摘要：Abstract Considers patterns and trends in tourism in Australia, environmental and economic welfare consequences of tourist development and alternative general relationships between environmental quality and tourist development before critically discussing concepts of environmental carrying capacity and reviewing ways in which tourist demand is influenced by tourist densities. Profit is seen as an imperfect guide to tourist development. Market and political failure aspects of tourism dealt with include externalities and means for responding to these such as the creation of monopolies, the appropriate spatial dispersion of tourism and need for government intervention to maintain diversity of tourist environments. Questions are also raised by tourist development about income distribution and sustainability of community.
