Saving and Transforming Cultural Landscapes for Sustainable Tourism

In recent decades, cultural landscapes, complex socio-ecological systems formed by the interplay of human activity and the natural environment, have been increasingly acknowledged as legacy assets and dynamic entities for sustainable management. This study examined the impact of sustainable tourism on saving and transforming cultural landscapes across various national, geographic, and sociocultural contexts. The analysis of sources published between 2017 and 2024 revealed that sustainable tourism is gaining momentum in various parts of the world, particularly in European countries. However, its adoption in developing countries remains limited, primarily due to structural challenges. Factors such as insufficient community knowledge, restricted financing availability, and deficiencies in policy support exacerbate inequities in the implementation of sustainable tourism. Despite these challenges, review of accumulated evidence highlighted the positive effect of sustainable tourism on revitalising cultural landscapes, which takes the form of increased public awareness, a growing number of tourist visits, employment opportunities, and home-stay preferences of residents. Nonetheless, the implementation of sustainable tourism alternatives continues to be a challenging task in several regions due to its resource-intensive nature, compounded by inadequate or non-existent governmental support. Upon analysing case studies and best practices from different countries, including Poland, Afghanistan, Georgia, Thailand, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, it was concluded that sustainable tourism as a part of the cultural landscape management efforts can be facilitated through government support and community involvement. The latter implies engaging communities in articulating their long-term vision for the area and providing them with the necessary tools for implementing this vision.