The convergence of social and solidarity economy with sustainable tourism
A Canadian perspective
Keywords:
Sustainable Tourism, Social and Solidarity Economy, Canadian Tourism Development, Collective Enterprises, Environmental ConservationAbstract
The research investigates the relationship between sustainable tourism and social and solidarity economy (SSE) specifically in Canada. The research explores how SSE principles align with sustainable tourism practices. The research starts by establishing sustainable development theory and its environmental economic and social pillars to examine SSE principles in sustainable tourism practices. Canada stands as a global leader in social economy employment since SSE entities provide 15% of total employment. The research evaluates Canadian sustainability programs including Sustainable Tourism 2030 and the Business Event Sustainability Plan to show how tourism advances sustainability targets while resolving problems with biodiversity preservation and waste reduction and pollution reduction. The study demonstrates that tourism models based on SSE create sustainable methods to develop regions through economic stability and environmental protection and social justice because collective enterprises lead rural and underserved areas to conquer economic issues while maintaining employment and environmental resources.
References
Adger, W. N., & Jordan, A. (Eds.). (2009). Governing sustainability. Cambridge University Press.
Altinay, L., Sigala, M., & Waligo, V. (2016). Social value creation through tourism enterprise. Tourism Management, 54, 404-417.
Amin, A. (Ed.). (2009). The social economy: International perspectives on economic solidarity. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Baker, S. (2006). Sustainable development. Routledge.
Bramwell, B. & Bernard, L. (2008). Priorities in Sustainable Tourism Research. Journal of Sustainable Tourism , vol. 16, n o 1, p. 1-4.
Cave, J., & Dredge, D. (2018). Reworking tourism: Diverse economies in a changing world. Tourism Planning & Development, 15(5), 473-477.
Chantier de l’économie sociale. (n.d.). Les entreprises collectives et le tourisme durable au Québec. Retrieved from https://chantier.qc.ca/
Club of Rome. (1972). The Limits to Growth. Universe Books.
Connelly, S., Markey, S., & Roseland, M. (2011). Bridging sustainability and the social economy: Achieving community transformation through local food initiatives. Critical Social Policy, 31(2), 308-324.
Daly, H. E. (1997). Beyond growth: the economics of sustainable development. Beacon Press.
Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2017). Fundamentals for an international typology of social enterprise models. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and nonprofit organizations, 28, 2469-2497.
Destination Canada. (2023). Contributions économiques du tourisme au Canada. Retrieved from https://www.destinationcanada.com
Destination Canada. (2024). Le Plan de durabilité pour les événements d'affaires au Canada. Retrieved from https://www.destinationcanada.com
Dolezal, C., & Novelli, M. (2022). Power in community-based tourism: empowerment and partnership in Bali. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(10), 2352-2370.
Enjolras, B., Salamon, L. M., Sivesind, K. H., & Zimmer, A. (2018). The third sector as a renewable resource for Europe: Concepts, impacts, challenges and opportunities. Springer Nature.
Font, X., Garay, L., & Jones, S. (2016). Sustainability motivations and practices in small tourism enterprises in European protected areas. Journal of Cleaner production, 137, 1439-1448.
Ghisellini, P., Cialani, C., & Ulgiati, S. (2016). A review on circular economy: The expected transition to a balanced interplay of environmental and economic systems. Journal of Cleaner Production, 114, 11–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.007
Giddings, B., Hopwood, B., & O'brien, G. (2002). Environment, economy and society: fitting them together into sustainable development. Sustainable development, 10(4), 187-196.
Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index). 2025). (https://www.gds.earth/index/trends-insights/).
Global Destination Sustainability Index. (2023). Trends and Insights. Retrieved from https://www.gds.earth/index/trends-insights/
Global Sustainable Tourism Council. (2021). Sustainable Tourism 2030. Retrieved from https://www.sustainabletourism2030.com/
GreenStep. (2023). Measuring sustainability: The state of the Canadian tourism industry. Retrieved from https://www.greensteptourism.com/measuring-sustainability-the-state-of-the-canadian-tourism-industry/
GreenStep.(2025). https://www.sustainabletourism2030.com/
Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2018). Sustainable tourism: Sustaining tourism or something more?. Tourism management perspectives, 25, 157-160.
Hopwood, B., Mellor, M., & O'Brien, G. (2005). Sustainable development: mapping different approaches. Sustainable development, 13(1), 38-52.
Hopwood, B., Mellor, M., & O'Brien, G. (2005). Sustainable development: mapping different approaches. Sustainable development, 13(1), 38-52.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Cambridge University Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
International Labour Organization. (2023). Measuring the social and solidarity economy. International Labour Office.
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). (2019). Global Energy Transformation: A Roadmap to 2050 (2019 Edition). https://www.irena.org/publications/2019/Apr/Global-energy-transformation-A-roadmap-to-2050-2019Edition
Lansing, P. & De Vries, P. (2006). Sustainable Tourism: Ethical Alternative or Marketing Ploy. Journal of Business Ethics, 72, 1, 77-85.
