Carrying capacity in tourist destinations

A literature review

Abstract

The recent interest in the theme of over-tourism and the impacts it may cause, made the World Tourism Organization revive discussions involving the concept of carrying capacity and its impacts on tourist destinations. In this context, this paper aims to discuss, through a systematic literature review, the research scenario related to carrying capacity in tourist destinations, available at Scopus. Of the 116 documents found, 43 that were published between 1990 and 2019, in English and in article format, were analyzed. The results show that most published studies approach this theme in theoretical terms and that few studies present and apply calculation methodologies of this indicator. It is also observed that there is a transition from studies of carrying capacity in the natural environment, related to environmental sustainability, to carrying capacity studies in urban tourism destinations, more focused on the mass tourism phenomenon. The studies analyzed also reveal that there are few discussions that relate the carrying capacity with accommodation and transportation issues. The article ends with some suggestions in terms of lines of research that should be adopted in this area to increase knowledge about the topic of carrying capacity in tourist destinations.