FORWARD
As the 21st Century unfolds, we are entering an era of global interaction. We will expect more than we ever have before from tourism, notably in terms of its contributions to our economies, expanding employment, raising the standard of life of our citizens, and in the internationalization of our societies.
In the midst of these changes, there has been growing focus on preserving our precious natural and cultural resources for future generations, under the principles of Sustainable Tourism. These are inextricably linked to the growing adoption of Sustainable Development for tourism, where we seek to manage our assets for benefit of our progeny.
To implement the practices of Sustainable Tourism, it is vital that we consider tourism-based approaches to issues in conjunction with aspects of ekistics, destination development programs, and the preservation of resources. Or, in other terms, the community must take the lead in defining what role tourism will have in its own overall urban plans, and in deciding how to balance and insure lack of problems between resources, the surrounding community, and traveler consumer satisfaction in its tourism development plans.
The above ideas have served as foundations for the work of the Asia-Pacific Tourism Exchange Center(APTEC), which with funding from The Nippon Foundation, established a study group headed by Professor Nishimura of Tokyo University. The group's expertise bore fruit in the compilation of "A Guidebook for Tourism Based Community Development."
It is our hope that this guide will assist and serve in community development of tourist destinations.
