A sustainable tourism industry is predicated on a number of factors; in particular, consideration should be given
to the impact that tourism has on the community as a whole and the individuals who make up that community. In
past decades, research has focussed on the economic and environmental impacts of tourism. This focus has
emanated from the relative ease of measuring economic impacts and the imperatives of governments to justify
tourism funding. The inclusion of an environmental dimension came out of the post-Rio era, that is, the Agenda
21 guidelines that emerged from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. More recently, the focus for many
government agencies in Australia has included the measurement of the social impacts of tourism on communities
but to date there has been no consensus on the most appropriate methods for assessing these. The impacts of
tourism require some monitoring in order to protect community well-being, and to ensure the long term viability
of the tourism product (Faulkner & Tideswell 1997). The community, as hosts to tourists, is vital in the visitor
experience and may affect tourism development by its willingness, or otherwise, to be involved in the tourism
industry (Pearce 1998). Research suggests that it is impossible to sustain tourism to a destination that is not
supported by the local people (Ahn, Lee & Shafer 2002; Twinning-Ward & Butler 2002; McCool, Moisey &
Nickerson 2001).