The aim of this article is a re-examination of the concept of community and of host and visitors interaction in studies of tourism in less developed, remote areas. The re-examination proceeds along two lines: first, a critique of the concept of “community”, stressing the importance of its de-structuration into networks and linkages for the examination of the touristic process in those areas; and second, an examination of the changed nature of the host-tourist encounter under contemporary conditions of improved communications, the changing mix of tourists, and emergent “post-tourism”. This re-examination has significant implications for the study of the interface between tourist and host-communities as well as for tourism management in less developed areas of the world.