BEST PRACTICES IN TOURIST DESTINATIONS´ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

This research aims at determining the best practices for tourist destinations sustainability assessment, through literature review and a comparative analysis of previous research selected by relevance and completeness. The methodology applied allowed to identify as best practices the need to undertake an integrated approach to the evaluation, determine the focus areas of improvement, the comparison of individual indicators results with sustainability goals, as well as the determination of the destination overall sustainability state and trends. There were also identified and discussed future research areas in this topic, as well as implications for policy makers and tourist destinations managers.