ABSTRACT
Tourism development is a strategic goal for many communities. The decision-makers and statistical offices are happy to see the growth of tourist arrivals, overnight stays and expenditures.
Communities can become overcrowded with tourists, owners of tourism facilities are satisfied. Despite the growing tourism numbers very seldom do the decision-makers think of the consequences that tourism development causes. Balancing the consequences means planning tourism in a community with a systems anticipation and the feedback information, which one can get with a help of causal loop modelling in frame of system dynamics. Qualitative systems modelling is an excellent method, which is necessary for optimal development, better planning and strategical decision-making in the community’s economy. On the other hand, a broader view and understanding of tourism features is necessary for community-based tourism planning and decision-making for the future. Here we present methods of systems thinking and systems modelling, which are the objectives of this contribution: systems approach, qualitative and quantitative modelling in frame of systems dynamics. Systems approach is explained hand in hand with community-based tourism as a tool for understanding community-based tourism as a whole and as a necessity to forecast the future development according to the input data. System modelling is presented with a model of community-based tourism as an open system, with two qualitative causal loop diagrams built as graphic representations of community-based tourism, and a quantitative simulation model. The systems approach in conclusions is recognised as an approach that searches and suggests optimal solutions for complex systems challenges.
