Toward resilient tourism futures in sanctions-ridden destinations

This final chapter brings together the book’s central themes, positioning sanctions as sustained geopolitical pressures that reshape the very conditions under which tourism functions. It argues that sanctions should not be treated as marginal disruptions but as systemic constraints that restructure mobility, finance, and destination reputation over extended periods. By revisiting case studies and conceptual debates, the chapter shows how conventional definitions of resilience, often framed around short-term recovery, are inadequate in contexts where crises are indefinite and politically driven. Instead, resilience in sanctioned destinations frequently takes the form of uneven persistence, sustained through diaspora ties, informal economies, and state-led narratives that celebrate endurance while overlooking hardship. The chapter identifies key research concerns and stresses that resilience is not neutral but contested, raising issues of justice, power, and inclusion. In conclusion, it calls for tourism scholarship to engage more directly with sanctions as systemic forces rather than background conditions. It leaves open difficult but necessary questions: resilience for whom, at what cost, and toward what futures?