SUSTAINABILITY OF TOURISM IN RELATION TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

Tourism development has many positive impacts on economy, environment and resident and tourist community. Tourism is connected with the existence of negative effects, especially when it is not controlled. Paper describes effects of tourism development on the resident community in strongly visited tourism region of West Bohemia Spas. The research was conducted at five locations with the use of a questionnaire survey of residents. A total sample of respondents includes 250 residents of selected locations. The research was focused on the perception of tourism activities by residents, their attitude to the tourism development in the area and the perception of the effects associated with it. Residents consider the tourism development with no big trouble. Most residents aren't disturbed by its development. In some cases, there are: inappropriate tourists behavior, noise and a large concentration of people. As the greatest tourist potential of region consider residents issues related to spas and culture.