Tourism in Southeast Asia: New Local Development Chances through Individual Backpacking?

Abstract Individual tourism, formerly often mislabelled alternative tourism, has become a well-established and mostly welcome way of travelling in Third World countries. Whereas the economic and socio-cultural consequences of low-budget backpacking in Southeast Asia, both one of the most dynamic tourism destinations and the cradle of Lonely Planet-guided travellers, were considered negative, even devastating for a long time, the Asian crisis of the late 1990s has made many governments rethink their dependence on international tour operators and large-scale package tourism. After a short discussion of both history and dimensions of international tourism within the region, the concept of backpacking as a form of sustainable development is introduced, which offers opportunities for grass-roots development for a wide range of people.