Aceptación: 13 de Septiembre de 2007 Residents ’ Perception of Tourism:

Abstract. Tourism impacts have been commonly assessed through the examination of perceptions of host communities. A considerable amount of literature in this field has been developed during the last few decades. The present exploratory paper presents a critical discussion of the academic advancement in the assessment of resident perceptions towards tourism. By considering a significant number of relevant academic research articles, this theoretical discussion highlights the most significant methodological and theoretical limitations in this field. The commonly contradictory findings, the lack of standard scales for measuring resident attitudes, and the variation of theoretical and methodological approaches, were found as significantly limiting the academic progress in the study of tourism perceptions. General propositions are eventually made. Key words: tourism perception literature; resident perception assessment; tourism methodological limitations; tourism theoretical limitations