Many view tourism as a tool for community development. Especially in the rural areas experiencing economic hardships, tourism often is considered an instrument for revitalization of a local economy helping to improve quality of life and protect natural and cultural resources. However, many researchers have raised concerns about an overly optimistic view by asserting that tourism development inevitably affects the corresponding community. Empirical studies suggest that development of tourism brings environmental, sociocultural, and economic changes to the community where it is developed. Thus, it is important that planners look at the attitudes of local people towards tourism development in their community before an actual development takes place. The conceptual basis of this study is development and change theory and empirical findings of tourism impact research. This study provides information to assist in understanding questions related to the rural communities’ tourism planning process in a development context, and residents’ perceptions of the impact of tourism and its further development. A self-administered mail-back survey was administered to see how the residents of Brewster County, Texas perceive tourism development in the region. Considering the 43% of the Hispanic population in the area, both English and Spanish versions of the questionnaires were sent to the possible respondents. The overall response rate was 37% after two rounds of survey administered during January and February of 2006. The structural model confirmed that people’s value orientation regarding nature was an important variable that explained residents’ community attachment, which influenced their attitudes toward tourism through attitudes toward local participation. The results indicated that residents’ values were oriented toward nature and that they were highly attached to their communities. In addition, their tourism attitudes were varied based on the types of tourism impacts they were expecting. Although they were supportive of tourism related development, they felt that certain types of tourism development were more appropriate for their community. Specifically, “medium impact” tourism development were perceived to be desirable for the northern part of the region, whereas low impact development options were perceived to be more acceptable for the southern part of the region by their residents.

Natur och kultur skapar grunden för turism och turistisk utveckling. Runt om i landet finns idag ett stort antal olika natur- och kulturområden som bidrar till utveckling samtidigt som natur- och kulturvärden skyddas. Ekoparker är Sveaskogs benämning på ett sammanhängande skogslandskap med höga naturvärden och är ett förhållandevis nytt tillskott till natur- och kulturskyddet i Sverige. Några av ekoparkerna är intressanta för turism och turistisk utveckling, däribland Ekopark Böda. Ekopark Böda som invigdes 2006 ligger på norra Öland. Ekoparken ligger i en turismintensiv region med ett stort antal aktörer inom turism och turismrelaterade tjänster. I studien undersöks Ekopark Bödas turistiska resurser, hur samverkan ser ut mellan olika aktörer samt den turistiska utvecklingen. Studien är upplagd som en fallstudie med en deduktiv ansats. Som grund för studien används en teoretisk bakgrund varifrån intervjuunderlag byggs. Intervjuer görs med Sveaskog,Länsstyrelsen Kalmar samt några omgivande aktörer med koppling till ekoparken. Undersökningen har kunnat visa att Ekopark Böda har ett rikt utbud av natur och kultur och tillsammans med ekoparkens omgivande aktörer erbjuds turisten även ett stort urval av sådant som service och boende. Samverkan kan på olika sätt förbättras och det har genom intervjuundersökningen framkommit att ett flertal aktörer har förslag på samverkan för en turistisk utveckling av ekoparken. Den turistiska utvecklingen befinner sig i en startfas men genom det rika natur- och kulturutbudet samt en förbättrad samverkan finns goda förutsättningar för en fortsatt utveckling. Nyckelord: Natur, kultur, turism, turismutveckling, ekopark, samverkan / Nature and culture create the base in tourism and tourism development. Around the country there are a large number of nature and culture areas contributing to development and at the same time natural and cultural values are protected. Ecopark is the name of a coherent forest landscape with high natural values founded by Sveaskog. The ecopark is a relatively new addition to the nature and culture protection in Sweden. Some of the ecoparks are suitable for tourism and tourism development and among them Böda Ecopark. Böda Ecopark which opened in 2006 is located on the northern of Öland. The ecopark is situated in a tourism intense region with a large number of actors in tourism and tourism related services. The study examines the tourist resources, the cooperation between different actors and the tourism development in Böda Ecopark. The study is disposed as a case study with a deductive approach. As a basis for the study a theoretical background is used from which the interview questions are built.Interviews are made with Sveaskog, the county administrative board in Kalmar and some of the ecopark´s encompassing actors. The research has shown that Böda Ecopark has rich natural and cultural resources and through the ecopark´s encompassing actors the tourist is also offered a wide range of different services as accommodation. Cooperation can be improved in various ways and the interviews have shown that several of the encompassing actors have suggestions for cooperation around tourism development. The tourism development is in an initial phase but by the rich natural and cultural values and an improved cooperation there are good conditions for further development. Key words: Nature, culture, tourism, tourism development, ecopark, cooperation

