Social impacts of tourism: an Australian regional case study

Abstract

As the support of host communities is a precondition for a sustainable industry, regional social impact studies are a crucial input to tourism planning and decisionmaking. This study assessed the social impacts of tourism in a rural region of Australia where tourism is an important sector of the economy. As well as providing data to aid regional tourism planning, this study identifies differences in personal and community-wide impacts; advances understanding of the factors that influence residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts; and assesses the degree to which tourism activity associated with protected areas contributes to the identifi ed social impacts.