The aim of this thesis is to indicate positive and negative impacts of tourism on the environment and to emphasize the importance of sustainable tourism development. The thesis analyses prerequisite of the Russian Federation for the development of alternative forms of sustainable tourism. In the theoretic part are characterized geographical, sociodemografical and environmental conditions as well as current situation of tourism and sustainable tourism in the Russian Federation. The main gain of the thesis is the identification of threats and opportunities in the development of sustainable tourism in the Russian Federation.

5 Abstract A significance of platforms based on sharing economy principle in tourism has been continuously increasing. Currently, the most significant phenomenon is Airbnb, which allows residents to offer their homes for tourists. Even though Airbnb still works on basic peer to peer principle of sharing economy, due to uncontrolled development, it has been leading to a diversion from values of sharing economy. Unlike Airbnb, couchsurfing still retains values of sharing economy and promotes sustainable tourism. However, there is not enough data about couchsurfing. For example, this platform does not have any public database, which would outline how many people were accommodated through Couchsurfing in particular destinations. The lack of data about couchsurfing is apparent in the academic sphere as well. The vast majority of studies is focused on sociological themes like motivations of people to use couchsurfing or mutual trust among its users. In the meantime, the spatial behaviour of these tourists has been therefore underestimated. Creation of a database of these tourists on international and Czech national scale including an exploration of spatial behaviour in Czechia is the main aim of this research. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was adopted for this research. The quantitative...

O presente trabalho pretende contribuir para o aprofundamento das discussões em torno da questão das favelas em municípios litorâneos paulistas voltados ao turismo, fornecendo subsídios ao equacionamento das dinâmicas envolvidas, do ponto de vista das características do turismo enquanto atividade de lazer e de um processo de urbanização que considere a organização sócio-espacial e as possibilidades oferecidas pelo lugar. Observando que o crescimento das favelas nestes municípios leva ao comprometimento das condições físicovisuais, ambientais e sociais e que isto se reproduz por todo o território nacional. Toma-se como objeto de estudo o Programa de Urbanização do Dique Sambaiatuba, em São Vicente - Baixada Santista, no Estado de São Paulo, no período que vai do ano de 1990 a 2006. A partir da reflexão crítica sobre a idéia de desenvolvimento turístico sustentável, apontam-se possibilidades e necessidades relacionadas ao ambiente físico-ambiental e sócio-econômico da favela. Apresenta-se então a hipótese de que tal desenvolvimento implica em que a urbanização da favela envolva o trabalho com o plano da vida do lugar - o do cotidiano e da razão local, assim como a necessidade de incorporar programas que aliem a educação cidadã, o incentivo à economia solidária e a qualificação para o apoio ao mercado de trabalho vinculado ao turismo. / The present work pretends to contribute with the discussions about slums (low conditions residences) problem in São Paulo State\'s Coastal cities that work with tourism. It pretends to offer subsidies to the equationing of the involved dynamic, considering tourism as an activity of leisure and as a process of urbanization which considers the social-space organization and the possibilities offered by the place. It is observed that the growth of the slums in these cities compromises the physical, environmental and social conditions and that situation is reproduced in all national territory. The Program of Urbanization of the Dique Sambaiatuba in São Vicente/ São Paulo State , in the period of 1990 to 2006, was taken as study object. From the critical reflection on the idea of sustainable tourism development, possibilities and necessities related to the physical and social-economic environment of the slums are pointed out. The hypothesis that such development implies in the urbanization of the slums, involves working with the style of the life of the place - in daily and local bases, as well as the necessity to incorporate programs that join citizen education, the incentive to solidary economy and the qualification as a support to work the tourism market

European Regional Nature Parks are based in rural areas and are involved in the fields of biodiversity and sustainable development. Sustainable tourism is a highly topical issue in Europe and many countries are trying to raise the citizens’ and tourists’ awareness of sustainability issues. It is therefore natural that Regional Nature Parks have become a useful tool in this regard. Implementing the principles of sustainable tourism implies a combination of the socioeconomic goals of regional park tourism and the ecological goals of nature conservation. Nature conservation through tourism has become increasingly market-oriented and more instrumental over the years, which reflects the rise of neoliberalist politics. Accordingly, this thesis will contribute to answering the following question: how is the natural heritage of the RNP of Auvergne Volcanoes used as a tool to promote sustainable tourism on a regional scale within a European framework? The thesis focuses mainly on the Regional Nature Park of Auvergne Volcanoes as a cultural, natural and environmental heritage. It investigates whether the Park’s local landscapes are used to turn it into a saleable product within a European framework. The thesis also emphasises the governance aspects of the park through an analysis of the policies and planning documents guiding it. In this way, this thesis focuses on the role of the European Union and of national, regional and local governments in sustainable tourism. It also aims to extend our understanding of the influence of public policy upon the development of sustainable tourism.