Rural areas across the developed world have encountered economic decline due to trends of industrialisation and urbanisation (Lane, 1994). The damaging effects of the declining economy have persuaded governments to recognize these problems and tourism has been presented as a catalyst to revitalize disadvantaged rural areas (Riberio & Marques, 2002). Tourism often represents a means of generating revenue and increasing employment opportunities. Today, the idea that tourism will save disadvantaged rural areas has grown into a widely agreed upon notion, which is reflected in a vast range of policy documents. This thesis has questioned whether the promise of rural tourism to contribute to local community development has surfaced as a result of over optimism. The purpose of this study was to determine if tourism is a viable tool for development in rural areas by stepping back and evaluating what is really happening in practice in rural areas. This study examined if, and to what extent, the reported benefits of rural tourism are realized on the ground at the local community level. However, there is little to be gained by examining the impacts of tourism without examining the processes which have contributed to the creation and growth of rural tourism. This research consisted of a close examination of the rural tourism development process and the impacts of its development in a rural village in the Czech Republic. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, household survey questionnaires, secondary data analysis and finally, participant observation. The analysis of the data revealed four main themes, which include: (1) the nature of tourism development, (2) the impacts of tourism, (3) the role of tourism, and (4) the future of tourism development. The findings of this research showed that residents held a favourable view towards tourism development and are supportive of future tourism development. Tourism is attributed to the many positive changes that have occurred in the village. Moreover, residents reported valuing the social contributions of tourism more than the economic contributions. It was revealed that there is an awareness future tourism planning and monitoring is needed, however, there is a distinct lack of organized tourism planning in the village. The study concluded that tourism’s promise of providing development potential to rural communities, as outlined, remains partially unfulfilled. Residents have a realistic grasp on the role of tourism in their village and as such, realize that tourism is currently not a viable development option for their village. This study demonstrates that it should not be assumed that rural economic development is a natural outcome of rural tourism.

Rural areas across the developed world have encountered economic decline due to trends of industrialisation and urbanisation (Lane, 1994). The damaging effects of the declining economy have persuaded governments to recognize these problems and tourism has been presented as a catalyst to revitalize disadvantaged rural areas (Riberio & Marques, 2002). Tourism often represents a means of generating revenue and increasing employment opportunities. Today, the idea that tourism will save disadvantaged rural areas has grown into a widely agreed upon notion, which is reflected in a vast range of policy documents. This thesis has questioned whether the promise of rural tourism to contribute to local community development has surfaced as a result of over optimism. The purpose of this study was to determine if tourism is a viable tool for development in rural areas by stepping back and evaluating what is really happening in practice in rural areas. This study examined if, and to what extent, the reported benefits of rural tourism are realized on the ground at the local community level. However, there is little to be gained by examining the impacts of tourism without examining the processes which have contributed to the creation and growth of rural tourism. This research consisted of a close examination of the rural tourism development process and the impacts of its development in a rural village in the Czech Republic. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, household survey questionnaires, secondary data analysis and finally, participant observation. The analysis of the data revealed four main themes, which include: (1) the nature of tourism development, (2) the impacts of tourism, (3) the role of tourism, and (4) the future of tourism development. The findings of this research showed that residents held a favourable view towards tourism development and are supportive of future tourism development. Tourism is attributed to the many positive changes that have occurred in the village. Moreover, residents reported valuing the social contributions of tourism more than the economic contributions. It was revealed that there is an awareness future tourism planning and monitoring is needed, however, there is a distinct lack of organized tourism planning in the village. The study concluded that tourism’s promise of providing development potential to rural communities, as outlined, remains partially unfulfilled. Residents have a realistic grasp on the role of tourism in their village and as such, realize that tourism is currently not a viable development option for their village. This study demonstrates that it should not be assumed that rural economic development is a natural outcome of rural tourism.

