Stakeholders’ Perception on the Impacts of Tourism on Mass Destinations: The Case of Seville

Abstract

Stakeholders’ participation is critical to implementing sustainable development models at mass tourism destinations. Through the application of a mixed methodology focused on the collection, processing, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, this study analyzes the perception of residents, accommodation establishments, the academic community, and tourists in the city of Seville, since they are the possible agents of change in the current model. In addition, the study of perceptions provides information to extract a definition of mass tourism for these groups. Findings show that the majority of those surveyed affirm the presence of mass tourism in the city, and choose carrying capacity as an instrument to predict this type of tourism. We also show that, while mass tourism is not a sustainable model, its transformation is possible. As a consequence, the tourists’, destination’s and local population’s tolerance limits would determine the size and direction of the tourist impact.