Implications of the New Balearic Islands Circularity Law for Tourism Practice and Research

Abstract

In February 2022 the Balearic Islands government approved a new law to introduce Circular Economy (CE) principles into the Tourism Industry (Decree Law 3/2022, of Urgent Measures for the Sustainability and Circularity of Tourism in the Balearic Islands, Mallorca Daily Bulletin, 2022a) including fines for non-compliance. As a result, the Balearic Islands could be considered as the world’s first circular tourist destination. This paper thus explores the preparedness of the Tourism Industry in the Balearics to implement the circular principles, with planned interviews of a sample of tourism businesses. The paper includes a review of the new CE principles and discusses the implications of them for the tourism industry and potential impact on tourism from a Triple-Bottom-Line perspective i.e. impact on social, environmental and economic criteria.