Introduction

The Handbook of Sustainable Urban Tourism focuses on an important topic, sustainability in urban tourism destinations, an under-researched area of study that has recently started to receive more attention. This chapter highlights the role played by tourism in many urban destinations worldwide. As recognised by researchers and policy makers, tourism can contribute to an increase in local economic activities and tax revenues, job creation, improved standard of living for local people, better facilities, and infrastructure. If not well planned, however, it can lead to touristification of cities, overtourism, and tensions between residents and visitors, among other negative impacts associated with tourism development in cities. This is why scholars have highlighted the need for more research on sustainable tourism development in urban environments to help policy makers and the industry towards implementing better, more sustainable solutions. The Handbook thus responds to these calls and covers key challenges and issues in sustainable urban tourism, as well as contemporary debates related to research and practice in this field. Topics introduced in this chapter include urbanization and urban agglomerations, urban sustainability, city tourism and sustainable development, and several examples of best practice in sustainable tourism implementation in urban destinations. The chapter concludes by introducing the structure of the Handbook