The concept of carrying capacity describes the amount of activity a destination, site, or attraction can accommodate without suffering from unsustainable impact. Research and experience have shown that tourism and visitation can have negative impacts on the destination, environment, culture, and people. So a question that has been asked is, “How much is too much?” Is there such a magic number? How many tourists can a certain rainforest trail take without getting too degraded? How many people can dive a certain reef without too much negative impact on coral and fish? In a day how many tourists can visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa without degrading it beyond recovery?

Scope and History of Carrying Capacity

The concept of carrying capacity was first used in rangeland management and ...

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