This book interrogates the impact of tourism on local lives and environments along the southern Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. Nicaragua has turned to tourism to earn needed foreign exchange and to provide jobs. The unplanned boom, however, has come with costs to local environments. Using an in-depth case study of the community of Gigante and nearby tourism developments, the chapters delve into the impact of recent unregulated booms in tourism on groundwater, household water security, local economies, culture, land ownership, and artisanal fisheries.

Tourism Along Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast: Context and Dilemmas (G. Thomas LaVanchy, Matthew J. Taylor, Nikolai A. Alvarado, Anna G. Sveinsdóttir, Mariel Aguilar-Støen)....Pages 1-14
Who Owns the Sea? Conflicts Between Artisanal Fisheries and Tourism (G. Thomas LaVanchy, Matthew J. Taylor, Nikolai A. Alvarado, Anna G. Sveinsdóttir, Mariel Aguilar-Støen)....Pages 15-34
Tourism as Tragedy? Common Pool Problems with Groundwater (G. Thomas LaVanchy, Matthew J. Taylor, Nikolai A. Alvarado, Anna G. Sveinsdóttir, Mariel Aguilar-Støen)....Pages 35-52
Imagining the “Emerald Coast”: Insecure Land Tenure, Property Disputes, and Tourism Development (G. Thomas LaVanchy, Matthew J. Taylor, Nikolai A. Alvarado, Anna G. Sveinsdóttir, Mariel Aguilar-Støen)....Pages 53-69
From Boom to Bust and Back Again? Current Dilemmas Related to Tourism Along Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast (G. Thomas LaVanchy, Matthew J. Taylor, Nikolai A. Alvarado, Anna G. Sveinsdóttir, Mariel Aguilar-Støen)....Pages 71-78