principles and challenges in managing the sustainable tourism development; less-developed and developing countries perspective

tourism is currently responsible for the largest, annual human migration in history. this great movement of people has significant positive and negative consequences on nature, societies, cultures and economies. increasing awareness, demand and interest in the concept of sustainable tourism require organizations to implement sustainability in tourism development. one of the primary challenges facing tourism management is to establish a profitable and ecologically sustainable industry, while simultaneously achieving a satisfying experience for visitors and raising standards of living in the host community. for more than two decades the attainment of sustainable development and the protection of environmental assets have been at the forefront of central policy issues in global tourism development. sustainable tourism development calls for wise management of natural, built, and sociocultural resources in destination areas. resources created mainly for tourism are often overused and degraded; when this happens, sustainable development is severely threatened, economic wellbeing declines, environmental conditions worsen, social injustice grows and tourist satisfaction drops. in the present study, we have tried to study and discuss the main theoretical concepts and principles of sustainability to give a comprehensive insight in order to manage the tourism development and analyze the challenges in managing the sustainable tourism development in less-developed and developing countries. it was found that the factors that have emerged as challenges to sustainable tourism development related to priorities of national economic policy, the structure of public administration, an emergence of environmental issues and the structure of international tourism system. finally, this paper, using descriptive-analytical approach and utilizing documents and the library; explores the potential use of beneficial instruments for managing more sustainable tourism in less-developed and developing countries.