Social Capital, Community Participation, and the Sustainability of Tourism Destinations: A Literature Review from a Sociological Perspective

Abstract

Tourism destination sustainability depends not only on economic growth and environmental protection but also on the social capacity of local communities to participate in tourism governance. However, community involvement in tourism development is frequently limited to implementation activities, while planning, decision-making, and benefit distribution remain controlled by external actors. This study aimed to analyze the relationship among social capital, community participation, and tourism destination sustainability from a sociological perspective. A qualitative literature review was conducted using 10 peer-reviewed articles published between 2016 and 2021. Articles were selected from Scopus-, Web of Science-, ScienceDirect-, Google Scholar-, and SINTA-indexed sources through title and abstract screening, full-text eligibility assessment, and thematic content analysis. The synthesis identified that trust, reciprocity, shared norms, local leadership, and social networks were the principal dimensions of social capital supporting collective tourism action. The findings further showed that participation contributed more strongly to sustainability when communities were involved in planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and equitable benefit-sharing. Across the reviewed studies, destination sustainability was reflected in economic opportunities, social equity, cultural preservation, environmental stewardship, institutional legitimacy, and community well-being. Conversely, elite capture, unequal access to resources, symbolic participation, and weak institutional trust constrained sustainable tourism outcomes. The review concludes that social capital functions as a relational resource that enables substantive community participation, while meaningful participation strengthens local ownership and the legitimacy of destination governance. Sustainable tourism policies should therefore prioritize inclusive planning, community capacity-building, transparent partnerships, and fair distribution of tourism benefits.