Philippine E-Journals

Local community’s perception on environmental impacts of tourism development in Phuket, Thailand

Wipawan Nillahut | Azizan Marzuki | Diana Mohamad

Discipline: Tourism

 

Abstract:

The rapid acceptance level and the unprecedented development of the tourism industry, both in developing and developed countries, are often being interlinked with the benefits of economic growth, facilities and infrastructure enhancement as well as resources management. More importantly, tourism development is considered as an essential approach to introduce tourism attractions and thus, enhancing the host country’s

possibility of receiving international recognition. Nevertheless, it is significant to clarify that the positive achievements enjoyed are still closely interrelated with the local community’s support on the proposed tourism developments. In other words, the local community’s perception and acceptance are the key facets to a sound tourism framework, which in return leads to successful tourism strategies implementation. This paper is undertaken with the attention to seek, from the environmental impact perspective, the aspects and parameters that hinder and motivate the local community’s enthusiasm towards tourism development.