Tourist Loading Capacity – A Review of Methodologies and Applications in the Management of Tourist Resources

Abstract

Over the years, the use of the Tourist Loading Capacity (TLC) as a planning and management tool has been intensifying, due to the large influx and overcrowding of tourist destinations, as well as the misuse of the resources found in them by visitors, which causes the degradation of natural or cultural resources, owing to lack of control and regulation of the number of visits. This study carries out a systematic review of the use that has been given to the Tourist Loading Capacity, to which specific destinations it has been applied and which methodologies have been used, in order to gather the existing information regarding this particular topic. The RS was carried out through a documentary analysis of academic literature related to the use and implementation of the Tourist Loading Capacity in different places and the adaptation and modification of the methodologies used. In general, the Tourist Load Capacity tool has become essential to efficiently plan and manage tourist destinations and has been widely used throughout the world, being the Cifuentes (1992) methodology the most widely used and adapted to different contexts.

Keywords

• sustainability
• tourism
• loading capacity
• tourist destination