestyles and those in current Doha with its post-modern architecture and lifestyles. Msheireb became the site of an ambitious plan to regenerate the town ( Monocle, 2020 ). The foundation of the project began with the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Misned, who established Msheireb Properties with an obligation to address the gap between the past and the present and revive a distinctive form of Qatari urban development. It is a redevelopment initiative that bridged the gap between Qatar's heritage and the futuristic city of Doha ( Monocle, 2020 ). Msheireb preserved its atmosphere and role as a tourist destination, where people can enjoy walking and having food and drinks. However, the architectural heritage was completely lost and replaced with new buildings and a new urban layout. Consequently, the preservation of four historical houses and their function as museums came to fill the gap of representing a part of the lifestyle that was once there at the beginning of Qatar's development.

Msheireb Museums: The Past Overlaps With the Present

Museums are of great importance in narrating stories of the social and economic life of any society, as they preserve the material evidence of those societies. Museums are among the most important means of expressing the heritage and history of civilizations and societies, as they document the lives and activities of people and the places in which they lived. They also vary in nature and specialties. Some museums specialize in art, such as the Islamic Museum in Qatar, which includes many monuments of Islamic arts, and other museums specialized in heritage, such as Msheireb Museums, which convey parts of Qatar's past.

Like museums, architectural features also highlight the identity of the state by illustrating multiple factors that relate to the development of the state of Qatar. Architecture can provide a set of facts that contribute to highlighting the state's past and knowledge of its sovereign, economic and social politics. It is from the architectural heritage and legacies of the former inhabitants that we can better understand how this society developed.

QF aims to highlight the spirit of the Qatari identity, presented in the heart of the post-modern futuristic city of Msheireb, with four traditional houses. The location of the Msheireb museums serves as a tool to document the history and architectural heritage while also documenting Qatar's economic development. Each renovated house emphasizes an original architectural feature. The first house, the Bin Jelmood House, was originally a slave house. The house acknowledges the economic, social, and cultural contributions of previously enslaved people to the improvement of human civilizations ( Msheireb Museums, 2021a ). The second house, the Radwani House, represents an integrated residence for a Qatari house. The house was built in the 1920s on a location separating the oldest districts of Doha, Al Jasra and Msheireb. The house documents the lifestyle of the Qatari family in the early twentieth century. Visiting the museum allows people to learn about everything that characterizes that period ( Msheireb Museums, 2021e ). The third house, the Company House, was once used as the headquarters for the first oil company in Qatar, the British Oil Company. The museum was developed to narrate the story of the Qatari pioneers in the petroleum industry. They assisted the transformation of Qatar into a modern society, by demonstrating remarkable dedication. The museum exhibit tells their stories in their own simple words and narrations. They describe what they endured and how they labored to provide a better future for the coming generations and the country ( Msheireb Museums, 2021b ). The fourth house, the House of Mohammed Bin Jassim, focuses on the son of the founder of modern Qatar. He devoted part of his house to serve as a medical facility, leading the state to design the nation's first hospital. The house reveals “Msheireb's traditional values as the foundations for the future development of Doha and introduces the transformation of Msheireb over time through recalling memories of its past, showcasing its present, and engaging visitors in the plans for the future” ( Msheireb Museums, 2021d ).

All of these buildings, with their various specializations and close proximity, demonstrate the center of gravity of that vital region with its ancient and modern facilities ( Msheireb Museums, 2021c ). Together, they allow the visitor to become acquainted with the patterns of Qatari architecture in the past. To make the area lively for the locals, the post-modern futuristic city of Msheireb was built, which takes inspiration from the traditional buildings of the four Msheireb museums that are considered the cultural destination of the post-modern city ( Qatar Museums, 2020 ). The challenge that MP undertook with this project was to invent an approach that balanced financial benefits with the protection of local cultural identity and nature. The preservation and presentation of cultural heritage within sustainable tourism have positive social and economic impacts. They strengthen local identity and allow local people to move forward. They also help to introduce tourism positively and raise awareness of the importance of authenticity and values ( Hmood et al., 2018 , p. 4). This challenge raises the question of how far the reinvention of Msheireb preserves and reflects Qatari social life and heritage. Reaching an answer requires reflecting on the social and economic lives of the Qataris before and after the discovery of oil.

Economic and Social Development

Before the discovery of oil, Qatari society was modest and primarily a tribal society. In addition to the tribes in the area, there were also Qatari families, who cooperated with the tribes, making the primary feature of Qatari society one of collaboration. In its economic development, Qatari society went through different stages, which affected its social life. The first stage was the era of diving, when pearling was the main economic activity for the Qatari. That period corresponded with the beginning of the emergence of Qatari society, which at the beginning of the twentieth century reached about 32,000 people, of whom 4,000 were Bedouins, and the remainder were settled residents ( Al-Zaidi, 2010 ).

The second stage was the transition from diving to the oil era, beginning in the mid-1930s. The signing of an oil concession agreement with the State of Qatar in May 1935 led to the deterioration of the diving industry. The role of tribalism declined under the new oil con concession agreement and the new professions that accompanied it.

Qatar is part of the Arabian Gulf society, culture and economy. Thus, through different eras and under different circumstances, residents of Qatar have sought a safe and stable life, focusing on earning a livelihood from the sea or on land from grazing or the life of the desert. After the discovery of oil, the course of social life changed, and Qatari society became divided into classes after it had been divided into multiple tribes.

The Role of Persian Migration in the Society

With the discovery of oil in the Arabian Gulf countries, Persian families began to immigrate to the region. At that time the region provided golden opportunities for Persian merchant families and Persian individuals seeking new economic opportunities and work. Like other Arabian Gulf countries, Qatar received an influx of Persian migrants, who came to Qatar for economic opportunities and material gain. As they integrated into the Qatari society, they identified with the locals but maintained their original language and an accent that differs from that of the prominent families in Doha ( Al-Mokh, 2019 ).

The regularity of oil wealth and the accompanying transformation process led to an increase in the state's economic activity. One of the Persian families that migrated to Qatar at the beginning of the twentieth century was the Al-Radwani family. They came to play a significant role in the social and economic life of Qatar and represent an example of a Persian family, who chose to settle in Doha during the economic and social development of the country.

Radwani House Museum: Social and Economic Transformation

The Radwani House in the heart of the Msheireb downtown area represents one of its historical landmarks, which summarizes Qatari folklife and its transformations since the 1920s. The traditional architecture used climate-friendly materials and took into account the local culture. It had specific restrictions that met the needs of living and did not contradict Qatari customs and traditions. The construction of the Al-Radwani House dates back to the 1920s and is located on a site that separates the two oldest neighborhoods in Doha, those of Al Jasra and Msheireb. Ali Akbar Radwani bought the house on December 5, 1936, and it remained the property of his family for more than 70 years ( Hudayb, 2020 ).

In the mid-1930s, this building underwent modifications in its design, preserving its old walls, while demolishing other parts and reusing them in new construction, a practice common at that time. The house underwent expansions and redesigns several times, and today it is one of the oldest historic houses in Doha ( Hudayb, 2020 ).

A tour of the Radwani House Museum gives an idea of how it developed over time, as well as how the traditional pattern of family life in Qatar developed. The house had an open courtyard called the “ housh ,” an important space for family gatherings.

The house displays the life of the Qatari family in the past through its Indian-style bedroom, its modest furniture, the kitchen that uses old clay pots, and household tools that were used in the production of bread and food preparation. In addition to the living room with its simple furniture, a sewing machine embodies the image of the Qatari woman who used to sew clothes for her family members ( Hudayb, 2020 ). Although the Al-Radwani House has undergone many expansions and reconstruction processes throughout its history, it has preserved the traditional pattern of Qatari houses based on the presence of a central courtyard in the middle of the house. In accordance with the prevailing traditions, the external facade of the house is windowless for the privacy of the residents, except for the “ majlis ” in which the guests were received. To preserve the privacy of the courtyard area, access to the majlis is through a corridor that begins at the main door of the house and proceeds at a 90-degree angle to makes it difficult for the guests to see the courtyard and those in it ( Hudayb, 2020 ).

After the Radwani family moved out in 1971, the house sat deserted. In 2007, restoration work began based on archival research, interviews with people who knew the history of the house and an engineering survey to determine if it could be restored safely. The restoration process used traditional building materials and methods as much as possible, but with the adoption of modern engineering methods when necessary. For example, the stone columns and wooden lintels in the “ Liwan ” were replaced by concrete columns and steel beams to ensure the integrity of the building ( Figure 1 ) ( Al-sheeb, 2020 ). 5

Figure 1 . A traditional courtyard was a primary feature in Qatari houses that surrounded the open sitting area Liwan .

Archaeological excavations at the Radwani House were carried out in four stages:

1. Formulate objectives by studying the historical emergence of the city of Doha and how it transformed into a modern city.

2. Study maps and oral documentation of Msheireb City to understand the history of the region.

3. Begin excavations at several sites for their historical value.

4. Evaluate and analyse the data and information from the previous stages ( Al-sheeb, 2020 ). 6

Excavations revealed ancient lighting equipment and the remains of a light bulb and located a “ Qudo ” 7 ( Figure 2 ) used for smoking tobacco with a stove to light coal. The excavations also found many children's toys, small bottles for perfumes, glass balls, a censer for oud and incense made of limestone, indicating that life in the middle of the twentieth century had begun to gain more amenities and entertainment options. Another traditional feature that the house preserved was the idea of distributing the rooms around the perimeter of the yard.