Certification programs have grown exponentially over the past decade to respond to the increasing demand for more green and sustainable modes of operation from the part of customers. These schemes can be used as powerful tools to assist in the conservation of natural, human and cultural resources, helping better protect popular tourist destinations for future years to come. However, despite their potential to help codify important principles such as ecotourism and sustainable tourism, certification programs are currently facing several challenges that are hindering their overall practices. Much of the present tourism literature has examined the environmental aspect of these programs and the monitoring challenges they are currently facing. However, little research has explored the socio-cultural side of certification programs even if current literature increasingly demonstrates the strong connection that exists between environment, community and local culture when aiming to properly develop tourism in host destinations. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the importance and feasibility of adopting socio-cultural criteria in existing certification programs as to achieve proper sustainability. This goal is attained by using a qualitative research approach and by examining Green Globe certified hotels on the island of Barbados. The results of this research confirms that the culture, history, geography and/or policies of a tourist destination can shape and influence certification programs and their overall practices. This study also provided several examples of social and cultural actions that hotels could adopt, or have already adopted, demonstrating that it is feasible for certification programs to require tourism businesses to adhere to socio-cultural criteria before achieving certification. Moreover, results revealed several benefits that the accommodation sector can gain by becoming environmentally, socially and culturally responsible. The main conclusion of this study is that socio-cultural practices are necessary components to properly achieve newer designations of ecotourism and sustainable tourism, and therefore, certification programs need to include and/or make mandatory socio-cultural criteria in their programs. It is hoped that this information can provide guidelines on how to further implement both environmental and socio-cultural criteria for both certification programs and the accommodation sector. Although this research revealed interesting information on the socio-cultural aspect of these programs, much remains to be examined on this matter and recommendations for future studies are suggested at the end of this thesis.

Ecotourism has increased in demand and aided destination development within many destinations over the past decade. Many Germans have shown an increase of interest in nature-based tourism, and for travelling to Scandinavia. The study examined German tourist behaviour and German visitor trends to Scandinavia. Sweden has become an attractive holiday destination for many international guests including Germans. A case study of destination Ansättfjällen was conducted regarding the low awareness level by international summer tourists. An analysis of the current situation of the destination was conducted and recommendations were provided for future solutions to improve promotion to German ecotourists. Due to the fact that such research about destination Ansättfjällen was not done previously, it was necessary to primarily use qualitative research approach and using an abductive method with a tendency to an inductive manner. Based on the tourism attractiveness, various aspects of destination development had to be examined. One of the final conclusions of the study was the need to do further research about this destination, due to being at development stage of the Butler’s Model and improve stakeholder collaboration within the destination locally and regionally.

Tourism has become a tool for many developing countries to achieve economic growth and alleviate poverty. However, even though tourism is contributing to positive impacts, it also stresses infrastructure and changing local communities. For many African countries, tourism plays an important role, which is the case with the growing tourist destination Mozambique. This research is examining how tourism is affecting the local community in Tofo, and furthermore how involved they are in the development. The study is based on interviews, participant observations, questionnaire and documents. Findings show that the development is forced upon the community in Tofo, although leading to various economic and socio-cultural impacts, such as improved living standard, change in behaviors and infrastructure development, but the greatest impacts remain employment and income. The development is unplanned and do not involve the community to extent it should and could, leaving the residents powerless and dependent on foreign investors.

