Abstract

Using the theories of Sociological Worlds, this article presents empirical research into the underlying logics of tourism development in a nature-based tourism area. Sociological behaviors underlie development trends; people act according to values, representations, and justifications. The analysis of tourism stakeholders' discourses reveals specific relationships and uses of natural assets of the territory in their projects. Actors implement infrastructure, promote places in which they reside or visit according to ideals, principles, goals, and preferential relationships that shape local development. By analyzing data from the Aysen region in Chilean Patagonia, seven Tourism Development Forms are illustrated: governmental, commercial, technological- industrial, ecological, alternative, traditionalist, and recreational. Particularities exist within each one, according to the stakeholder's specific relationship to nature, being either more productive, anthropocentric, or ecological. Identifying and describing these Tourism Development Forms in a territory informs of issues which must be addressed to better manage emerging nature-based destinations.