Politics and the sustainable development goals: Tourism agenda 2030 perspective article

PurposeThe 2030 Agenda provides the normative framework for much contemporary thinking on sustainable tourism. This viewpoint paper aims to discuss the inherently political nature of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the implications for tourism and sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThis is a paper that highlights the political dimensions of positioning tourism within the SDGs.FindingsThis paper highlights continuing challenges in the broader politics of sustainable development in terms of the development of the 2030 Agenda and its implementation. It finds that the SDGs function as a form of metagovernance for sustainable development and sustainable tourism in particular.Originality/valueThis paper reinforces the importance of understanding the politics of the 2030 Agenda by locating sustainable tourism and the SDGs in the broader political context and the significance of metagovernance. In so doing, this paper contributes to continued theoretical debates on the framing of sustainable tourism that are key to understanding the politics of sustainable development and the winners and losers in the politics of tourism.