Le tourisme est un secteur économique en plein développement et tend à intégrer, dans ses stratégies, la durabilité des sites. Le développement durable, visant l’amélioration de la qualité de vie de tous sans provoquer de résultats écologiques et socioculturels indésirables, pénètre peu à peu les sites touristiques. Or, les visites touristiques font intervenir un acteur clé, le guide touristique. Personne assurant le contact entre l’offre et la demande, il occupe une fonction essentielle pour assurer l’avancée du tourisme dans une direction durable. Face à l’absence de recherche en ce domaine, nous avons choisi d’axer la nôtre sur cette problématique, à travers une étude de cas en Chine. Trois objectifs de recherche ont alors été identifiés : comprendre le développement durable et les relations que celui-ci noue avec le tourisme ; explorer les rôles et les responsabilités des guides touristiques et leurs implications dans la promotion de la durabilité ; examiner les raisons pour lesquelles les guides touristiques exercent concrètement leurs fonctions en vue de soutenir le développement du tourisme durable. Suite à la revue de littérature et à l’application de la triangulation des méthodes dans cette thèse - les entretiens, l’observation participante et l’enquête par questionnaire -, nous recommandons d’orienter les pratiques de l’industrie touristique vers un développement sain et durable, en les hiérarchisant : 1) Perfectionner la certification, améliorer la formation, accroître le contrôle des guides touristiques ; 2) Promouvoir les fonctions de la Guilde des guides touristiques ; 3) Améliorer les conditions de travail des guides et renforcer l’éducation au développement durable auprès de tous les acteurs de cette industrie. / Tourism is a booming economic sector that tends to incorporate the sustainable sites into its strategies. Sustainable development, which in the strategy to improve the quality of life for all without causing adverse environmental and socio-cultural outcome, gradually come into sight. However, the tour guide plays a key role in the tourism industry. As a person who assures the contact between supply and demand, it has an essential function for the advancement of tourism in a sustainable direction. Given the absence of research in this area, we chose to focus ours on this issue based on a case study in China. Three research objectives were then identified: Understanding Sustainable Development and the relationships with tourism; exploring the roles and responsibilities of tour guides and their involvement in promoting sustainability; examining why the tour guides actually exercise their functions in order to support the development of sustainable tourism. After the literature review and application of triangulation methods in this thesis - interviews, participant observation and questionnaire survey -, we recommend to orient the practices in the tourism industry towards a healthy and sustainable development in a hierarchical structure: (1) Ameliorate the certification, optimize the training program, strengthen the control of tourist guides; (2) Promote the functions of the Guild of tour guides; (3) Improve the working conditions of guides and reinforce the education for sustainable development in this industry.

