19-Year Study Demonstrates Anti-Extractive Tourism Model Retaining 72% Revenue Locally While Maintaining Industry-Standard Profit Margins

Florida tour operator publishes framework showing how structural business constraints prevent overtourism

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture Discovery Vacations (CDV) has published academic research demonstrating that sustainable tourism profitability and community benefit are not competing objectives when sustainability is structurally embedded in business design.

The research paper, "Existential Sustainability: A Structural Approach to Anti-Extractive Tourism," now available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), documents 19 years of operational data from a tour operator model that retains 72% of gross revenue within local communities - compared industry standards of 20-30% - while achieving 18% net profit margins comparable to conventional operators.

The Framework

The paper introduces "Existential Sustainability," where community integration is not a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative but the structural precondition for business survival. Unlike sustainability certifications that can be added or removed, this model makes extraction mechanically impossible through business design.

"If you can remove the sustainability practice without causing immediate business failure, it's performative," explains Michael Kovnick, CDV Founder and study author. "If removal would cause mechanical collapse, it's existential."

CDV's model operates on three structural constraints: zero commissions (refusing all vendor kickbacks & incentives), volume caps (12-18 travelers maximum, ~14 weeks annually per destination), and local ownership requirements (100% locally-owned family business partners only).

Tale of Two Villages

The most striking evidence compares two Italian destinations where CDV operated under identical volume constraints:

Soriano nel Cimino (2006-present): Population stable at 8,000 over 19 years. Local business ownership maintained at 95%+. CDV's 37-38 partner families expanded organically while remaining family-owned. Community infrastructure intact.

Civita di Bagnoregio (operations ceased 2018): Annual visitors grew from minimal tourism to 850,000. Resident population declined from 18 to 11. Commercial infrastructure transformed to multiple hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops. Last grocery store closed. CDV terminated operations as the "authentic cultural experience" product ceased to exist.

"Our volume discipline protected our partnerships, but couldn't prevent 850,000 aggregate visitors from transforming Civita," Kovnick notes. "This demonstrates why we need destination-level policy coordination, not just virtuous individual operators."

Economic Impact

In Soriano nel Cimino, CDV's annual payments to local partners total approximately €286,200 ($312,000) distributed across 37-38 family businesses, with 100% partner retention over 19 years (excluding retirements). The model achieves this while maintaining 18% net margins comparable to conventional tour operators.

Policy Implications

The research arrives as destinations worldwide struggle with overtourism. Venice, Amsterdam, and Barcelona have implemented visitor taxes and accommodation restrictions - addressing symptoms rather than structural causes.

"Municipalities should consider local ownership requirements for tourism businesses, prohibition of commission-based vendor relationships, and operator volume constraints as licensing conditions," Kovnick argues. "These structural interventions prevent extraction before it requires restrictive management."

Kovnick is available for interviews, speaking engagements, destination management, and organization consulting

About Culture Discovery Vacations

Founded in 2006, Culture Discovery Vacations operates small-group cultural immersion tours across Italy, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Argentina, and Uruguay. The company has achieved TripAdvisor Hall of Fame status through its zero-commission, volume-constrained business model, as well as the 2025 Magellan Gold Award.

Research: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5920202
Website: www.culturediscovery.com | www.existentialsustainability.com

Media Contact: Michael Kovnick, [email protected], +1 813-467-7203

SOURCE Culture Discovery Vacations