Ecotourism and strategic management: the current state of play

The aim of this paper is to explore the current state of academic knowledge on the strategic management of ecotourism firms. The ecotourism sector of the tourism industry has grown significantly since the 1960. This growth in practice has been matched by growth in academic interest in ecotourism. While considerable research has been undertaken into the defining ecotourism and understanding its impacts, there is still considerable scope to understand more about how ecotourism firms formulate and implement their strategy. To achieve this, the researchers have undertaken content analysis of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism – a leading A-ranked journal in the field. This analysis revealed a paucity of knowledge about the processes of strategic management in ecotourism firms, and the types of resources and capabilities necessary to ensure that ecotourism firms are sustainably managed. The paper concludes with a discussion of these findings and suggestions for future areas of research.