Community perceptions of tourism impacts

Host communities are major players whose perceptions should be assessed by policy makers when it comes to decision-making about tourism management and the future direction of tourism. In contrast to economic effects, tourism's socio-cultural impacts on host communities are considered more intangible. In turn, these can be more difficult to assess as they require measurement of more subjective or qualitative processes. In this chapter we explore these more intangible effects of tourism by focusing on the community perceptions of the sector's socio-cultural impacts. We discuss the key conceptual frameworks such as Doxey's Irridex, Butlers' tourist area life cycle and social exchange theory for assessing community perceptions of tourism impacts. We also identify the main perceived socio-cultural impacts of tourism and the main drivers behind these perceptions and discuss assessment challenges. Specifically, we underline the importance of understanding community perceptions of tourism impacts if the sector is to be developed holistically.