Figure 2 . Qudo is an Iranian traditional smoking tool that was brought to Qatar by Iranian immigrants and integrated into Qatari heritage.

The rooms in the house museum represent chronologically how the lifestyle changed according to the circumstances. For example, the first room reflects life in Qatar before the arrival of electricity. The second room shows the nature of daily life for the generation that immediately followed the arrival of electricity ( Al-sheeb, 2020 ). On the right side, there are indications of a bath and a well of water for daily use, as people used to bring pure water from other areas or it was sold through “ al-Kandari .” On the other side are cavities that reflect the foundations of the original building of the Radwani House ( Al-sheeb, 2020 ). 8

Heritage tourism at the Radwani House Museum embraces the preservation of identity, nostalgia needs, cultural heritage tourism, and conserving the resource from deterioration. Heritage tourism depends mostly on the cultural atmosphere and focuses on the heritage and historical values of the house ( Hmood, 2007 ). Heritage tourism makes visits to museums a pleasurable practice. This kind of tourism is concerned with the preservation and protection of the national identity and heritage and can reflect a green tourism approach. Within the museum exhibitions and collections, visitors travel in time and history. During their leisurely walk through the futuristic city of Msheireb, visitors can enter the house to find themselves suddenly in a very traditional place in old Msheireb, where they can experience Qatari traditional artifacts, activities and places that genuinely represent, and narrate the story of the people ( Hmood et al., 2018 ). The old historical house is not separated from the post-modern architecture by a space. Rather, the historical house preserved its architectural style while the post-modern surrounding spaces were developed around it. Urban protection in historical downtown Msheireb is accomplished by applying urban renewal strategies, which sustain the urban material and construction of the inherited houses and city while meeting contemporary demands ( Cohen, 2011 ). Over the years, over 80,000 visitors have entered the Radwani House Museum to celebrate and understand the Qatari heritage and culture.

The Company House Museum: Qatar's Development

The Company House is the most important landmark in the Msheireb neighborhood. It was built by Hussain Al-Naama, the director of the Doha Port, as a home for his family. In 1935, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company rented the house was rented to serve as the headquarters of the first oil extraction company in Qatar after it was awarded a contract to explore and extract oil from the Qatari lands in the 1930s. During that time, Qatari laborers gathered outside the company's house to board trucks, which took them on arduous trips to the oil fields in the desert in Dhukhan city, ~85 km outside of Doha. 9

Before the discovery of oil, life in Qatar was different, as the professions were divided into two parts with a section for women. One of them was the profession of traditional medicine. Before the construction of modern and professional hospitals in Qatar, people relied on traditional medicine for treatment. Women treated women, helping them to give birth and treating girls and children. They treated illnesses such as sprain, bile, and measles by using medicinal herbs or cauterization with fire. The profession of sewing was called “Darze or Tailor,” and it caused a fundamental change in the life and behavior of women in Qatar. It includes sewing in all its forms ( Al-Malki, 2008 ). The profession of a street vendor, which was not limited to men, involved knocking on doors to sell what they had, including eyeliner, henna, sewing tools, etc. It is worth noting that many who engaged in this profession were immigrant women from Iran ( Al-Malki, 2008 ).

Professions for men also varied and included practitioners of traditional medicine, who used herbs to treat people, especially men, before the hospitals were established; waterers, who watered the neighborhood and brought water from wells; and bakers, who prepared bread. There were marine professions, including fishing, shipbuilding, diving, and pearling ( Al-Malki, 2008 ). Before the discovery of oil, pearling was the primary trading activity upon which Qatar's economy depended. Fishing pearls was a collective effort among the ship's crew, which might number between 10 and 40 men and occasionally more than 70, depending on the size of the ship ( Ahmed, 2014 ).

Since it is formation, Qatar has experienced and passed through different difficult eras. One of these difficulties was the year of drowning in 1925, which witnessed a hurricane that led to great losses in buildings, mud huts and people's lives. A decade later came renewed hope when geologist G. M. Lees revealed the possibility of large reserves of oil in Qatar. A stage of “Qataris' scepticism” about oil followed, during which one Qatari said, “The most he expected from the oil revenues was to build a school or a better standard of living, but it never crossed my mind, and I never expected that the changes would be so important and dramatic.” 10 Then came the promising news and celebrations after a brief appearance of oil in one of the test wells located near the city of Zekreet, where drilling and exploration work continued. Unfortunately, a period of economic stagnation and the consequences of the Second World War followed that hope. However, when the war ended, oil exploration operations began again. In 1949, the first shipment of oil was exported from Qatar, which was followed by a steady flow of oil revenues. Consequently, life began to improve gradually, as many old people and young men scrambled to work in the oil industry ( Al-Zaidi, 2010 ). Oil workers moved to work in Dukhan and Mesaieed, the main oil cities in Qatar at that time. Workers came to Doha only once a week, and the day of their return was a memorable day for their families ( Al-Othman, 1984 ).

The Exhibitions of the Company House Museum

The museum narrative showcases the experiences of the Qatari laborers at the beginning of the oil discovery era. It highlights a story of the first Qatari laborers who joined the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, whom curators called alsawaeid alsumer , “the bare hands.” They borrowed this name and narrative from a book by the Qatari writer Nasser Al-Othman, who was the first to document such experiences in his book With Their Bare Hands .

The museum contains seven different galleries. The first gallery is the entrance of the company which displays a saying by His Highness the Father Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani: “Our human potential represents real wealth, not oil.” 11 These words express the value that the state attaches to the Qatari person, as it considers him to be the real and lasting wealth for the stability and progress of the state, not oil.

Following that introduction, the names of the first Qatari laborers were displayed in the gallery. The second gallery is the theater area, where a documentary movie chronicles the arduous journey of the pioneers of the oil industry from Doha to Dukhan and Mesaieed in the South and back on the back of an open truck ( Figure 3 ). One of the Qatari workers recounts his arduous journey while living in Al-Khor a Northern town, saying: “in our off time, we used to ride cars that heading to Doha. The car dropped us off in Umm Salal town around 29.89 km away from Al-Khor; from there, we had to walk our way back home.” 12

Figure 3 . The truck that was used to transfer Qatari oil laborers from Doha to Dukhan and Mesaieed in the South and back. Displayed in the museum courtyard. Taken by the author in May 2018.

The third gallery explains the discovery of oil chronologically. The exhibition begins in 1920 and moves through the years 1930, 1940, 1950, and 1960, highlighting the stages that the Qatari people went through in the search for oil. One example is the despair stage that Qataris experienced after the depression of the pearl trade when the fishermen sold their boats and their timber. Many of them also went to break stones and sell them to Sheik Muhammad bin Jassim. 13 The fourth gallery consists of an open storage area, where curators arranged different exotic products that were introduced to Qatar during the 1930s and 1940s with the arrival of the oil company. These products included a military telephone ( Figure 4 ), a calculator ( Figure 5 ), 14 the first electric generator in Qatar, and so on. 15

Figure 4 . A military phone that was used at the Company House by the British workers at the oil company.

Figure 5 . A mechanical calculator used in the early 1930s by the finance staff.

The fifth and sixth galleries are called the worker‘s life. In these exhibitions, large screens display the daily routines and activities of the laborers in the company. Visitors learn about the work that the Qatari pioneers practiced when they joined the oil company. Some worked as excavators, others as laborers, and still others as drivers. There are interactive screens that provide an opportunity to watch black and white images that are part of the tales of misery and fatigue that Qataris experienced in the past. 16

The seventh gallery is dedicated to the stories of eight “bare hands” or “ alsawaeid alsumer ” ( Figure 6 ). Their photos, quotations from their interviews and some of their personal belongings show the lives of those pioneers and their life stories. Among the personal items are identity cards, coins, prayer beads, books, a wristwatch, packages of dried foods, a container for preserving food ( Figure 7 ), and other personal tools.

Figure 6 . The bare hands or “ alsawaeid alsumer ” exhibit.

Figure 7 . A lunch box of four containers, used by Qatari laborers to preserve their food at their workplace.

The display of the social and economic changes these workers faced and the cultural heritage they left behind has been accomplished by restoring the Company House with its unnarrated story. It is another source for sustainable heritage tourism and the preservation of the Qatari identity. Qatari identity is highlighted in the museum display through the lives of the eight bare hands laborers. Their stories enriched the museum exhibition and gave it a unique local flavor. It maintains a clever balance between post-modernism needs and the existing history and heritage. Such an approach protects the original setting for the local community during the development of the new Msheireb. Thus, the futuristic city and the heritage site of Msheireb are connected for modern purposes. The traditional houses and the story of the Qatari society are utilized in the museums' displays to offer locals and tourists alike a first-class tourism experience. The development maintains the historical function of downtown Msherieb, where people used to walk, eat, drink, gather, and spend their nights along active streets. The town's new structure and street network recreate a similar concept while preserving the four unique historical houses and limiting vehicle traffic in the area. These steps preserve not only the physical appearance of the area but also the town's historical function. Urban development and heritage tourism encourage linking the old with modern planning projects in a way that develops a combined architectural language. Both the old and new features together make up the new futuristic Msheireb, which is a unique mix that distinguishes this Arabian Gulf city. Placing these museums in this vital location creates a dynamic relationship among Qatar's past, present and future, as well as providing an integrated picture for tourists about Qatari culture and heritage. Such a heritage tourism site is sustainable for current and upcoming generations. The Msheireb Museums maintain the authenticity of the places, collections, activities, functions, and heritage sites. They offer tourists an exploration of heritage through physical materials, tangible and intangible traditions, and collected memories. Such cultural tourism experiences increase the appreciation for and understanding of that cultural heritage.

