Measuring Sustainable Tourism Development in Remote Rural ...

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Both the residents in Lindoso/Soajo and Svaneke belives that the life in the community has improved because of tourism (statement 30). It seems that, according to the residents, there exists hope for more tourism and development in tourism among the residents in Lindoso/Soajo (statement 11, 14 and 25 in table 6) while Svaneke has reached an upper level for the number of tourists (statement 13). Lindoso/Soajo do not feel the negative impact nearly as much as Svaneke. The residents in Soajo/Lindoso wish to spend resources to develop the community towards more tourism (statement 10 and 23). According to the socio-demographic characteristics (see table 7a-7f), the respondents in Lindoso/Soajo have, basically, elementary and secondary education (80%), with 21% of the respondents having a higher level of education. In Svaneke 66% of the respondents have more than elementary and secondary education. The residents in Svaneke are more academically educated. In terms of professions, there were major differences. The number of retired people stood out in Svaneke with 41% compared to Lindoso/Soajo with 15%. This is reflected in the average age (see Table 7c). Also, in Lindoso/Soajo, 22% of the respondents were students, compared to no student respondents in Svaneke. The majority of the people interviewed in Lindoso/Soajo are men while the distribution in Svaneke is almost half-and-half. Table 7: Socio-demographic characteristics Table 7a: Occupation Lindoso/Soajo Svaneke Occupation Assisting spouses 17% Self-employed persons 0 15% Professional/management 2% 4% Administrative 15% 26% Skilled 12% Unskilled wage earners 10% 11% Unemployed 7% 4% Retired 15% 41% Student 22% Table 7b: Education Education Elementary 51% 31% Secondary 29% 4% Vocational school 12% 42% Some college 2% 4% College graduate 7% 8% Post-graduate study 12% Table 7c: Age Average Age 40.91 56.29 Table 7d: Gender Gender Male 71% 46% Female 29% 54% Table 7e: Average number of years lived in village Average number of years lived in village 29.35 23.85 Table 7f:Lived outside the village more than one year Lived outside village more than 1 year Yes 57% 85% No 43% 15% If yes, how many years? Average 16.72 32.59
In Lindoso/Soajo some 57% have been outside the area for more than one year. This is mostly due to the fact that this region has traditionally been one of the largest exporter of reserve labour to industrialised European countries. Studies have shown that these communities when confronted with little if any opportunities for employment that, instead of allowing fear and panic to tear the villages apart, or, on the other extreme, bringing the village together as a community, the young people were raised to find solutions to their economic problems not through political pressuring and collective action but through individual initiative and emigration (Graham, 1979). Table 7f shows that the majority (85%) of the residents in Svaneke has lived outside the area for more than one year. This is closely related to the level of education in the village. It you wish to be educated above secondary school you have to go to school in the other end of the island and if you wish to graduate you need to move from the island. Conclusion As relevant literature has suggested, many are the communities in remote areas that have compromised the needs of the resident community to achieve tourism development goals. While in the short term such compromises at the expense of local interests may seem appropriate courses of action, there may be negative repercussions at a later date (Gill and Williams, 1994: 218). The effect of these changes is the decline and erosion of traditional communities and life styles and an alteration of the whole economic and social system in the rural areas. Communities are no longer cohesive entities, and this in turn has an effect on both the viability of and participation in leisure activities (Arnott and Duffield, n.d.). This case study has examined residents´ perceptions of the impacts of tourism in communities in two peripheral regions of Europe. A quantitative survey was carried out in order to measure the perceived attitudes of tourism development in specific communities in each of the regions. The survey results show that the attitudes of residents has been most effected where tourism development is more advanced, and suggests how the expectations of tourism will inevitably alter communities desperately seeking to improve the quality of life of people living in remote areas and attempt to put an end to the rural exodus.
Page 1 and 2: Measuring Sustainable Tourism Devel
Page 3 and 4: Report. This commission, establishe
Page 5 and 6: Methodology The main purpose of att
Page 7 and 8: Tabel 2: Average scores for the 27
Page 9: Residents in Lindoso/Soajo are very
Page 13 and 14: Scott, R. W., Brower, D. J. and Min
Page 15: Lundtorp, S.; Rassing, C.R.; Wanhil

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