Adding environmental sustainability to the management of event tourism

The purpose of this paper is to identify the management principles of environmental sustainability for event tourism.

The paper takes a meta‐synthesis approach to review and to analyze collected papers in this subject.

To manage environmental sustainability in the context of event tourism is to minimize the negative impacts on critical natural capital. The environmental sustainability consists of these three interconnected components: the event organization, a place to host the event and the host community, and event‐goers. One should follow three management principles in attempting to add environmental sustainability to the management. First, sustainable event management requires careful planning prior to events. Second, taking responsibility in event management is crucial in achieving sustainability. Third, offering information and education to raise the awareness of event goers is the key to putting sustainability into practice.

A limited number of papers specifically address the importance of environmental sustainability in the management of event tourism and what their management principles should be. This paper brings together, integrates and synthesizes the different studies. Event organizers and practitioners can have a better understanding of environmental management in the context of event tourism and follow the three managerial principles to build a truly sustainable event.