Conceptualising Circular Tourism: Taking a Place-Based Eco-System Perspective

Abstract

The circular economy’s potential to support more resource efficient, competitive and resilient economies is ubiquitous in discourses across disciplines, industry and policy. Despite its prevalence, conceptual developments at the intersection between the circular economy and the tourism sector remain limited. This article draws on developments across the disciplines to establish a new conceptualisation of circular tourism, which recognises circular economy principles while also acknowledging the multiplicity of value creation that exists across a circular ecosystem. The paper highlights the centrality of multiple actors, the importance of places for the consumption and production of circular activity and unpacks the role of social value and its potential to (re)shape attitudes, values and integrate sustainability-orientated knowledge into tourists’ and tourism actors’ everyday lives. By contributing to conceptual clarity, we pave the way to further conceptual, theoretical and empirical work in the literature at the intersection between the circular economy and tourism.