A pesquisa analisou os fatores envolvidos na expansão recente do Turismo receptivo em três localidades situadas no entorno da cidade de Campos do Jordão, na Serra da Mantiqueira - SP: Santo Antonio do Pinhal, São Bento do Sapucaí e o distrito de São Francisco Xavier, pertencente ao município de São José dos Campos. Em virtude da expressividade do fenômeno turístico na área, justifica-se avaliar os efeitos da expansão das estruturas receptivas sobre a vida das populações. A abordagem privilegiou a questão do desenvolvimento sustentável como elemento definidor das ações dos organizadores do Turismo, e avaliou junto aos moradores as formas de participação no processo. O referencial teórico apoiou-se em autores da Geografia do Turismo e outras disciplinas da área de Ciências Sociais, as quais auxiliam no estudo do fenômeno turístico. Por meio de entrevistas com os organizadores e uma amostra dos residentes, utilizou-se a fenomenologia como método para captar as percepções e opiniões dos moradores quanto ao crescimento das atividades receptivas nas três localidades. Constatouse que aos fatores de atratividade originais, o clima e a paisagem serranos, outros estão sendo adicionados à área, em razão da saturação de Campos, como a tranqüilidade dos lugarejos, a paisagem rural e os recursos associados ao meio natural. Essas mudanças na oferta atendem novas demandas e geram formas inéditas de organização do espaço turístico na área, impondo desafios às populações envolvidas. / This study analyses the causes of the recent tourism growth among three sites located around the city of Campos do Jordão, on Serra da Mantiqueira, a hill area on the northeast of the state of São Paulo. The places named Santo Antonio do Pinhal, São Bento do Sapucaí e São Francisco Xavier (the latest is a district of the city of São Jose dos Campos), have their receptive structures been increased during last decade, as a consequence of the appeal of Campos do Jordão, which causes crescent demands over all that region. Due to the extention that Tourism activities are obtaining in the area, one can realize several effects over the residents living standards. As theoretical references the author used the concepts of sustainability, tourism planning, and categories such as tourist space and landscape, performing the first chapter. Study field avaliated the relations of residents which the phenomenon, using questionnaires as well as interviews with tourist authorities. The Phenomenology was the method used to analyze residents attitudes toward tourist policies and practices. Results showed that tourism activities are fastly increasing in those locations, causing new concerns and challenges to the residents.

The purpose of this study was to explore Morro Bay residents’ attitudes toward tourism and knowledge about tourism in the three major tourism impact categories (economic, socio-cultural, and environmental). A mail-back questionnaire was hand-delivered during the winter of 2011 to 720 Morro Bay residents. In general, Morro Bay residents had slightly positive attitudes toward tourism in their community. The mean attitude score was 3.27 on a 5-point Likert type scale. The subjects had a relatively low level of tourism knowledge. The mean total indirect tourism knowledge score was 2.98 on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Residents’ total direct tourism knowledge score was 0.33 on a scale of zero to one. A multiple regression model was used to test for an association between residents’ knowledge about tourism, community attachment, socio-demographic variables, and residents’ attitudes toward tourism. The only variables that were associated with residents’ attitude toward tourism were: length of residency, interest in learning more about tourism, level of education, household income, subjective tourism knowledge, economic tourism knowledge, and environmental tourism knowledge. The two most significant variables were economic tourism knowledge and environmental tourism knowledge. Future research should test the effectiveness of different methods to increase residents’ tourism knowledge.

