Let us take a walk to the sustainable tourism practices: a qualitative study through the lens of tourism experts

The rising opportunities of sustainable tourism have brought many policies to control the exploitation of the environment and increase the reach of luxurious, safe, and authentic experiences to the different segments of tourists. This study seeks to prioritize the variables influencing the development of sustainable tourism and pinpoint key success factors that align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It adopts a tri-dimensional framework encompassing economic, social, and environmental aspects, further delineated into eleven sub-dimensions, to provide a quantitative evaluation of sustainable tourism. We conducted interviews with 26 tourism industry experts hailing from eight countries, analyzing their responses using interval type-2 fuzzy sets. The results underscore the critical role of specific components in advancing sustainable tourism. In the economic dimension, “financial resources and tourism costs” emerge as vital factors. In the social dimension, “health and safety” takes center stage, while “green infrastructure” plays a pivotal role in the environmental dimension. These findings underscore the significance of these aspects in promoting sustainable tourism. Furthermore, this study explores the strategic importance of sustainable tourism equity in shaping tourism planning and development for emerging markets.