Tourism Behavior : A study of how tourism behavior effects the social carrying capacity at a destination

Today, traveling is a part of most people’s lives. It is known that traveling has many different effects, such as economic and environmental. However, it is less discussed how much tourism affects the social aspects. This study will discuss the behavior of tourists when they visit a destination, and how it affects the local community, and therefore affects the social carrying capacity of the host destination. Social carrying capacity is a relatively new concept, that focuses on the locals’ attitude and tolerance of tourists and tourism. This study will discuss social carrying capacity, tourist behavior and the host community. Through qualitative interviews, we have obtained various stories about how locals at tourist destinations experience tourists, and how tourist behavior affects the social part. We found that the locals’ perception of tourists and tourism can vary depending on several reasons, but also that it is hard to conclude how locals perceive tourism at a destination, since social carrying capacity is more complex since it relates to a subjective meaning rather than quantifiable data