ENVIRONMENTAL CARRYING-CAPACITY AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE MALDIVES AND NEPAL

Tourism is regarded by many countries, particularly resource-poor coun tries, as a potential stimulus to the economy. Yet tourism, by the nat ure of the activities involved, is constrained by the natural resource base and infrastructure, and by the pollution and other environmental and social impacts of tourist numbers. Tourism development strategies of national governments have been diverse in the face of this complex relationship between the economic costs and benefits of tourism. This paper examines tourist development based on concepts of open access a nd renewable natural resources. The experiences of two economies highl y dependent on tourism, the Maldives and Nepal, are compared and contr asted. Although these countries offer very different attractions to to urists, they are faced with similar problems in terms of adverse envir onmental impacts of tourism. The dominant impacts in both areas are th ose associated with solid waste disposal and water resources, compound ed by the depletion of natural resources. Both countries are currently employing 'dispersal' techniques to overcome the adverse impacts of t ourism, but such strategies do not address the fundamental problem of maintaining tourism revenues whilst minimizing environmental damage. E ven if an ecological carrying capacity can be defined, the experiences of these two countries indicate that impacts on local communities may well exceed so-called cultural carrying capacity.