Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Community adaptation to tourism: comparisons between Rotorua and Kaikoura, New Zealand

2002; Elsevier BV; Volume: 23; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0261-5177(01)00049-8

1879-3193

Chrys M. I. Horn, David G. Simmons,

Rural development and sustainability

This paper compares the experiences of two New Zealand tourist destination communities (Rotorua and Kaikoura). Overall, Rotorua residents perceive less impact (both negative and positive) from tourism and its associated phenomena compared with people in Kaikoura. This arises for a number of reasons. In Rotorua the ratio of tourists to residents is lower and tourists are more spread around the district than is the case in Kaikoura. To residents of Rotorua, tourism is a source of stability and local people feel that the industry is locally controlled. In comparison, Kaikoura residents associate tourism with as series of rapid changes that have occurred since the mid-1980s. In Rotorua, there is a well-developed partnership between the public and private sector and most Rotorua residents appear to trust the management of tourism more than do the residents of Kaikoura. Using qualitative methods, community history and structure were found to be important in understanding how communities adapt to, and manage, tourism.