Sustainable Tourism in APEC: A Region with UNWTO Members and Non-members

Abstract

Tourism has become a source of income, employment and economic growth for the country members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). This paper analyses tourism as a regional economic activity that interacts with the environment, with positive effects such as improving economic competitiveness; and negative effects such as overcrowding and poor management that can destroy the touristic asset on which the activity depends. These issues put the membership of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) of some APEC economies at stake, as well as the future of their local, regional and global economic and tourism competitiveness.