Sustainability Priorities Disclosures in Annual Reports and the Contribution of Museums to Sustainable Development and Overtourism

This paper discusses the sustainability priorities emerging in the non financial re ports of museums and their contribution to sustainable development and addressing overtourism. This research is related on the one hand to the debate on overtourism in cultural destinations, and on the other to the debate on the contribution of culture to sustainable development. The debate on overtourism and its impact on cultural destinations has high lighted concerns about the degradation and overcrowding of cultural sites, changes in local lifestyles, and the economic benefits and distribution related to tourism (De Luca, Shirvani Dastgerdi, Francini & Liberatore, 2020; Frey & Briv iba, 2021). Recently, the focus has also shifted to environmental sustainability issues, such as increased pollution and waste generation (Kvasnová & Marciš, 2022; Liberatore, Biagioni, Ciappei & Francini, 2022). Governance and planning play a crucial role in addressing overtourism, emphasising the need for effective destination management and community engagement (Maingi, 2019; Mihalic & Kuščer, 2022). The debate on culture and sustainable development has recognised the role of cultural organisations in supporting social, economic and environmental development. Various interpretations exist regarding the relationship between culture and sustainable development, including culture as a separate pillar (Adams, 2010; Loach, Rowley & Griffiths, 2017; UCLG, 2010) or intertwined with other dimensions (CAE, 2019). Cultural organisations, including muse ums, are increasingly adopting sustainability reporting practices to demon strate their contribution to sustainability and address overtourism challenges (Esposito & Fisichella, 2019). However, reporting frameworks specific to mu seums are lacking, leading to diverse approaches to sustainability reporting (Borin, 2023). In this framework, it is relevant to understand how museums are interpreting their role in the two issues mentioned above and how they disclose information related to the two topics. This paper aims to address this theme by answering two main research questions: • What are the sustainability priorities emerging in the non financial reports of museums? • How do they provide insights into the targeted contribution of museums to in creasing the sustainable development of a cultural destination, also concerning dealing with overtourism? Using a qualitative case study analysis of a museum in Barcelona (selected since it is known for its overtourism challenges and efforts to address them) based both on secondary sources (mainly its annual reports, but also its website and other resources available online or shared by the organisation) and a semi structured re search interview with the manager in charge of sustainability reporting, the findings contribute to the understanding of sustainability reporting priorities in museums and the role of cultural organisations in sustainable development and overtourism. The paper is organised into five sections. After this introduction (section 1), an in depth analysis of the literature is presented. Section 3 describes the research design and methodology, while section 4 (divided into subsections) presents the results of the case study analysis. Finally, section 5 provides some concluding remarks, including the limitations of the research and potential future research developments