Sustainable development in tourism municipalities: The role of public goods

It is usually argued that, since many of the inputs used in the production function of private firms in tourism municipalities are depletable, unsustainability looms over the horizons of tourism jurisdictions. However, this reasoning forgets that public goods are an important part of tourism products. Since public goods are nonrival (and hence nondepletable), a way out of the apparent unsustainability might exist. By considering well-established growth models, this paper argues that a correct supply of public goods may contribute to achieve sustainable development throughout time in tourism municipalities.