This session advances knowledge on the social dimension of sustainable tourism development by analysing transformations to community-focused, accessible, and inclusive approaches in mountain destinations. Special emphasis is placed on small, spatially constrained communities, including analyses of tourism impacts on everyday life and local infrastructure, as well as its implications for destination planning under limited resources (e.g., space, housing, labour, and public services). Possible contributions may engage with (but are not limited to) the following research avenues: Governance and community voice: Analyses on how governance arrangements and co-design processes shape representation, legitimacy, and decision-making, particularly where external interests are at the core while local priorities are neglected. Accessibility and inclusion in tourism: Examinations on how mountain destination stakeholders address accessible tourism. This includes both social perceptions for- and self-perceptions of people with disability and the allocation of responsibilities across public/private actors throughout the implementation of accessible tourism. Responsibility for sustainable tourism development: Examining how different stakeholders in mountain destinations perceive and approach sustainable tourism development. Who is responsible for implementing sustainability, and how do various actors demonstrate responsible behavior? Managing concentrated pressures and social impacts: Investigations of stakeholder reactions to crowding in sensitive settings (e.g., thresholds and zoning, benefit-sharing, community-led initiatives, reinvestment in local infrastructure). This refers to social impacts of over-tourism on cohesion or residents’ everyday wellbeing, defining approaches to assess and address these. Resident – tourist interactions: Encounters between residents and tourists create reciprocal influences that shape how residents experience their community in different roles. These interactions form a core component of the overall experience for both groups, shaping tourists’ perceptions of the destination and fostering loyalty, while also determining residents’ support for tourism development.

By integrating these perspectives, the session will enhance discussions on stakeholder interests in the evolution of socially sustainable tourism in mountain regions.