Through museum displays that show social and economic life in Qatar before and after the discovery of oil, Msheireb Museums has attracted the interest of citizens, residents and tourists who are eager to discover more about the culture, heritage, and history of Qatar. These four museums are located in the area renovated by Msheireb Properties as the newest and most forward-looking neighborhood in Doha, where visitors discover an unparalleled dialogue between the nobility of the past and the aspirations of tomorrow ( Al-Jazeera, 2019 ).

“The Msheireb Downtown Doha project is a real estate dream embodied in reality, as the old district of Msheireb has been transformed into an integrated residential and service area in line with the ambition of the Qatar National Vision 2030.” This project hopes “to achieve the conditions of sustainable development, provide current and future generations with high standards of living, and provide a role model” for the development of central cities around the world ( Al-Jazeera, 2019 ).

Although the project is still in its final stages of construction, Msheireb Properties, the owner of the project, planned “to quickly open its four museums before its completion, so that during the past 3 years it would become a typical tourist, cultural, and educational destination in the region” ( Al-Jazeera, 2019 ).

It was important to address the social and economic life and transformations in Qatar at a very important moment in the contemporary history of the country. Transforming the Radwani House, the Company House and others into museums in the city of Doha was necessary to commemorate events, time periods and various social and economic phenomena. Such images appeared in every part of the museum; in the majlis, in the living room, in the kitchen, etc., and all the belongings illustrate the adherence of Qataris to their national identity and heritage. These museums represent the vision and intention of Msheireb Properties in preserving the national heritage.

In totality, the analysis of the two museums and their sustainable tourism activities proves local authorities' agency to promote sustainable tourism development within the cosmopolitan development environment. An increase in traffic in Qatar due to tourism-related activities has strategically placed the nation on the world map, creating more opportunities and recognition worldwide. The tourism sector has created avenues through which innovations such as green building codes, scientific evaluation of coastal development, reliance on solar power into buildings, and technologies to manage scarce water resources have been adopted. Equally, the cosmopolitan status of their developments has created opportunities for cultural diversity and pathways for creating economic opportunities from the natural heritage that Qatar possesses. Therefore, it is no doubt that the maintenance and rehabilitation of the three museums represent the expression and determination of Qatar's strategic vision concerning sustainable tourism.

The article's exploration has shown how Qatar has designed and developed a sustainable tourism and development strategy focused on the Qatari culture, traditions, heritage, and identity. The connection between the Qatar National Vision 2030, the Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals have created credibility and success factors. The focus on sustainability has made it possible for Qatar infrastructure and property lifecycle to focus on sustainable development, Qatari heritage preservation, identity safeguard and cultural diversity.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author Contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges Qatar National Library for their support.

1. ^ United Nations World Tourism Organization.

2. ^ United Nations World Tourism Organization.

3. ^ United Nations World Tourism Organization.

4. ^ The Qatar Tourism Authority.

5. ^ Liwan is a spacious part of the house surrounded by three walls, a roof carried on columns decorated with drawings and the fourth side open to the outside.

6. ^ Liwan is a spacious part of the house surrounded by three walls, a roof carried on columns decorated with drawings and the fourth side open to the outside.

7. ^ The Qudo is a long-necked clay jar used for smoking. It was brought from the Persian area to the Gulf region, where it spread quickly and is still used for smoking and has become part of the local heritage.

8. ^ An Al-Kandari was someone who transported and sold water by visiting individual homes before oil was discovered. As a profession, it has long been forgotten.

9. ^ Curators of the Company House Museum, interview by the author, 13 March 2020.

10. ^ Exhibit Label at The Company House Museum, viewed by the author on 4 July 2021.

11. ^ Exhibit Label at the Company House Museum, viewed by the author on 10 July 2021.

12. ^ Exhibit Label at the Company House Museum, viewed by the author in July 2021.

13. ^ Al-Othman, With Their Bare Hands .

14. ^ Display at the Company House Museum, viewed by the author in July 2021.

15. ^ Curators of the Company House Museum, interview by the author, 13 March 2020.

16. ^ Display at the Company House Museum, viewed by the author in July 2021.

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Keywords: Msheireb Museums, Msherieb downtown, sustainable tourism, Qatar National Vision 2030, cultural heritage, post-modernism, sustainable development (in Qatar)

Citation: Al-Hammadi MI (2022) Toward Sustainable Tourism in Qatar: Msheireb Downtown Doha as a Case Study. Front. Sustain. Cities 3:799208. doi: 10.3389/frsc.2021.799208

Received: 21 October 2021; Accepted: 31 December 2021; Published: 03 February 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Al-Hammadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Mariam I. Al-Hammadi, m.alhamadi@qu.edu.qa

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Maming, Jimmy B., et al. "Sustainable Tourism Development in Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan." International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research , vol. 2, no. 8, 2021, pp. 699-711, doi: 10.11594/ijmaber.02.08.08 .

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Sustainability is regarded as a critical goal in tourism planning and development. Boracay Island has faced challenges and deterioration as a result of rapid growth in tourism without proper planning and management, leading to its six-month temporary closure on May 8, 2018. Through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, this paper aims to investigate the sustainable tourism development of Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan. Yin's data analysis and procedures were used to create a single case study design. Data was gathered and analyzed using interviews, observations, and data reviews. The study included twenty (20) key informants who were chosen at random. The study's conclusive report yields benefits and costs in three areas: first, economic characteristics of tourism benefit communities and improve the island's economy. However, the island's high cost of living rises, causing inflation. Second, in terms of the environment, its natural resources have been harmed in part by members of the local immigrant and business populations, but they will recover as a result of the recent national and local government efforts to restore the island's ecology. Third, in terms of social structure, improved infrastructure such as good housing and roads create better living conditions for residents. Nonetheless, tourists' influence on the social culture of Boracay Island's young residents is enthralling. The study's output is a theory on sustainable tourism development that will help future research on similar topics and improve the socio-economic quality of life.

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• Published: 02 September 2024

A qualitative dynamic analysis of the relationship between tourism and human development

• Pablo Juan Cárdenas-García   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1779-392X 1 ,
• Juan Gabriel Brida   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2319-5790 2 &
• Verónica Segarra   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0436-3303 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1125 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Development studies

This study analyzes the dynamic relationship between tourism and human development in a sample of 123 countries between 1995–2019 using a symbolic time series methodological analysis, with the number of international tourist arrivals per capita as the tourism measurement variable and the Human Development Index as the development measurement variable. The objective was to determine if a higher level of tourism specialization is related to a higher level of economic development. The definition of economic regime is used and the concept of the distance between the dynamic trajectories of the different countries analyzed is introduced to create a minimum spanning tree. In this way, groups of countries are identified that display similar behavior in terms of tourism specialization and levels of human development. The results suggest that countries with a high level of tourism specialization have a higher level of development as compared to those in which tourism has a lower specific weight. However, the largest group of countries identified is characterized by low levels of tourism specialization and economic development, which appears to translate into a poverty trap. Therefore, policies related to tourism activity expansion should be created since higher tourism levels have been linked to higher levels of human development. In the case of less developed countries, however, these projects should be financed by international organizations so that these countries can escape the poverty trap in which they are currently found.

Introduction

Traditionally, the Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP per capita) is considered the go-to variable to determine a population’s economic development and is restricted exclusively to an economic measure (Todaro and Smith, 2020 ). Recently, however, studies on development have begun incorporating other noneconomic factors, such as education and health. These factors, together with the economic criteria, provide a baseline for measuring a population’s development in broader terms (World Bank, 1991 ; Lee, 2017 ). In the search for economic activities that enable economic growth and improve the level of economic development, many countries have been especially interested in tourist activity since it is an economic activity that has a strong potential for job creation, the generation of foreign currency, and revenue increase. In short, it may be able to boost economic growth in host regions (Brida et al., 2020 ). In some cases, the development of tourism has been found to contribute to reducing inequality (Chi, 2020 ; Nguyen et al. ( 2021 )) or reducing poverty (Garza-Rodriguez ( 2019 ); Folarin, Adeniyi ( 2019 )).

In fact, what is actually important in economic policies is not only the promotion of a country’s economic growth but also, the channeling of this economic growth into improved economic development in the territory (Croes, 2012 ). This latter concept is much broader and it serves to satisfy the needs and demands of the resident population, improving its quality of life (Ranis et al., 2000 ).

In terms of the analysis of the relationship between tourism and economic growth, many studies have researched this connection. Most of them agree that a causal relationship exists between both variables, that tourism influences growth (Balaguer and Cantavella-Jordá, 2002 ; Brida et al., 2016 ), that the economic cycle influences the development of tourism (Antonakakis et al., ( 2015 ); Sokhanvar et al., 2018 ), and that there is a bidirectional relationship between tourism and economic growth (Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ; Hussain-Shahzad et al. ( 2017 )).

Given that a relationship between tourism and economic growth has been proven in the economies of host countries and national governments, despite a lack of sufficient empirical evidence, various international organizations have been promoting tourism activity as a tool to facilitate the population’s development in those host regions that attract tourist flows to their territory (OECD, 2010 ; UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( 2011 )). Such has been the case with the relationship between tourism and economic growth, with the suggestion that tourism is a tool for economic development (Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ).