Tourism is acquiring the attention worldwide especially in the developing countries (Akpabio et al. 2006). In the case of coastal areas, tourism is more sensitive to environmental degradation compared to other economic activities because the environment is its primary resource. With the help of efficient planning and proper management of natural resources, tourism can significantly contribute to environmental conservation and to achieve environmental sustainability in coastal areas (Orhon et al. 2011). The main purposes of this study are to explore the tourism development trend in coastal areas of Cox’s Bazar, to analyse existing environmental conditions of Cox’s Bazar coastal area, to examine the importance of environmental sustainability at coastal region. More positively, the study shows environmental sustainability can be achieved through more eco-friendly planning of installations in tourism hubs like Cox’s Bazar. The main methods of conducting this study were desktop research; data collection through questionnaire survey and expert interview; data input in SPSS, processing and analysis; evaluation of policies, strategies and institutional framework. To formulate study goal and objectives, a comprehensive literature review has been conducted to understand about tourism, tourism development, sustainability, sustainable development by reviewing relevant reports, journals, and international cases which has helped to develop the conceptual framework of the study. After extensive literature review and formulation of goal and objectives, the conceptual framework of the study data collection instruments such as questionnaire has been prepared to collect data from the field. The study is largely based on the primary data collected through field visit, interviews to the experts on tourism and environment, and questionnaire survey at the study area, Cox’s Bazar. In this study, the statistical data on the study area has been collected from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). Apart from this, information has also been collected from various sources e.g. journals, projects, periodicals, and the daily newspapers, archives of both home and abroad. From the analysis, it found that Cox’s Bazar sea beach is a good place for tourism development, and it is also found that the level of tourism is improving gradually. Tourism in Cox’s Bazar mainly depends on natural beauty and environment of the coastal area. Tourism is producing long term negative effects on the coastal environment. If the environmental systems degrade tourism will not sustain any more. However, tourism can provide incentive for the conservation and restoration of the natural environment. Nearly half of the respondents stated that because of tourism, natural environment is in better condition in Cox’s Bazar and tourism provides incentive for the conservation and restoration of the natural environment. The analysis also identifies that policies and strategies play a big role to the conservation of natural environment and resources, and the implementation of principles of sustainable development. Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has been formulated some policies and strategies related to tourism development, sustainable development and coastal zone management, but most of the policies and strategies are not implemented properly because of institutional conflicts. In the light of the data analysis, discussion and findings, some recommendations are suggested here to help and guide future decisions regarding tourism development, conservation of the environment, sustainable development and sustainability at coastal areas in Bangladesh. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Pasaulinė turizmo organizaija (PTO) prognozuoja, kad turistų srautai kasmet didės, o 2020 m. atvykstamasis turizmas sieks 1.6 milijardus atvykimų visame pasaulyje. Kaimo turizmo augimas sieks 20 % ir sudarys 11 % visos turizmo rinkos. Tod��l darniojo turizmo vystymasis tampa labai svarbus. Žmonės iš išsivysčiusių kraštų ieško lėtos kelionės rinkos, kurios koncepcija labai glaudžiai susijusi su darniojo turizmo vystymusi ir kaimo turizmu. Straipsnis apžvelgia kaimo turizmo rinkos vystimąsi Lietuvoje. Didžiausias dėmesys kreipiamas Kauno regionui, ypač Kauno rajonui, kuris netrukus turėtų sėkmingai konkuruoti su itin sparčiai besiplečiančiomis Vilniaus bei Klaipėdos regionų kaimo turizmo rinkomis. Lėtos kelionės koncepcijos pritaikymas būtų didelė parama konkurencinėje kovoje, tačiau, kaip rodo atlikti tyrimai, pritaikymas Kauno rajone sudėtingas dėl nepakankamo sodybų šeimininkų išsilavinimo lygio turizmo srityje bei žemos motyvacijos siūlyti naujos koncepcijos paslaugas savo klientams. / WTO forecasts the growth of tourists every year and up to 2020 the arrivals will reach 1.6 billions. The growth of rural tourism will reach 20 percent and make 11 percent of the whole tourism market. That‘s why it is very important to be sure of sustainable tourism development. People from the well developed countries are looking for a slow tourism markets which is close to the idea of sustainable tourism development and rural tourism. The article surveys rural tourism development in Lithuania and concentres on Middle Lithuania, especially Kaunas region, which is looking forward to rural tourism development and will have to compete with other more developed regions like Vilnius or Klaipėda. The application of slow tourism concept will be a good help during the competition fight but the survey shows that the possibility to apply the concept in Kaunas region will be quite complicated because of low education and motivation level of the countryside farmstead hosts.

Sexturismär ett brett begrepp som mestadels förknippas med västerländska äldre män som reser till utvecklingsländer för att köpa sex. Detta har uppmärksammats sedan början av 1970-talet men på senare år har den kvinnliga sexturismen uppmärksammats allt mer i den svenska media. Studien redogör för den svenska kvinnliga sexturismen utomlands, med Gambia som fallstudie. När svensk media talar om fenomenet används förskönande beskrivningar, där kvinnornas beteender omantiseras i jämförelse med männens sexturism. Problematiseringen med detta är att två lika handlingar med samma syfte, beskrivs på två olika vis, beroende på kön. Studien redogör för hur svensk media väljer att framställa den kvinnliga sexturismen, de underliggande motiven till framställningen och slutligen hur den ensidiga framställningen påverkar Gambia socialt, kulturell och ekonomiskt. För att studien skulle bli genomförbar har ett antal intervjuer gjorts med två journalister och en skribent som skrivit om liknande ämnen. Dessutom har fyra intervjuer gjorts med respondenter som någon gång rest eller reser till Gambia. Tidigare forskning, teoretisk referensram och empirisk material har analyserats för att ge svar på studiens syfte och frågeställningar. Resultatet av hela studien visar att svensk media framställer den kvinnliga sexturismen som något romantiskt och oskyldigt, dels för att kvinnorna själva väljer att kalla deras handlingar för romanser, dels för att samhället ser kvinnornas handlingar som mindre skadliga. Konsekvensernamed detta är att landets image påverkas negativt, vilket resulterar till att Gambia stämplas som ett oattraktivt resemål. Den kvinnliga sexturismen är inte hållba ri längden vilket leder till att Gambia stannar i en stagnationsfas.