Staycations: A Sustainable Tourism Solution?

One strategy proposed for improving the sustainability of tourism is replacing longer distance travel options with staycations. This chapter will explore the phenomenon of taking a holiday close to home that specifically includes engaging in local commercial tourism activities and services. This chapter takes a systems thinking approach to examine how staycations can be encouraged as a way of supporting tourism sustainability and how tourists and tourism providers have responded to the promotional campaigns conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reviews the challenges faced by tourists and tourism providers in shifting toward more staycations and then focuses on strategies that could encourage greater use of staycations for more sustainable tourism.