Many studies have already analyzed the relationship between tourism and GDP per capita, finding long-term equilibrium relationships between the expansion of tourism and economic growth, whereby a higher level of tourists received means higher levels of economic growth (Akadiri et al., 2017 ). As previously mentioned, the economic development of a population, in a broad sense, and in addition to the economic variables, has to be linked to additional variables with a multidimensional content (Wahyuningsih et al., 2020 ). In this scenario, although some studies have measured development in a broader sense (Andergassen and Candela, 2013 ; Banerjee et al. 2018 ; Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ; Li et al., 2018 ), there is a clear lack of analysis of the relationship between tourism and economic development as a multidimensional variable.

In this regard, human development, and its measurement through the Human Development Index (HDI), is a multidimensional variable related to the living conditions of the resident population (income, education, and health), which has been used on many occasions (more than level of poverty or income inequality) to measure a country’s level of development (Cárdenas-García et al., 2015 ; Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ; Croes et al., 2021 ). The link between tourism and human development arises from the economic growth generated by the expansion of tourist activity. This economic growth is used to develop policies that will improve the education and health levels of the host population (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ).

This article analyzes the relationship between tourism and economic growth, measuring the economic growth of the countries in the broadest possible sense, with a link to the concept of human development (Cárdenas-García et al., 2015 ). As a novelty, a wide set of countries is used for this analysis. This overcomes the limitations of prior works that analyzed the relationship between tourism and human development using small country samples (Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ).

Although distinct works have already analyzed the relationship between tourism and economic development, they tended to focus on the application of econometric tests to determine the type of causal relationship existing between these variables (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ). This work takes a distinct approach, analyzing the qualitative dynamic behavior arising between tourism and human development. Different country groups are identified that have similar behavior within the group and, simultaneously, with differences as compared to the other groups. Thus it is possible to verify the relationship existing between tourism and human development in each of these country groups, to determine if a higher level of tourism specialization is linked to a higher level of human development.

This approach does not attempt to determine if a causal relationship exists by which tourism precedes the level of development. Rather, this approach of grouping countries aims to determine if, at similar levels of development, the country groups with a higher level of tourism specialization display higher levels of human development. This would suggest that tourism activity is an economic activity that promotes human development to a greater extent than other economic activities.

In this context, this study analyzes the dynamic relationship between tourism and economic development, considering development as a multidimensional variable. It uses a data panel consisting of 123 countries for the period between 1995–2019 and considers the diversity of countries in terms of tourism development and their economic development dynamics. To perform this dynamic analysis, the concept of economic regime is introduced (Brida, 2008 ; Cristelli et al., 2015 , Brida et al., 2020 ), and symbolic time series are used (Risso ( 2018 )).

This article contributes to the empirical literature examining the relationship between tourism and economic development. It analyzes the qualitative dynamic behavior of the countries without considering any particular model. Therefore, this analysis enables the identification of groups of countries with similar dynamics, for which economic models of the same type can be identified. The results of this study indicate that there are different groups of countries displaying similar dynamic behavior in terms of both tourism and development. These groups are characterized by their level of tourism specialization and economic development. Therefore, it is interesting to note the heterogeneity existing in the relationship between tourism and development, as well as the consequences that this situation has for both the empirical analysis and the political implications.

The rest of the document is organized as follows: the following section reviews the literature on the subject under study, section “Data” presents the data used, section “Methodology” details the methodology applied, section “Results” presents the results obtained, section “Discussion” includes a discussion of the paper, and, finally, section “Conclusions and policy implications” outlines the final conclusions and policy implications of the work.

Literature review

Economic growth versus economic development.

Traditionally, studies on development have focused on economic growth and have been based on the premise that the efficient allocation of resources maximizes growth and that the expansion of growth and consumption is a measure of population welfare (Easterly, 2002 ). However, the emergence of new studies at the end of the last century, beginning with the works by Sen ( 1990 , 1999 ), resulted in a change of focus for studies on development. They moved from an exclusive view of development linked to economic growth to the inclusion of new factors that connect it to the population’s living conditions (Croes et al., 2018 ).

Economic growth and development are distinct concepts that do not need to be linked. In other words, increased economic growth does not necessarily imply improved economic development (Croes et al., 2021 ). However, it is also true that economic growth, and the revenue generated, can be used to improve a population’s living conditions through better health care, infrastructures, and education (Banerjee et al., 2018 ; Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ).

In this regard, the first studies to analyze the relationship between tourist activity and the economies of host countries focused exclusively on the relationship between tourism and economic growth, using a traditional view of development that is linked to economic variables.

Tourism and economic growth

Numerous studies have analyzed the relationship between tourism and economic growth. Therefore, it is a highly relevant research area in the economic analysis of tourist activity, with three streams of perfectly defined results in which these works may be grouped (Alcalá-Ordóñez et al., 2023; Brida et al., 2016 ).

Firstly, different studies have determined that tourism development drives economic growth, identified under the tourism-led economic growth hypothesis. Both the first study to analyze this causal relationship (Balaguer and Cantavella-Jorda, 2002), as well as the later studies (Brida et al., 2016 ; Castro-Nuño et al., 2013 ; Lin et al., 2019 , Pérez-Rodríguez et al., 2021 ; Ridderstaat et al., 2016 ), have confirmed the existence of this relationship.

Secondly, other studies determined that the evolution of the economic cycle has an influence on the development of tourism, identified under the economic-driven tourism growth. These studies indicate that those economies with a greater level of investment, stability in the price level, or lower level of unemployment determine the development of tourism (Antonakakis et al. ( 2015 ); Rivera, 2017 ; Sokhanvar et al., 2018 ; Tang, Tan ( 2018 )).

Finally, a third wave of studies determined that the relationship between the development of tourism and economic growth has a bidirectional character. These studies note that the relationship between both variables is a causal bidirectional relationship (Antonakakis et al., 2019 ; Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ; Chingarande and Saayman, 2018 ; Hussain-Shahzad et al. ( 2017 ); Ridderstaat et al., 2013 ).

Human Development as a measure of development

Since the end of the last century, the scientific literature has shown that the concept of development cannot be linked exclusively to variables of economic content. Instead, development should be considered along with other non-economic factors that are related to the population’s living conditions. Therefore, it is a multidimensional concept (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ).

When measuring development using a multidimensional perspective, this concept is often linked to human development (Cárdenas et al., 2015 ; Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ). In this regard, the HDI is a multidimensional indicator that, in addition to considering variables of economic content, in this case per capita income, also incorporates other non-economic factors, specifically, life expectancy and educational level of the population (United Nations Development Program, 2022 ).

The HDI offers some major advantages as a measure of development over other indicators, providing a more complete vision of society’s progress and focusing not only on economic factors but also on factors related to the population’s living conditions. This makes it possible to identify inequalities that need to be addressed to promote more equitable and sustainable development (Sharma et al., 2020 ; Tan et al., 2019 ). Moreover, since it was created by the United Nations Development Program for a large group of countries, it permits homogenous comparison-making between a broad base of countries at a global level (Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ).

Tourism and human development

The expansion of tourism activity can influence the level of human development (Croes et al., 2021 ). The common link between these two variables is the economic impact generated by the expansion of tourist activity since this is a linked process, whereby a higher level of tourists results in an increase in income generated and thus, a higher level of economic growth (Brida et al., 2016 ). Countries can take advantage of this higher level of economic growth to develop specific policies aimed at improving the living conditions of the host population, thereby improving human development (Eluwole et al., 2022 ).

This link between tourism and human development has also been highlighted by the United Nations Tourism in its Millennium Development Goals of 2000, which declared that factors such as health and education are very important in economic development. It was suggested that tourism may improve human development given that it has an influence on these non-economic factors (UN Tourism, 2006 ).

The triple component of the HDI, the most frequently used indicator to measure economic development, has been considered in most of the studies analyzing the relationship between tourism and economic development (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ).

Distinct studies have attempted to determine whether tourism is a tool for economic growth in host countries, although most of the studies have exclusively used economic content to measure the concept of development (Wahyuningsih et al., 2020 ). Therefore, there is a major lack of empirical studies that consider whether tourism influences development and that do so while considering development to be a multidimensional variable encompassing other factors (beyond those associated with the economy).

Some of these studies have outlined that the expansion of tourism has led to an increase in the level of development for host countries. This suggests that tourism has a positive unidirectional relationship with the living conditions of the population (Meyer and Meyer, 2016 ). Fahimi et al. ( 2018 ), examining microstates, found evidence supporting the idea that the expansion of tourism leads to an improvement in human capital. Other studies have also noted that this causal relationship between tourism and development exists, but only in developed countries (Banerjee et al., 2018 ; Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ). Some studies have suggested that only the least developed countries have benefited from the tourism industry in terms of increased economic development ratios (Cárdenas-García et al., 2015 ).

However, although it has been indicated that tourism influences economic growth, some authors have noted that tourism does not have an influence on the development of host countries (Rivera, 2017 ), or simply, that the expansion of this activity does not have any effect on human development (Croes et al., 2021 ).

As an intermediate position between these two schools of thought, some works have suggested that tourism has a positive influence on the development of the resident population, but this causal relationship is only found when certain factors exist in the host countries, such as infrastructure, environment, technology, and human capital (Andergassen and Candela, 2013 ; Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ; Li et al., 2018 ).

