Poverty Alleviation through Tourism in Appalachia: Policies and Practices in Three Sites in Eastern Tennessee
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2016-12
Department
Cultural Sustainability
Program
MA in Cultural Sustainability
Citation of Original Publication
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Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States
Abstract
This thesis provides a critical analysis of tourism trends in the northeastern corner of Tennessee. My intended audience is policymakers at the regional and local level, who can use this document to understand the effects of policy trends on localities. I present a literature review on cultural heritage and eco-tourism as they pertain to cultural sustainability, and more specifically on Appalachian Tourism. After an introduction to the region (both culturally and geographically) and to sustainable tourism, including data points from various resources that give context to the region’s demographic makeup, I introduce three local tourist attractions and briefly describe their situation to the communities they impact. Using these sites, I explore the public policies that drive funding, zoning, and other issues behind the sites. I explore the effect these policies have on the tourist sites as well as on the communities at large, paying special attention to issues that the community is at odds with. I explore of the barriers and enabling forces that connect the community with the policy makers (and impede this connection). In my conclusions, I present policy best practices from the literature research and how these could be implemented in the region studied to the benefit of the community.