Tourism, environment, and sustainability

Environment and sustainability are key factors for sustainable develop-ment and mitigating climate change risks. This chapter discusses the relevance of sustainability in tourism and the consequent concept of sustainable tourism, empha-sizing the significant role of natural resources and the environment. It examines the importance of territorial branding as a strategic tool for communicating a tourist destination in economic terms and in terms of its environment and ability to offer forms of sustainable tourism. A focus is also given to the relationship between terri-torial branding, the villages, and roots tourism in the Italian case. The chapter argues that tourism creates challenges in terms of environmental sustainability, as in the case of overtourism. Thus, it requires adequate governance that protects all stakeholders involved. Therefore, the role of governance is key in supporting sustainable tourism. Additionally, the chapter suggests that innovation and digital technologies become important tools for achieving a tourist destination’s sustainability goal.