Many view tourism as a tool for community development. Especially in the rural areas experiencing economic hardships, tourism often is considered an instrument for revitalization of a local economy helping to improve quality of life and protect natural and cultural resources. However, many researchers have raised concerns about an overly optimistic view by asserting that tourism development inevitably affects the corresponding community. Empirical studies suggest that development of tourism brings environmental, sociocultural, and economic changes to the community where it is developed. Thus, it is important that planners look at the attitudes of local people towards tourism development in their community before an actual development takes place. The conceptual basis of this study is development and change theory and empirical findings of tourism impact research. This study provides information to assist in understanding questions related to the rural communities’ tourism planning process in a development context, and residents’ perceptions of the impact of tourism and its further development. A self-administered mail-back survey was administered to see how the residents of Brewster County, Texas perceive tourism development in the region. Considering the 43% of the Hispanic population in the area, both English and Spanish versions of the questionnaires were sent to the possible respondents. The overall response rate was 37% after two rounds of survey administered during January and February of 2006. The structural model confirmed that people’s value orientation regarding nature was an important variable that explained residents’ community attachment, which influenced their attitudes toward tourism through attitudes toward local participation. The results indicated that residents’ values were oriented toward nature and that they were highly attached to their communities. In addition, their tourism attitudes were varied based on the types of tourism impacts they were expecting. Although they were supportive of tourism related development, they felt that certain types of tourism development were more appropriate for their community. Specifically, “medium impact” tourism development were perceived to be desirable for the northern part of the region, whereas low impact development options were perceived to be more acceptable for the southern part of the region by their residents.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the role of local and global networking, institutionalization and institutional thickness of tourism firms and clusters in order to explain their contribution to tourism development. Recent development literature emphasizes the crucial role of different level of networks, institutionalizations and clustering in the development of regions. In this respect, this thesis tries to explore the role of networks, new organizational set-ups and clustering by adapting them to tourism case. It is hypothesized that global networks are also important in addition to local networks, and play crucial role in the performance of tourism firms and clusters. On this basis, types and intensity of local &amp / global networks in tourism organizations and clusters, development of associational structure in tourism clusters and firms, and the level of relations between different associations and tourism firms are tried to be examined by focusing on the theoretical framework on development models, networking, institution and cluster based studies. This thesis employs a quantitative method of analysis and social network analysis for identifiying the level of networks of tourism firms&amp / organizations and clusters. In this way, this thesis describes their contribution to local tourism development. Although tourism is somewhat different from other sectors, findings of the case study generally support the claims of the development literature for tourism case.

Based on two years of multi-sited ethnographic research, the dissertation investigates Garifuna struggles over racial and cultural identity and land rights against the backdrop of neoliberal tourism development on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. Garifuna are descended from Africans and the Carib Indians of St. Vincent; they are a transnational people with roots in Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Guatemala and several cities in the United States. The dissertation examines the conditions under which some Garifuna embrace the opportunities offered through state-backed tourism projects and explores why others reject tourism development altogether, choosing instead, to assign greater priority to autonomy and territorial rights. Garifuna who oppose state-sanctioned tourism projects are positioned as adversaries of the state who are incapable of harnessing the power of development and, in turn, barred from traditional channels of participation. In this vein, the development apparatus delivers land rights activists a double bind—Garifuna culture is a commodity necessary for the growth of the national tourism industry, but not a basis for expansive rights. Finally, the dissertation analyzes the ethical debates that animate Garifuna land politics in the struggle to wrest authority from the state and local entrepreneurs over the processes of development. Garifuna cultural traits that tend toward the collectivistic, toward the valorization of ancestral practices, or toward the autonomous development of their communities are defined as culturally “conservative.” I argue Garifuna culture is commodified in accordance with the racial structuration of Honduran society, which has deep effects at the community level, resulting in fragmentation and dispossession. This work sheds light on the everyday politics of autonomy in Triunfo de la Cruz—a Garifuna village situated on the white-sand beaches of Tela Bay—and reveals how notions of communal belonging are defined through processes of political struggle. / text