Along these same lines, in a study using panel data from 133 countries, Chattopadhyay et al. ( 2021 ) determined that, although no global relationship exists between tourism and human development for all countries, the specific characteristics of each country (level of growth, degree of urbanization, or commercial openness) are determinants for tourism to improve human development levels.

Finally, other studies in the scientific literature have looked to determine whether the relationship between tourism and development is a bidirectional causal relationship, with papers affirming the existence of this relationship between tourism and development (Pulido-Fernández and Cárdenas-García, 2021 ).

Therefore, when examining the few studies that have analyzed the relationship between tourism and development, it may be concluded that contradictory and biased results exist. This may be due to the characteristics of the samples chosen, the variables used, and the methodology employed. Currently, there is no defined school of thought in the scientific literature with regard to the ability of tourism to improve living conditions for the resident population. This contrasts with the conclusions drawn regarding the relationship between tourism and economic growth.

This gap in the scientific literature provides an opportunity for new empirical studies that can analyze the relationship between tourism and development.

In this study, data from different sources of information were used with the objective of analyzing the relationship between tourism and economic development, in accordance with the methodology proposed in the following section. The data used in the present study are available for a total of 123 countries, covering all geographical areas worldwide. The specific data for these countries are as follows, including a web link to the availability of the data to provide greater transparency:

Tourist activity. The number of international tourists received was used as a variable for measuring tourist activity. For those countries for which this data was unavailable, the number of international visitors received was used, based on annual information provided by the United Nations Tourism between 1995 and the present (UN Tourism, 2022 ).

Data on international tourists received at a country level are available at https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance

Economic development. The HDI, developed by the United Nations Development Program and available annually from 1990 to the present day, was used as a variable for measuring economic development (United Nations Development Program, 2022 ).

Data from the HDI for each country are available at https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI

Total population. The de facto population was used as a measurement variable and counts all residents regardless of their legal status or citizenship. This information was provided by the World Bank and is available from 1960 to the present day, on an annual basis (World Bank, 2022 ).

Data on the population of the distinct countries are available and accessible at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.pop.totl .

Based on the data indicated above, the initial variables are transformed, specifically, in the case of tourism, through the use of the relativized per capita variable. A descriptive summary of the variables used in the analysis is presented in Table 1 . Finally, two variables have been used to analyze the relationship between tourism and economic development:

International tourists per inhabitant received in the country (number of international tourists / total population of the country), as a measure of tourism specialization. The unit of this variable is established at a relative value, by dividing the number of tourists by the population.

HDI of the country, as a measure of economic development. The unit of this variable is established at a relative value for each country, which, in all cases, is between 0 (lowest level of human development) and 1 (highest level of human development).

Regarding the tourist sector, the measurement of tourism is a subject that has generated great interest, and, on many occasions, the selection of different indicators leads to different results (Song and Wu, 2021 ). As a result, the results of the empirical analysis may be affected by the indicators used to represent the tourist demand (Fonseca and Sanchez-Rivero, 2020 ), with there being important differences between studies with respect to the tourism indicator. According to Rosselló-Nadal, He ( 2020 ), tourist arrivals or tourism expenditure are frequently used to measure tourist demand; however, when looking at the literature, differences in the results are found depending on the indicator considered. Indeed, in their study, which looked at 191 countries between 1998–2016, the authors found evidence that estimates may differ depending on the indicator used for the tourism demand of a destination (international tourist arrivals, or international tourist expenditure in this case). Other studies use indicators that do not measure the degree of tourist activity of a destination, as is the case for the number of tourist arrivals, the expenses, or the revenues. Instead, they consider an indicator that measures the degree of specialization that an economy has in tourism, for example, international tourist arrivals in per capita terms or expenditure or income as a percentage of GDP or exports. This work uses the number of international tourist arrivals, in relation to the population, and thus obtains the degree of tourism specialization of a destination (such as Dritsakis, 2012 ; Tang and Abosedra, 2016 ).

With regard to the measurement of economic development, the arrival of the HDI has resulted in a notable improvement in terms of GDP per capita, which is traditionally used to measure the progress of a country linked only to economic aspects (Lind, 2019 ). In fact, the HDI includes other noneconomic factors as it measures three key dimensions of development: a long and healthy life, being well-informed, and having a decent standard of living. This is why this index was created from the geometric mean of the normalized indices for each of the three dimensions indicated: (i) health: life expectancy at birth; (ii) education: years of schooling for adults and expected years of schooling for children; and (iii) standard of living: Gross National Income per capita (United Nations Development Program, 2022 ). Therefore, since the emergence of this index, there have been increasingly more studies that have incorporated HDI as a measurement of economic development. This variable has been shown to represent development better than other variables that are based exclusively on economic factors (Anand and Sen, 2000 ; Jalil and Kamaruddin, 2018 ; Ngoo and Tey, 2019 ; Ogwang and Abdou, 2003 ; Sajith and Malathi, 2020 ).

The time scale considered in this study covers the period between 1995–2019, in order to perform the broadest possible time analysis. On the one hand, there is an initial time restriction in terms of the data, given that the first data available on international tourist arrivals, provided by the United Nations Tourism, refer to the 1995 fiscal year. On the other hand, the data for the 2019 fiscal year are the latest in the time series analyzed. Therefore, the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, which may have had a different impact at the country level, as well as the level of recovery in international tourist arrivals, do not affect the results of this work.

Methodology

In this work, an analysis is carried out involving the dynamics of two variables: tourism specialization and the HDI. Each of the countries considered in the analysis is represented by a two-dimensional time series of coordinates of these two variables.

In order to compare these dynamics and thereby find homogenous country groups sharing similar dynamics, it was first necessary to introduce a metric permitting this comparison. A fundamental issue in this analysis is that the units of measurement used for each variable are different and the relationship between them is unknown since tourism is measured in the number of tourists per inhabitant while the HDI is an index that varies between 0 and 1. Therefore, the frequently used Euclidean metrics are not valid for this analysis. For this reason, in this study, the problem was analyzed within the framework of complex systems by introducing the concept of “regimes”.

In economic literature, the term “regime” is used to characterize a type of behavior exhibited by one economy, which can be qualitatively distinguished from the “regime” that characterizes another economy. In this way, one regime is distinguished and differentiated from another, so that the economy as a whole may be considered a system of multiple regimes. Intuitively, an “economic regime” may be considered a set of rules governing the economy as a system and determining certain qualitative behaviors (Boehm and Punzo, 2001 ).

Regime changes, on the other hand, are associated with qualitative changes in the dynamics of an economy. Identifying and characterizing these regimes is a complex issue. For example, when working with mathematical models, a commonly used criterion is through Markov partitions (see Adler, 1998 ). Another widely used criterion when working with data is the division of the state space using various statistical indicators, such as the mean, median, etc. (see Brida and Punzo, 2003 ).

Firstly, a distance between countries was calculated to compare their trajectories; secondly, a symbolic time series analysis was used and the concept of “regime” was incorporated; as a result, the original two-dimensional series was transformed into a one-dimensional symbolic series. Then, a metric allowing for the comparison of the dynamic trajectories of the different countries was introduced; finally, a cluster analysis was performed to group the countries based on their dynamics.

The symbolic time series analysis methodology, still quite undeveloped in the field of economics, has been used in some previous works, such as that by Brida et al. ( 2020 ) that analyzes the relationship between tourism and economic growth. All analyses have been performed using RStudio software.

Time series symbolization

To identify the qualitatively relevant characteristics, the concepts of regime and regime dynamics were introduced (Brida, 2008 ; Brida et al., 2020 ). Each regime had its own economic performance model that made it qualitatively different from the rest. The partitioning of the space of tourism states and the development was established by means of annual averages of international arrivals per capita (x) and the HDI (y). The space was divided into four regions, which were determined by the annual averages of tourism and economic development, \({\bar{x}}_{t}\) and \({\bar{y}}_{t}\) respectively, with \(t=1,\ldots ,25\) . Using this partitioning of the states space into regimes, two types of dynamics are distinguished: one within each of the regimes and one of change between regimes. While the dynamic observed in each regime determines a performance model that differs from the models that act in the others, the dynamics of change from one region to another indicate where an economy is at each temporal moment. This dynamic describes performance in terms of tourism specialization and economic development in a qualitative way.

A change of regime of course signals some qualitative transformation. To explore these qualitative changes for every country, let us substitute a bi-dimensional time series \(\left\{\left({x}_{1},{y}_{1}\right),\,\left({x}_{2},{y}_{2}\right),\,\ldots ,\,\left({x}_{{\rm{T}}},{y}_{{\rm{T}}}\right)\right\}\) , by a sequence of symbols: \(s=\left\{{s}_{1},{s}_{2},\ldots ,{s}_{T}\right\}\) , such that \({s}_{t}=j\) if and only if \(\left({x}_{t},{y}_{t}\right)\) belongs to a selected state space region, \(\,{R}_{j}\) . It is defined four regions in the following way:

Regime 1: countries with above-average HDI and tourism specialization. In this regime, the most developed economies specializing in tourism are expected to be found. The majority of European countries are expected to be found in this regime; countries in other regions with a high level of tourism specialization could also be included.

Regime 2: countries with high HDI and low tourism specialization. In this regime, the most developed economies, but in which tourism activity has a less important weight in their economic base, are expected to be found. Some large countries such as the US and Germany are expected to be found in this regime. Other countries may also be found here even if they do not present similar levels of development as European countries, for example, they have higher levels in relative terms (above the sample average).

