Author(s)

T. Patterson, F. Mapelli & E. Tiezzi

Abstract

Effects of tourism on net social benefits; defining optimal scale in the Merse watershed, Italy T. Patterson1, F. Mapelli2 & E. ~iezzi' I University of Maryland, Institute for Ecological Economics, USA '~e~artment of Chemical and Biosystems Sciences, University of Siena, Italy Abstract Agrotourism, Nature tourism, and Medieval ruins in the Merse watershed could all be developed to accommodate Siena, Italy's growing number of visitors, but will tourism expansion in the Merse watershed increase net social benefit? With tourism as the world's largest and most rapidly growing industry, this is a question common to host communities in almost every corner of the world. In the past, answers to this question have relied on tourism's fantastic ability to generate employment and profit margins literally overnight. However, the lure of tourism's "fail-safe" method to achieve economic growth has been increasingly shadowed by a growing awareness of the ecological, social, and cultural costs paid in exchan

Keywords