Problems in Implementation of the Principles of Sustainable Development in Modern Tourism

Tourism is like fire, you can cook food on it, you can also burn down your house—says the proverb. On the one hand, it allows for the regeneration of physical and mental strength of visitors, as well as provides funds for the economic development of the destination, but on the other hand, it contributes to a lot of damage to the geographical environment. The period of “stopping” of tourism during the lockdown caused by the pandemic allowed many areas to be relieved of the tourist traffic, which resulted in the observed revitalization of the natural environment, but also huge social and economic problems in destinations that are largely dependent on income from tourism. The current escalation of social problems, also related to the unstable political situation, economic crisis, as well as growing problems related to the state of the natural environment (existential climate crisis; pollution of land, oceans, and the atmosphere; severe declines in biodiversity), requires a new rethinking of the sustainable tourism paradigm, in relation to the realities of the modern world, based on the practices observed in the tourist services sector. The chapter will be divided into two parts. The first will show the problems of implementing the principles of sustainable development especially in areas with a clearly developed tourist function, such as coastal areas. The second part will be devoted to shaping sustainable tourism and will present the results of research conducted in the Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania, Akagera National Park (Rwanda), Spitsbergen (Norway), and Salento (Colombia). The conclusions based on the analysis of theory and the presented contemporary case studies show the nature of selected problems related to the implementation of sustainable development principles in tourism.