Regime 3: countries with low HDI and low tourism specialization. In this regime, economies with a lower level of development and where tourism activity is not relevant to their economic activity, are expected to be found. Countries such as China, other Asian countries, countries on the African continent, and countries in South America are expected to be included in this regime.

Regime 4: countries with low HDI and high tourism specialization. Countries with a lower level of development and a high level of tourism specialization, such as Caribbean countries and some island countries, are expected to be found in this regime.

Once the one-dimensional symbolic series is obtained, a metric is introduced that allows comparing the dynamics of the countries, and which in turn allows for obtaining homogeneous groups. Given the symbolic sequences \({\left\{{s}_{{it}}\right\}}_{t=1}^{t=T}\) and \({\{{s}_{{jt}}\}}_{t=1}^{t=T}\) the distance between two countries, i and j is given by.

Intuitively, the distance between two countries measures the number of years of regime non-coincidence during the period. If the distance between two countries is zero, the countries have been in the same regime for the entire period. On the contrary, if the distance between two countries is T, the countries have not coincided for any time during the analyzed period. If the distance between two countries is α, it means that they have not coincided for α years during the period. In other words, they have coincided for T-α years.

Using the defined distance, the hierarchical tree was created using the nearest neighbor cluster analysis method (Mantegna, 1999 ; Mantegna and Stanley, 2000 ). Using the algorithm by Kruskal ( 1956 ), the minimum spanning tree (MST) was created. This tree was created progressively, joining all the countries from the sample using a minimum distance. According to this algorithm, in the first step, the two countries whose series had the shortest distances were connected. In the second step, the countries with the second shortest distance were connected. This pattern continued until all countries were connected in one tree.

Symbolic time series analysis

Figure 1 shows the point cloud corresponding to 2019, with the respective averages of each variable. Each point represents a country in this year with its coordinates (Tourism, HDI). As is expected, the points are distributed in the four regions, showing that qualitatively the countries perform differently. A clustering in the second and third quadrants can be observed, indicating a clustering in the sections with a low level of tourism specialization, and, in turn, there are not many countries in the fourth quadrant. In other words, few countries have been considered to have a high level of tourism specialization but low levels of development, in the last year (Belize, Fiji, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, the Maldives, and Samoa).

Cloud of points of the 123 countries for the year 2019.

Table 2 shows the percentage of time spent by each of the 123 countries analyzed in each of the previously defined regimes, showing that the large majority of the countries (80 countries) remained in the same regime for the entire period or, at least, for three-quarters of the period analyzed in the same regime (16 countries). In this regard, using the symbolization of the series, 4 clear groups were identified, made up of countries that remained in the same regime for the entire period:

Group 1: made up of countries that are in regime 1 for the entire period (high level of tourism specialization and high level of development): Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Switzerland, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Singapore.

Group 2: made up of countries that are in regime 2 for the entire period (low level of tourism specialization and high level of development): Germany, Argentina, Australia, Chile, South Korea, Costa Rica, Cuba, the United States, Russia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Panama, United Kingdom, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine.

Group 3: made up of countries that are in regime 3 for the entire period (low level of tourism specialization and low level of development): Azerbaijan, Benin, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Algeria, Egypt, Gambia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Lesotho, Morocco, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nicaragua, Nepal, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Sudan, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Togo, Tuvalu, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Finally, Group 4, made up of Belize and the Maldives, which are in regime 4 for the entire period (high level of tourism specialization and low level of development):

It is worth noting that according to the results obtained, regime changes can be difficult to observe. This could be a result of the fact that a regime change implies a structural change in the economy and in such a period as the one analyzed in this study (25 years), the observation of a structural change may be circumstantial in nature. In other words, the timing of structural changes seems to be slower than the tick of the chosen clock; in this case, an annual tick.

Within the group of countries that always remain in regime 1, two groups of countries can be identified. One of the groups is that in which tourism is an essential sector for the economy (like in the case of the Bahamas or Barbados, which have tourism contribution rates to GDP of above 25%), and in which tourism seems to have an influence in the high level of development. The other group is that in which, while tourism is not necessarily an essential sector for the economy, due to the existence of other economic activities, it is an important sector for development (such as Spain or Portugal, with tourism contribution rates to GDP of above 10%).

Within the group of countries that always remain in regime 2, there are fundamentally countries in which tourism has a marginal weight in relation to the level of population (like in the case of Germany, the US, and Japan), due to the lack of or little exploitation of the country’s tourism resources, which would result in development seeming to be related to other economic activities.

Within the group of countries that always remain in regime 3, there is a large group consisting of 41 countries (a third of the sample) that seem to be in a poverty trap, due to the low level of development and low level of tourism specialization. This is in such a way that the low level of development hinders the expansion of tourism activity, and, in turn, this lack of tourism development makes it difficult to increase the levels of development.

Finally, within the group of countries that always remain in regime 4, there are only two countries found, which are characterized by a high level of tourism specialization but have not transformed this into an improvement in development, possibly due to the existence of certain factors that hinder this relationship.

Therefore, the first issue to note is the little mobility that countries have in terms of their classification between the different regimes, given that 80 countries (two-thirds of the sample) remained in the same regime during the 25 years analyzed, which seems to show that the variables are somewhat stable, and thus justifies the fact that no major changes were observed during the period analyzed. This behavior reveals that the homogeneity in the tourism and development dynamic is the rule and not the exception.

In fact, only 27 countries, out of the 123 countries analyzed, are in a different regime for at least a quarter of the period: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Botswana, Canada, Colombia, Slovakia, Eswatini, Finland, Fiji, Hungary, Jamaica, Jordan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Saint Lucia, Sweden, Thailand, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, and Samoa.

In this regard, Fig. 2 shows the time evolution of the symbolic series for some selected countries. As can be noted, there are some countries, like Brazil, that always have a low level of tourism specialization and alternate between periods of high and low economic development, with it seeming as though there is consolidation as being a low HDI country in recent years (until 2002, Brazil had an above average level of development but, after it was hit by a crisis, the country moved to the low development regime. Then, in 2013, it managed to return to the high HDI regime, albeit temporarily as in 2016, in the midst of a political and economic crisis, it returned to the low development regime, where it currently remains). This is similar to what happened in Fiji, insofar as it was almost always specialized in tourism and alternated HDI, consolidating itself in Regime 4 of the low HDI. As such, it seems as though certain countries define their behavior according to the degree of tourism specialization; in this case, not particularly specialized countries.

Top panel: Brazil (left) and Fiji (right). Bottom panel: Latvia (left) and Eswatini (right).

However, the behavior of Latvia or Eswatini seems to be determined by HDI and not by tourism specialization. As to be expected, Latvia remained always in regimes 1 and 2 with a high HDI while Eswatini remained in regimes 3 and 4 with a low HDI. In both cases, they alternated periods of high and low specialization in tourism.

Grouping homogeneous countries

In the case analyzed, there are many countries with zero distance. These are the countries that have the same symbolic representation, that is, the regimes dynamics are coincidental given that these countries always remain in the same regime. Therefore, there are three groups that start to form with countries that have zero distance (countries that are always placed in regimes 1, 2, and 3), and a small group, formed by Belize and the Maldives, which are the only countries that remained in regime 4 for the entire period analyzed. According to this algorithm, 6 groups were obtained, while some countries were not included in any of the groups as they were considered to be “outliers”.

Specifically, there was a graph with 123 nodes corresponding to each country and 122 links; however, given that there were several countries with the same dynamic (the distance between these countries is zero), each of these groups is represented in a single node; that is, the countries that always remained in regime 1 were considered together as one single node, with the same happening for the remaining three groups of countries with identical dynamics (groups 2, 3, and 4). Therefore, in this case, there is a node representing 18 countries from group A and another node (both pink) that represents multiple countries; the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Mauritius, and Slovenia, which all share the same dynamic (they always remain in regime 1, except in 1995). There is a node representing 19 countries from group B (light blue), another node representing 41 countries from group C (green), and a final node representing Belize and Maldives in group D. In this way, 80 countries are represented in four nodes. To complete the tree, 38 other nodes, each corresponding to a country, were established. Using Kruskal’s algorithm ( 1956 ), the MST is built, in which all nodes are connected in a single tree from the minimum distances. In this way, a tree is created having links that connect the nodes to represent the minimum distances between them (a longer arrow indicates a longer distance).

Figure 3 shows the MST. It is worth noting the central position that these multiple nodes have within the groups, that is, nodes that represent a group of countries with the same dynamics. The structure of the MST seems to be almost linear; moreover, while group C (green) is the most numerous, it is also the most compact of the large groups.

(Nodes: Pink group A/Light blue group B/Green group C/Yellow group D/Orange group E/Blue group F/Red Outliers. Distances according to arrow color: black 1/red 2/light blue 3/green 4/blue 5/orange 6/pink 7/gray 8/violet 9).

Figure 4 shows the geographic distribution of the different groups. There are 6 groups (3 large and 3 small), while some countries are not included in any of these groups, as they are considered to be “outliers”:

Group A: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bahamas, Barbados, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mauritius, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Uruguay. This group is made up of countries that predominantly remained in regime 1, that is, in general, these are countries with a high tourism specialization and high economic development.

Group B: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Germany, Ecuador, United Kingdom, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Mexico, North Macedonia, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United States. This group is made up of countries that predominantly remained in regime 2, that is, in general, these are countries with a low tourism specialization and high economic development.

