The attitudes of the island local community towards sustainable tourism development - The case of Stari Grad, island Hvar

Abstract

Islands, as an outstanding nature's work of art, have traditionally been popular tourist destinations. Considering their fragile environment and pressure that tourism development poses upon their economy, environment, and people in general, achieving sustainable tourism development is a major challenge they face. Yet, little research focusing on understanding small islands' residents' attitudes towards tourism and its effects have been conducted in the literature so far. This is especially the case with Croatian islands' communities where tourism has been developed almost spontaneously and as such is taken for granted. To fill this gap, this study examines the residents' attitudes towards tourism development in the town of Stari Grad on the island of Hvar. © 2010 WIT Press.