Paper short abstract:

This paper tracks how the concept of sustainability has been adopted and evolved within Ghanaian tourism policy and planning. A content analysis of tourism policy documents show particular shifts in the emphasis placed on on the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability.

Paper long abstract:

Sustainability is now back as the (re)new buzzword in international development. Within tourism, the year 2017 has been designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the UNWTO. Moreover, three of the 17 SDGs make explicit reference to tourism. Given the renewed focus on tourism's role in sustainable economic development and poverty reduction it is important to explore the extent to which the concept of sustainability has infiltrated tourism development policies and planning especially in developing countries.

This paper tracks how the concept of sustainability and sustainable tourism has been adopted and evolved within Ghanaian tourism policy and planning. A content analysis is undertaken on key tourism strategic planning and policy documents produced at the national level between 1996 and 2013. The findings show that earlier tourism plans in the 1990s had a stronger focus on the concept of sustainability. There was balanced emphasis given to the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. Contemporary tourism plans however appear to place more emphasis on the economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. This paper identifies particular shifts in how the concept of sustainability is being incorporated within tourism development plans and highlight the attendant effects. There is an increasingly narrow focus on the economic and environmental aspects with less emphasis placed on the social dimensions of the sustainability of tourism. This paper concludes by providing insights into how the shifts in sustainability identified in Ghanaian tourism policy and planning documents are shaping tourism development practices on the ground.