Group C: Azerbaijan, Benin, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Egypt, Gambia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Myanmar, Mongolia, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nicaragua, Nepal, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Sudan, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Togo, Tuvalu, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This group is made up of countries that remained the majority of the time in regime 3, that is, in general, these are countries with a low tourism specialization and low economic development. With the exception of the Dominican Republic and South Africa (96% and 92%, respectively), all countries remained in regime 3 for the entire period.

Group D: Belize and the Maldives. This group is made up of the two countries that always remained in regime 4, that is, in general, these are countries with a high tourism specialization and low economic development.

Group E: Armenia, Moldova, Thailand, and Turkey. This group has the particular characteristic of having low tourism specialization throughout the period but alternating between a high level of development (regime 2) and a low level of development (regime 3).

Group F: Botswana, Jamaica, and Tunisia. This group is made up of countries that fundamentally remained in regime 4, that is, these are countries with a high tourism specialization and low economic development, however, unlike group D, they moved during the period analyzed through other regimes.

Outliers: Canada, Fiji, Saint Lucia, Sweden, Eswatini, and Samoa. These countries presented different dynamics and were not integrated into any of the previously-defined groups.

(Note: Pink: group A/Light blue: group B/Green: group C/Yellow: group D/Orange: group E/Blue: group F/Red: Outliers).

As can be seen, group A, which consists of countries with a high tourism specialization and high economic development, is basically made up of European countries, some Asian countries, and Uruguay (the only country in the Americas to be part of this group).

The countries in group B, that is, those countries with a good level of economic development, but a low specialization in the sector, are more geographically dispersed. This group consists of some European countries (in particular, Eastern European countries), a large part of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the US, Australia, and some Asian countries.

Group C, that is, those countries with a low tourism specialization and low economic development, consists of the vast majority of African countries, as well as a significant number of Asian countries, in addition to Bolivia and Paraguay in Latin America, as well as some countries in Central America.

The countries in Group D, that is, those countries that had a high tourism specialization but a low level of economic development throughout the period analyzed, as well as those in Group F, which were also in this regime for most of the period, do not have a uniform geographic pattern, since they are located on different continents.

Finally, the countries in Group E, that is, those countries with a low tourism specialization and alternating levels of economic development, are also geographically dispersed between Europe and Asia.

As can be seen in Table 3 both Group A and Group B are made up of countries with a high level of development; however, the countries in Group A, which also have a high level of tourism specialization, on average, have a significantly higher level of development than the countries in Group B, where the level of tourism specialization is low. These results appear to show that in terms of those countries specialized in tourism (Group A), the link with development is higher than for those countries that have achieved high levels of development due to the development of other economic activities.

Similar results can be found when comparing the data from Group C (countries with a low level of tourism specialization and low level of economic development) with the data from Groups D and F (countries with a high level of tourism specialization and low level of economic development). This is because, despite the level of development being low in all the countries, in the Group D and F countries, the level of development is significantly higher than in Group C countries. This appears to show that for those countries specialized in tourism (Groups D and F), the link with development is greater than for those countries that rely on other sectors as the basis of their economy.

Tourism’s relevance lies not only in its contribution to economic growth but also in the fact that the improved economic growth generated by the expansion of tourism activity may translate into improved living conditions for the host population. Due to this chained process, many countries have opted for this economic activity with the aim of improving income, education, and health. In short, they hope to increase their levels of human development.

Although distinct works have analyzed the relationship between tourism and human development by applying causality tests to determine the type of relationship between these variables, this study adopts a different approach. It analyzes the qualitative dynamic behavior between tourism and human development, to identify clusters of countries that display similar behavior with regard to this relationship.

Firstly, it is necessary to note the little movement there is of the countries between the different regimes, which indicates great stability, given that 80 countries (two-thirds of the sample) remained in the same regime throughout the entire period analyzed (1995–2019). These results regarding the stability of the countries in the different regimes differ significantly from the results obtained in other studies that have used the same technique for the analysis of the dynamic relationship between variables (Brida et al., 2020 ). This is because even when there is a movement of the countries between regimes, this happens, at most, between two or three regimes (Jordan and Samoa are the only exceptions, passing through all four regimes).

Furthermore, the results appear to show that groups of countries with a higher level of tourism specialization have higher levels of human development. Therefore, tourism is configured as an effective tool to improve development levels, as previously stated in works such as that of Cárdenas-García et al. ( 2015 ) conducting a joint analysis with data from 144 countries or Bojanic and Lo ( 2016 ), whose global analysis referred to a sample of 187 countries.

Specifically, these results are found both in the group of countries with the highest level of development, (countries of Group A versus the countries of Group B), as previously revealed in works such as that of Meyer and Meyer ( 2016 ) analyzing South Africa and that of Tan et al. ( 2019 ) analyzing Malaysia. These results were also found in the case of countries with a lower level of development (countries of Group D and F as compared to the countries of Group C), as previously suggested by works, such as that of Sharma et al. ( 2020 ) examining India or Croes ( 2012 ) analyzing Nicaragua.

However, despite these majority results, countries have been identified that, despite having an important tourism specialization (Belize, Botswana, Jamaica, Maldives, and Tunisia), had a low level of human development. This has not allowed for the high level of tourism specialization to become a tool to improve the living conditions of the population in these countries.

This exception may be due to the link between tourism and human development, which, in addition to being affected by the level of tourism specialization, also depends on the destination’s characteristics. These characteristics include the provision of infrastructure, the level of education, and the existing investment climate in the receiving countries, as previously suggested by Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández ( 2019 ), or by the level of economic growth, the development of the urbanization process, or the degree of commercial openness of the receiving countries, as identified by Chattopadhyay et al. ( 2021 ).

Conclusions and policy implications

Distinct international organizations have shown that what is really important is not the contribution of tourism to economic growth, but rather, that this economic growth generated by the expansion of tourism activity permits the improvement of living conditions of the host population (EC, 2018 ; IADB - Inter-American Development Bank ( 2020 ); UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( 2020 )).

Given the importance of economic development for the host countries, empirical studies that analyze the relationship between tourism and economic development have begun to emerge. These works mainly link the multidimensional concept of development with human development, measured by the HDI. Here, the link between tourism and human development is produced through the economic growth generated by the expansion of tourism activity. This economic growth is used to develop policies to improve the host population’s education and health levels.

However, few such studies exist, and the scientific literature does not reveal a defined trend with regard to this relationship. Furthermore, most of these existing works rely on causality analyses to determine whether there is a relationship between tourism and human development. They do not analyze whether having a higher degree of tourism specialization, for groups of countries with similar levels of development, implies a higher level of human development, which would suggest that tourism promotes development to a greater extent than other economic activities.

Due to the methodology used, this empirical work cannot determine the type of relationship existing between tourism and development, that is, whether there is a unidirectional or bidirectional relationship between both variables. However, it does allow us to determine if countries with a higher level of tourism specialization have a higher level of development than those specializing in other productive activities.

This study aimed to contribute to the empirical discussion about the relationship between tourism and development through the use of a non-parametric and non-linear approach; specifically, the qualitative dynamic behavior of these two variables was compared using the definition of economic regime and clustering tools based on the concept of hierarchical and MST (Mantegna, 1999 ; Kruskal, 1956 ).

The results seem to indicate that tourism is an economic activity that can promote human development more than other economic activities. Indeed, at similar levels of human development, both in the case of countries with a high level of development (countries in Group A versus countries in Group B) and in the case of countries with a low level of development (countries in Groups D-F versus countries in Group C), the country groups with a higher level of tourism specialization have higher human development values than those countries specialized in other productive activities.

Therefore, public administrations should develop specific actions to increase the level of tourism specialization since tourism is a strategic tool that improves human development levels, as compared to other economic activities. It is necessary to invest in the improvement and expansion of tourism infrastructure, including the improvement of transportation systems in host destinations, increasing and improving the supply of accommodations and basic tourism-related services. Moreover, an attractive offer should be provided, both in terms of resources and attraction factors. This includes complementary services to attract a greater number of tourist flows, while developing destination promotion campaigns and, therefore, ensuring greater tourism specialization.

It should also be noted that, of the identified country groups, the most numerous one is that which includes countries from Group C, which is made up of 43 countries (approximately a third of the sample). This cluster is characterized by low tourism specialization and a low level of economic development, which seems to translate into a poverty trap, given that the low level of development prevents the expansion of the tourism activity, and, in turn, this lack of tourism development makes it difficult to increase the levels of development.

Policies should be developed that consider the lack of financial resources of these countries to carry out investment projects. International organizations and institutions linked to development, such as the United Nations Development Program, Inter-American Development Bank, or World Bank, should finance specific projects so that these countries may receive investments related to the improvement and expansion of tourism infrastructure, so as to improve human development through this activity. Suitable regulatory frameworks should be established in these countries, to encourage public-private collaboration for the development of tourism projects. In this way, private investments could make up for the lack of public financing in these destinations.

The analysis performed in this work has also identified groups of countries that, despite their high degree of tourism specialization, do not have high levels of human development (Belize, Botswana, Jamaica, Maldives, and Tunisia). This highlights the importance of identifying factors or characteristics that provide the destination with ideal initial conditions to permit the economic impacts generated by the expansion of tourism to be channeled into an improvement in human development. In addition to being conditioned by the host country’s level of tourism specialization, the link between tourism and human development also depends on infrastructure provision, education level, investment climate, urbanization level, and the degree of commercial openness. Although this current of scientific literature has not been widely studied, it has been addressed by some works analyzing the relationship between tourism and human development (Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ; Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ).

