Tourism has been one of the industries most highly affected by COVID-19. The COVID-19 global pandemic is an 'unprecedented crisis' and has exposed the pitfalls of a hyper consumption model of economic growth and development. The scale of immediate economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has shattered the myth of 'catch up development' and 'perpetual growth'. The Crisis has brought unintended degrowth, presenting opportunities for an economic and social 'reset'. In terms of long-term thinking post COVID-19, it is time to change the parameters of how we imagine a trajectory going forward, to prefigure possibilities for contesting capitalist imperatives that 'there is no alternative'. In relation to tourism, the pandemic provides an opportunity for reimaging tourism otherwise, away from exploitative models that disregard people, places, and the natural environment, and towards a tourism that has positive impacts. Non-western alternatives to neo-colonial and neoliberal capitalism, such the South American concept of 'Buen Vivir', can help us to shift priorities away from economic growth, towards greater social and environmental wellbeing, and meaningful human connections. Taking a Buen Vivir approach to tourism will continue the degrowth momentum, for transformative change in society within the earth's physical limits. Yet Buen Vivir also redefines the parameters of how we understand 'limits'. In limiting unsustainable practices in development and tourism, a focus on Buen Vivir actually creates growth in other areas, such as social and environmental wellbeing, and meaningful human connection. Buen Vivir can reorient the tourism industry towards localised tourism, and slow tourism because the principles of Buen Vivir require these alternatives to be small-scale, local and benefiting host communities as well as tourists to increase the wellbeing for all.

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This article analyses the ways the Latin American concept of Buen Vivir has been discussed by postdevelopment scholars as a possible alternative to development that goes beyond the traditional anthropocentric development model towards sustainability and wellbeing. Instituted as a reaction to the need for development to consider the biophysical limits of the environment, sustainable development (SD) critics argue that it has not achieved its aims of ensuring social wellbeing and protecting the world’s natural resources for future generations. There is now an impetus towards alternatives to the status quo. Rather than becoming a radically opposing ideology, Buen Vivir provides the opportunity to meet the core aims of SD through a plural, yet alternative approach. This conceptual article is a critical review of academic, policy and popular discourse on the concept of Buen Vivir as an alternative to development. It analyses its strengths and weaknesses as an alternative to SD discourse, examining its core principles and contested definitions, discussing its viability to translate from an emergent alternative discourse to a plural and practical resource for communities to achieve the common aims for sustainability and wellbeing.

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