ABSTRACT
Many of the previous chapters have examined how members of the tourism industry
manage and develop their businesses to produce a product or experience for a tourist.
This chapter considers the consequences of these actions in terms of tourist
consumption in relation to destination areas, which requires an understanding of the
visitor as an agent of change in destinations due to the impacts induced directly or
indirectly by their actions. Quite simply, it discusses where, why and how such
impacts occur, and with what effects. Promotion and advertising by the tourism sector
(i.e. tour operators, NTOs and other promotional organizations) assists in generating
tourism demand as a consumptive activity, which culminates in both positive and
negative effects for the places it affects. These effects often coexist, making
policymaking, planning and management problematic owing to the tendency to both
create beneficial and undesirable impacts simultaneously. For this reason, this chapter
will focus on some of the tools and approaches used in tourism studies to understand
how tourism generates impacts, how these can be managed, and the lessons that can
be learned.
