When Does ESG Adoption Build Resilience in Tourism? Stakeholder Dynamics and Thresholds in an Emerging Market

Abstract

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices are increasingly integral to business strategy, yet their adoption in tourism, especially in developing destinations, remains underexplored. This study examines how ESG is perceived and operationalised on Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam, by drawing on semi-structured interviews with tourists, communities and service providers, and complementing them with agent-based modelling (ABM) of stakeholder interactions. Results show that while tourists support ESG in principle, their willingness to pay is constrained by cost; communities condition their support on visible governance and ecological integrity; and providers shift from compliance to differentiation but face saturation pressures. The ABM uncovers threshold effects: ESG adoption accelerates only when demand reaches critical mass, and environmental decline triggers community resistance, undermining systemic resilience. By integrating qualitative and simulation methods, this work advances understanding of ESG adoption as interactive, context-sensitive and bounded—a foundation for more resilient tourism strategies in emerging markets.