ECON-ESG Factors for Managing Tourism: The Moderating Role of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for East Asia Pacific and South Asian Countries

Abstract

The UNWTO approaches sustainable tourism in three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental impacts and defines tourism as meeting the needs of visitors, industry, the environment, and host communities. In this direction, many scholars in the related literature examined sustainable tourism through Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors. This study differs from previous studies by using a new context of sustainability called ECON-ESG, developed by Işık et al. (2024a, 2024b). The ECON-ESG framework extends the traditional ESG model by incorporating economic variables. To investigate the complex relationships between ECON-ESG factors and tourism demand, focusing on the moderating role of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 30 countries, state-of-the-art econometric techniques are applied. Empirical findings revealed that economic, social, and governance factors significantly and positively influence tourism demand. However, environmental factors show no significant effect, suggesting a potential disconnect between environmental quality and tourist behavior in these regions. This highlights the need for stronger integration of environmental considerations into tourism strategies to enhance long-term sustainability. Additionally, the study underscores the critical role of SDGs in reinforcing the link between sustainability dimensions and tourism development.

Keywords

• tourism demand
• economic factors (ECON)
• ESG
• ECON-ESG
• SDGs
• EESG

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