LégisQuébec. (Nov.30.2024). https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/lc/E-1.1.1
Liu, Z. (2003). Sustainable tourism development : a critique. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 11, n° 6, p. 459-475.
Meadowcroft, J. (2013). Who is in charge here? Governance for sustainable development in a complex world. In Governance for sustainable development (pp. 107-122). Routledge.
Meadows, D. H., Randers, J., & Behrens, W. W. (1972). The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind. Universe Books.
Monzon, J. L., & Chaves, R. (2008). The European Social Economy: concept and dimensions of the third sector. Annals of public and cooperative economics, 79(3‐4), 549-577.
Mosedale, J. (Ed.). (2016). Neoliberalism and the political economy of tourism (pp. 117-129). London: Routledge.
OECD (2024), “Insights from social and solidarity economy data: An international perspective”, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2024/05, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/71d212f3-en.
OECD. (2024). Share of employment in the SSE in total employment. Social economy and social innovation. https://www.oecd.org/fr/topics/sub-issues/social-economy-and-social-innovation.html
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2001). Sustainable Development: Critical Issues. OECD Publishing.
PD-EA-DC. (2023). Business event sustainability plan in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.gds.earth/index/trends-insights/
Pestoff, V. (2013). Co-production and third sector social services in Europe: some crucial conceptual issues. In New public governance, the third sector, and co-production (pp. 13-34). Routledge.
Programme des Nations Unies pour l’environnement (PNUE) & Organisation Mondiale du Tourisme (OMT). (2005). Faire du tourisme durable une réalité: Un guide à l'intention des décideurs. PNUE & OMT.
Purvis, B., Mao, Y., & Robinson, D. (2019). Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins. Sustainability science, 14, 681-695.
Quebec Official Publisher. (2024, May 31). Social Economy Act (E-1.1.1). https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/lc/E-1.1.1
Redclift, M. (2005). Sustainable development (1987–2005): an oxymoron comes of age. Sustainable development, 13(4), 212-227.
Roberts, S. J. & Tribe, J. (2008). Sustainability Indicators for Small Tourism Enterprises – An Exploratory Perspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 16(5):575-594.
Ruiz-Ballesteros, E. (2017). Socio-ecological balance in community-based tourism experiences: a resarch proposal. Tourism and resilience, 41-52.
Saarinen, V.M. (2004). Productivity and quality of work with the Bräcke and Ecoplanter planting machines. NSR Conference on forest operations 2004 – Proceedings. Silva Carelica 45: 57–63.
Salamon, L. M., & Anheier, H. K. (1997). Defining the nonprofit sector: A cross-national analysis. Manchester University Press.
Scheyvens, R., & Hughes, E. (2021). Can tourism help to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”? The challenge of tourism addressing SDG1. In Activating critical thinking to advance the sustainable development goals in tourism systems (pp. 215-233). Routledge.
Scott, S. M. (2015). Social and Solidarity Economy: Beyond the Fringe. Eutopía: Revista de Desarrollo Económico Territorial, (7), 165-168.
SISF-Strategy Report. (2018). Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy: Key Initiatives and Provincial Contributions.
Sustainable Tourism Organization of Quebec (OTDQ). (2023). L’économie sociale dans le tourisme, un modèle collectif pour un développement durable. Retrieved from https://tourismedurable.quebec/leconomie-sociale-dans-le-tourisme-un-modele-collectif-pour-un-developpement-durable/18/04/2023
Tourism Industry Association of Canada. (2024) .https://tiac-aitc.ca
Tourism Industry Association of Canada. (n.d.). Tourism Industry Performance Evaluation. Retrieved from https://tiac-aitc.ca
Tourisme Québec. (2003). Écotourisme et tourisme de nature, orientations et plan d’action 2003-2008. Ministère du Tourisme du Québec.
United Nations (UN). (2015). Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
United Nations (UN). (2020). World Social Report 2020: Inequality in a Rapidly Changing World. https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/world-social-report/2020-2.html
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2005). UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). UNESCO Publishing.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2016). Education for People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures for All. UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report.
United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE). (2014). Social and solidarity economy and the challenge of sustainable development.
United Nations World Tourism Organization. (1999). Global code of ethics for tourism. UNWTO.
United Nations World Tourism Organization. (2024). Statistical framework for measuring tourism sustainability. UNWTO.
United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations.
UNWTO. (2024). Pilot studies on measuring tourism sustainability
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2018). World Health Statistics 2018: Monitoring Health for the SDGs. WHO Publish
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2025 Amina Badreddine, Hadjira Larbi Cherif, Azzeddine Sabri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Allows users to: distribute and copy the article; create extracts, abstracts, and other revised versions, adaptations or derivative works of or from an article (such as a translation); include in a collective work (such as an anthology); and text or data mine the article. These uses are permitted even for commercial purposes, provided the user: gives appropriate credit to the author(s) (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant URL ID); includes a link to the license; indicates if changes were made; and does not represent the author(s) as endorsing the adaptation of the article or modify the article in such a way as to damage the authors' honor or reputation. CC BY
