3. Limited policy relevance. The general failure to specify
adequately the contexts in which impacts occur means that
the impacts literature provides limited guidance to decision-
makers. In general, it fails to indicate how many
people, of what type, doing which activities, in communities
with specified characteristics, in specific forms of host-guest
interaction result in particular consequences. This is not the
same as calculating carrying capacities, which has its own
problems (Wall 1982). An understanding of use-impact
relationships is essential for establishing carrying capacities
(if you believe they exist!) and limits of acceptable change
(Stankey and McCool 1984), or for implementing concepts
such as the tourism or recreation opportunity spectrum
(Driver et al. 1987).
While this is not the place to review the carrying capacity
literature, it is worth pointing out that the determination
of appropriate levels of use is as much a value judgment,
related to the goals set for the site, as a technical problem.
Many researchers have eschewed the search for a magic
number which can be approached with impunity and exceeded
at peril, recognizing that management is required
from the time that the first tourists arrive, if not before, and
that trade-offs will be required. However, many managers
still seek a simple solution to a complex problem through
belief that a single inherent capacity exists and that this
number can be determined by technical means. Such a
perspective puts power in the hands of consultants who are
hired as experts to determine the non-existent number. On
the other hand, perspectives such as limits of acceptable
change have the potential to empower local people if they are
permitted to provide input on the acceptability of possible
trade-offs.