| Abstract |
Recently Belize has implemented a National Sustainable Tourism Plan that aims to highlight Belize’s rich tourism resources while ensuring a sustainable future for tourism. Given that sustainable tourism must benefit local peoples and conserve nature it is important to understand exactly how tourism is impacting local communities.In this study we undertook an analysis of the current state of tourism in the communities of Laguna and Hopkins Village in Belize to identify: how residents perceive tourism and its impacts, the perceived economic, social and cultural effects of tourism on communities’ livelihoods and, how this relates to location, governance, and gender. |
