The development of Sustainable Tourism has allowed society to meet their own present needs, without compromising such needs of future generations (Weaver and Lawton, 2010). Much attention in relation to sustainable tourism has been devoted to Alternative Tourism. Alternative Tourism aims to preserve environmental, economical and socio-cultural impacts tourists have on a destination. This paper will explore the benefits and criticisms of sustainability by a means of Alternative Tourism and also the …show more content…
Alternative forms of tourism do have disadvantages and criticisms. These can include clan or group rivalries, advocates being bias and uncritical, modest economic returns, control assumed by local elite, reflections of “Western” values, and the fact that locals may actually prefer Mass Tourism (Weaver and Opperman, 2000). Furthermore, it can be quite difficult to achieve sustainability through alternative tourism due to inadequate resources, management, control systems and income, and if proper controls are not in place it may be difficult to distinguish between Mainstream Tourism and Alternative Tourism (Leksakundilok, 2006). For example,