An earlier study of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism in the Austrian Alps provided two schematic models: one was a conceptual framework of changes in the economy, infrastructure, and landscape and the other showed changes in the way of life of the local population. This paper is a longitudinal study that presents results of a recent reexamination of the same four communities and discusses the changes. Growth is no longer considered to be continuous and community residents have now acculturated to tourism; a balance between values, needs, and desires of the local people and the tourists is being attained as residents become integrated into the larger society. Residents may be able to have the best of both worlds, their Heimat and the tourists, if they play the game right. Broader implications, such as the relationship of tourism to the modernization process and ways to optimize benefits from tourism, while avoiding its detrimental aspects, are also discussed.