Social and cultural impacts of tourism

Today tourism constitutes one of the most importantindustries worldwide. Many regions especially smallisland destinations are economically dependent ontourism. The negative social and cultural impacts oftourism have long been acknowledged but in manycases monetary interests have hindered any remedialaction.The focus of this work is set on the understandingand assessment of social and cultural aspects oftourism and their integration into a holisticmanagement approach for sustainable development. Theoverall objective is to mitigate undesirable effectsand enhance the social and cultural benefits oftourism. La Gomera is presented as a case study toexemplify key issues and illustrate the applicationof specific concepts and theories. The work waswritten in 2005. In 2008 La Gomera was awarded theEuropean Charter for Sustainable Tourism in ProtectedAreas.This publication is directed to practitioners andresearchers and provides a contribution for moresustainable thinking and planning in both social andcultural terms.