Cyclical sustainability in practice: how tourists emotionally legitimate third-sector tourism in Tanzania

This study draws on a netnographic analysis of 357 TripAdvisor reviews and 15 semi-structured interviews with staff, managers, and beneficiaries to examine how tourists perceive third-sector tourism organisations in northern Tanzania. Sustainable tourism is increasingly mediated by tourists' affective engagement with community-rooted initiatives. Anchored in the doughnut economy framework, the findings show that tourists view these organisations as ethical spaces promoting ecological care, inclusion, and social cohesion. Tourists experience pride, empowerment, and moral fulfilment, cultivating pro-sustainability behaviours. We conceptualise this process as cyclical sustainability: a reciprocal co-creation of value between tourists and third-sector actors. The study offers actionable insights for policymakers and destination planners, advocating for the strategic integration of third-sector organisations as pivotal stakeholders in fostering culturally embedded, emotionally resonant, and sustainability-aligned tourism ecosystems.