Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
IMPACTS: RECREATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Resource management for recreational purposes is a useful tool with which to begin
understanding the relationships between recreational and tourist impacts, sites and the
action needed to address conflicts, namely planning (Seeley 1983), a theme explored in
Chapter 9. In this context, resource management is concerned with the way the
geographical approach meshes with the multidisciplinary contributions to understanding
how resources need to be managed (Mercer 2004). Glyptis (1989a) made a fundamental
assumption which many recreational texts overlook: that few
Table 4.1:
Positive and negative dimensions of the
impacts of tourism on host communities
Type of impact
Positive
Negative
Economic dimensions
Economic
• increased expenditures
• localised inflation
• creation of employment
• real estate speculation
• increase in labour supply
• failure to attract tourists
• increase in standard of living
• better alternative investments
• increase in investment
• capital outflows
• inadequate estimation of costs of
tourism development
• undesirable opportunity costs including
transfer of funds from health and
education
Tourism/commercial
• increased awareness of the
region as a travel/tourism
destination
•
acquisition of a poor reputation as a
result of inadequate facilities, improper
practices or inflated prices
•
increased knowledge
concerning the potential for
investment and commercial
activity in the region
•
negative reactions from existing
enterprises due to the possibility of new
competition for local personnel and
government assistance
• creation of new facilities,
attractions and infrastructure
• increase in accessibility
Socio-cultural impacts
Social/cultural
•
increase in permanent level of
local interest and participation
in types of activity associated
with event
• commercialisation of activities which
may be of a personal or private nature
•
modification of nature of event or
activity to accommodate tourism
• strengthening of regional
values and traditions
• potential increase in crime
• changes in community structure
• social dislocation
