Tourism has become a worldwide phenomenon and one of the most important participants in the international trade. Its progressive growth and development involves a large number of stakeholders and affects them, both positive and negative way. The main aim of this study was to research the importance and role of the local community on the island of Vis for tourism development on the island, to indicate the current role of local communities and point to the possibility of the further strengthening and empowering the whole community and the population to be involved in the planning and tourism development on the island Vis. For this purpose, a questionnaire was created for the local population of the island of Vis to express their opinion on the issues related to community participation in tourism development, community participation in decision-making for the development of tourism, the role of tourism on the island and possibilities of their influence on the further development and tourism planning. Research has shown that it can not be confirmed that the local community on the island significantly contributes to tourism development on the island. Decisions related to the development of tourism makes a group of individuals in the local community and majority of the respondents had never attended any form of meeting with public authorities when discussing about the development of tourism on the island. The study also confirmed that respondents have firm attitude regarding to the education of local community and the population for the performance in tourism industry since majority of them claim that education in tourism is extremely important. Ultimately, the research confirms that tourism has led to an increase in consumption and created new job opportunities on the island. For the further development it is necessary to strengthen and empower the local community for tourism development, so that the residents and stakeholders in the tourism industry have control and influence on the whole process of tourism development on the island.