Policies established by public administrations should consider a dual objective: on the one hand, investing in the improvement and expansion of the tourism infrastructure and, on the other hand, increasing and improving the factors found to be determinant in configuring tourism as a tool for human development. Given that there are entities investing in projects linked to tourism aimed at improving the living conditions of the resident population, the failure to act on the determinant factors of this relationship could result in inefficient policies in terms of the allocation of resources linked to improved development.

Finally, this study has certain limitations, including the variables used to measure tourism specialization and economic development. With regard to tourism, it has been shown that changing the indicator used leads to differences in the results obtained. In terms of economic development, while other factors such as poverty level, quality of life, or income inequality are related to development, human development, and its measurement through HDI, is the most frequently used indicator to measure it. Moreover, the short period analyzed (1995–2019) is another limitation. There is a restriction in the initial period used since it is the first year in which data were available on development and this may determine the small variability between countries among the different regimes. Another limitation lies in the fact that it does not analyze the characteristics of the destination as a determinant in the relationship between tourism and human development, in accordance with the new current of the scientific literature. In terms of methodology, the choice of the measure used for the symbolization of the series can affect the results. For example, the mean may be influenced by outliers in the data, and this can be relevant for certain variables, such as tourism, which displays a high degree of variation. It would be interesting to perform the same exercise using other measures for the symbolization of the series, such as the truncated mean, the median, or some type of threshold.

Future lines of research may highlight the fact that this study consists of an analysis at the country level, although it is clear that the impacts of tourism are produced in the territory at the regional and local levels. As a result, it may be interesting to replicate this work at the regional level using different countries as an analysis, depending on the availability of such data.

Moreover, as a continuation of this study, in addition to the degree of tourism specialization, it may be interesting to analyze the type of tourism received by each of the groups of countries that have been identified. In other words, to examine whether the characteristics of the type of tourism received (accommodations, motivations, or level of expenditure) in each cluster also determine the relationship between tourism and human development. Furthermore, it may be interesting to introduce the influence of other factors on the relationship between tourism and development into the analysis of this relationship, as discussed previously in the limitations.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Pablo Juan Cárdenas-García

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Cárdenas-García, P.J., Brida, J.G. & Segarra, V. A qualitative dynamic analysis of the relationship between tourism and human development. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1125 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03663-5

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03663-5

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Lighting design for lanna buddhist architecture: a case study of suan dok temple, chiang mai, thailand.

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 2.1. nighttime cultural tourism, cultural heritage and lighting design, 2.2. lanna buddhist temples, 3. materials and methods, 3.1. site and setting, 3.2. qualitative data collection: initial users’ requirements, 3.3. lighting design process, 3.3.1. site survey and digital documentation, 3.3.2. lighting design simulation, 4.1. important architectural elements and their symbolic meanings, 4.2. site survey: existing lighting practices, 4.3. initial users’ requirements, 4.3.1. cultural heritage and conservation factors, 4.3.2. cultural tourism management factors.

• Religious tourism—An establishment of the First Theravada Buddhism in Lanna;
• Faith-based tourism—A faith presentation of Kru Ba Si Vichai, a famous Lanna abbot who influenced Lanna religious and social development;
• Ecotourism—A nature-based tourism activity that focuses on the establishment of Saun Dok temple from King Kue Na’s royal flower garden; and
• Architourism—An exploration of architectural design elements, history, and urban settlement.

4.3.3. Operation and Maintenance Factors

4.3.4. ideas for the new lighting design scheme, 4.4. proposed lighting design scheme, 4.4.1. overall lighting design criteria and concept, 4.4.2. proposed luminance hierarchy, luminaire selection and luminaire locations, 4.4.3. proposed lighting design scheme and estimated electricity charge, 4.4.4. proposed lighting installation details.

• Luminaires must not be installed directly on the historic structure. For the current design scheme, most luminaires around the chedis are placed on the floor, mounted on movable bases which can be adjusted later;
• As many outdoor luminaires do not possess any glare protection equipment, to minimize glare, lighting design should incorporate glare shields to prevent direct observation of the light source in the line of sight ( Figure 12 );
• When possible, luminaires should be installed on existing platforms such as pedestals or poles to minimize an on-site construction process that may cause damage to the historic structure; and
• The height of the new lamp posts should not exceed the height of the vihara’s roof eave. This is to ensure that the luminaire installation would not cause any visual distraction for the heritage site.

5. Discussion

• Participatory Design Process: The study finds that stakeholder participation at an early design stage provides a practical understanding of important issues which have never been discussed in a typical lighting design process. Through a participation process for community stakeholders, the lighting project is consistent with the principles of sustainable cultural tourism development. While this research interviewed only a small number of participants, it can be argued that the process resonates with real life design practice where only a small number of stakeholders are involved. Data analysis uncovers initial users’ requirements under three themes: cultural heritage and conservation, cultural tourism management, as well as operation and maintenance. These comments are later developed into a specific criteria and concept for the lighting design of the Lanna Buddhist temple as a cultural heritage site, a cultural tourism destination, and a Buddhist monastery. Nevertheless, personal observations show that the social structure varies from place to place. Lighting designers should have creative and agile minds to manage unexpected and complex events.
• Representation of lighting design: Simulating the lighting environment with a computer program is an important step that can help reduce the design experimentation time and save budget. In this study, many realistic rendering images of lighting design scenes are created. As limited architectural documents exist for Suan Dok temple, tremendous efforts have been placed on developing proper architectural drawings and digital models for lighting design simulation. Nevertheless, this laborious effort has paid off, as the realistic rendering images were able to capture and relay the essence of the design concept, allowing stakeholders to immerse themselves in the proposed design. It also provides a platform for discussion on lighting design feasibility and construction possibilities.
• Storytelling: Storytelling is an important tool for communication in tourism, as it enriches the visitors’ experiences. The communication of stories that combines the perception of the real place, when connected with the experiences and backgrounds of each person, is crucial. This study uses light a medium to communicate and translate both tangible and intangible cultural heritage values. The light layering approach allows various storylines to be told, covering a wide range of visitors. Stories not only raise visitors’ awareness of the heritage value, but also contribute to the sustainability of tourist destinations. Each Lanna Buddhist temples has its own history and stories. Lighting designers may consider integration of contextual stories with the lighting design.
• Lanna Buddhist cosmology: From an analysis, it is found that most Lanna Buddhist temples share a common characteristic: the belief in Buddhist cosmology. In the context of Lanna culture, the temple’s layout reflects the importance of the center of the universe. This symbolic meaning is represented by the main chedi, which is the principal element in temple premise. From the main axis, surrounding elements are modeled to create a completeness of the floor plan according to cosmological beliefs. In this study, lighting design is used to promote the physical form of unique Lanna Buddhist architecture, emphasizing the rhythm of the architectural elements by luminance hierarchy assignment. Important architectural elements and symbols that are noticeable during the day should also be highlighted at night. As the material used in Lanna Buddhist temple architecture varies from place to place, selection of light with various correlated color temperature should be carefully considered.
• Architectural Conservation: Due to the importance of Lanna Buddhist sites, the lighting installation should be considered in relation to the activities of the area by reducing the impact of the installation directly on the physical structure of the building and the built environment in the cultural heritage area. For projects involving historical sites, this research suggests that early consultation with cultural conservation experts is essential for lighting design development. Consideration should be given for the issue of luminaire selection and installation that fosters cultural heritage authenticity.
• Operation and Maintenance: The analysis shows that, in additional to a beautiful nighttime image that reflects the cultural heritage value of Lanna Buddhist temples, operation and maintenance of the lighting system also contributes to a successful and sustainable lighting design project. In this study, three lighting design scenes are proposed as an energy reduction technique. Preliminary calculation of the electricity charge is essential, as it gives the building owner an approximation of operating cost. Other ecological friendly design options such as the use of renewable energy and advanced lighting control systems should be further explored.
• Environmental sustainability: Light pollution can cause a negative impact on wildlife and human beings. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked in the lighting design process. In this study, most luminaires are placed at ground level to eliminate the negative impact on heritage structure. While this design choice can contribute to sky glow, this research proposes multiple lighting design scenes, with recommendations to turn on lights based on functional needs. This approach aims to reduce light pollution, reduce energy consumption, and extend the lifespan of lamps. As previous research has suggested that a challenge for combining modern illumination with history is finding balance between the conservation of a historic scene and meeting expectations for illuminance quantity and quality [ 29 ], when designing light for a living historic city, this research advocates for adding environmental sustainability to this balance equation. Due to the project time constraints, this research also suggests that more lighting design options should be explored to provide possible exterior heritage lighting design solutions that balance aesthetics and environmental impact.

6. Conclusions and Suggestions

Author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Tayhuadong, L.; Inkarojrit, V. Lighting Design for Lanna Buddhist Architecture: A Case Study of Suan Dok Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177494

Tayhuadong L, Inkarojrit V. Lighting Design for Lanna Buddhist Architecture: A Case Study of Suan Dok Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Sustainability . 2024; 16(17):7494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177494

Tayhuadong, Lattapon, and Vorapat Inkarojrit. 2024. "Lighting Design for Lanna Buddhist Architecture: A Case Study of Suan Dok Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177494

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