The African Journal of Sustainable Tourism (AJST) aims to make a constructive contribution to the achievement of sustainable tourism on the African continent through the provision of impactful, peer-reviewed articles. AJST strives to publish both conceptual and empirical papers and its focus is aligned to the following areas:

• Corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry
• Responsible tourism practices
• Community-based natural resource management and tourism
• Well-being of host communities
• Service quality and customer relationship management to enhance sustainability of business and entrepreneurial practice
• Capturing the economic benefits of tourism
• Protection of natural assets and the management of scarce natural resources
• Ethical visitor management
• Innovative pedagogies to promote sustainable tourism education

AJST promotes research within the discipline of tourism that promotes the sustainability of the industry, the community of tourism stakeholders, and the environment in which tourism activities take place. It serves as a platform for the collation, review, and dissemination of quality research that will contribute to the body of knowledge of tourism in order to enhance the sustainability of the industry.

Publications in this journal should be useful to the contribution of new understanding and insights into the complex realm of sustainable tourism.  AJST seeks to publish research that contributes to the theoretical and applied discourse into the management of sustainable tourism in Africa in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  Although the journal does not exclude submissions from outside the region, the contribution of the publications should be manifested to the continent. Submissions that do not exhibit a beneficial contribution to the region and that do not contribute to the development of new knowledge and theory will not be considered.

Sustainable Development Goals

The journal, in terms of its focus and scope, and, by extension, by the articles that are published in it, aims to contribute to the following SDGs through some specific focus areas:

• Goal 1 – End poverty in all its forms everywhere: corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry; community-based natural resource management and tourism; and well-being of host communities.
• Goal 3 – Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages: well-being of host communities.
• Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all: innovative pedagogies to promote sustainable tourism education.
• Goal 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls: ethical visitor management that empowers women and marginalised groups such as people with disabilities, the LGBTQIA+ community and others.
• Goal 8 – Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all: corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry; responsible tourism practices; community-based natural resource management and tourism; well-being of host communities; and capturing the economic benefits of tourism.
• Goal 9 – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation: corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry; responsible tourism practices; community-based natural resource management and tourism; and well-being of host communities
• Goal 10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries: well-being of host communities.
• Goal 11 – Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable: well-being of host communities; and visitor safety and security.
• Goal 12 – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns: responsible tourism practices; and ethical visitor management of visitor behaviour.
• Goal 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts: corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry; responsible tourism practices; and protection of natural assets and the management of scarce natural resources.
• Goal 14 – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development: protection of natural assets and the management of scarce natural resources
• Goal 15 – Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss: protection of natural assets and the management of scarce natural resources; and ethical tourism development and management in sensitive environments.
• Goal 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels: corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry; responsible tourism practices; community-based natural resource management and tourism; and well-being of host communities.
• Goal 17 – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development: corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry.

Additionally, the focus area ‘Service quality and customer relationship management to enhance sustainability of business and entrepreneurial practice’ does not align directly to the 17 SDGs listed above.  However, as tourism is a primarily a private sector driven industry, the commercial operations of these organisations should also be managed in an economic sustainable way.

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