Governing sustainable tourism: The mediating role of stakeholders’ responsibility in tourism regulation and development

Tourism expansion presents development opportunities but also challenges requiring long-term planning and stakeholders’ collaboration. Many destinations face difficulties in translating sustainability principles into tourist satisfaction improvements (Yen et al., 2024) due to limited stakeholder engagement, inadequate long-term planning, and weak integration of local economic development into tourism policies (Coccossis & Koutsopoulou, 2020). Although responsible tourism is important, its mediating role between sustainability practices and tourist experiences remains underexplored, particularly from local stakeholders’ perspectives (Spadaro et al., 2023; Cheer et al., 2021). This study examines how stakeholder-driven sustainability initiatives enhance tourist satisfaction and how responsible tourism impacts sustainable development strategies with positive tourism outcomes along Albania’s Adriatic coast. Data from 185 stakeholders were used to assess the impact of sustainability factors on tourist satisfaction and the mediating role of responsible tourism in destination development. Findings reveal that long-term planning has the most substantial direct effect on tourist satisfaction, followed by local economic development and stakeholder participation. Furthermore, mediation analysis shows that responsible tourism initiatives in terms of local employment, cultural heritage preservation, and community-based service provision mediate the relationship between sustainability and tourist satisfaction. These results highlight the importance of integrating responsible tourism into sustainable destination management to enhance tourist experiences.