ABSTRACT
At first sight, development through tourism in Southeast Asian countries stems largely from the benefits of increased tourist arrivals and the foreign exchange earnings that emerge as a consequence. However, the unique characteristics of tourism as a social and economic activity, the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders also in the most rural areas, and the socio-cultural element of the host-guest encounter contribute to many more of the dimensions of development as it is understood today. Particularly in Southeast Asia, a region rich in environmental and cultural resources, tourism has the power to make a contribution beyond the economic sphere. This is crucial given the importance of tourism contributing to all of the 17 Sustainable Development goals, which currently shape the development agenda. Without doubt, the concept of development has changed over time and, equally so, tourism has experienced a steady evolution. However, an analysis is missing to date that not only relates tourism and development but puts this into a Southeast Asian context. This chapter therefore analyses the tourism-development nexus in Southeast Asia by applying key development theories, including modernisation, dependency, alternative development, human development, and sustainable development to tourism in a Southeast Asian context. The chapter reviews the history and current issues of tourism along with the evolution of development theories in the Southeast Asian context to ultimately understand how tourism in the region has been embracing various development paradigms.
