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The purpose of the chapter is to describe the concept of conflicts of socio-economic systems on the basis of the theory and methodology of the systemic approach.

The authors use the provisions of the systemic approach.

It is determined that dynamic socio-economic system is susceptible to conflicts, which, according to the Systemic approach, are bifurcation points. The features of conflict that allow defining it as a bifurcation point are its short duration, violation of sustainability of socio-economic system, uncertainty of consequences, influence on the system on the whole (cascade effect), and multiplicity of scenarios of development of socio-economic system after the conflict.

Studying conflict with the help of the theory and methodology of the systemic approach allowed determining the fact that conflict is a violation of order in a socio-economic system (which specifies definition of conflict and its essence) and could be evaluated through the measure of the system’s order (which specifies methodology of conflict evaluation). Moreover, conflict in a socio-economic system emerges not at once – it is accumulated under joint negative influences of internal and external factors. Further, the performed research allows specifying the classification of conflicts, which is offered in previous chapters – according to scenarios of development of socio-economic system after the conflict, normal (leading to normal change of system), abrupt (leading to abrupt change of the system), and attraction (all following states of the system are sustainable) conflicts are possible.

This chapter seeks to elaborate on the concept of complexity theory when applied to destination management, using Mount Rigi (an important recreational and tourism destination in Lucerne, Switzerland) as the focus of the case study. This study supports an alternative view of complexity theory which can help to explain the dynamic, nonlinear, and nondeterministic relationships within the tourism system. It also supports the theory’s applicability toward explaining the nature of tourism as a complex adaptive system, and reveals that Mount Rigi’s development did not occur in isolation, but involved various interdependent tourism components and external factors at both the macro and micro levels.