The effects of scale in tourism projects in developing countries

The paper by Rodenburg (Annals VII:2:177–196) on the effect of scale in tourism development in Bali raises important questions relating to tourism development in Third World countries. One fundamental question is whether large-scale development is inevitable in such countries, or whether there is persuasive evidence to support smaller and craft scale enterprises. This article undertakes a critical review of Rodenburg's analysis and concludes that large scale developments are likely to be inevitable because of external economies of scale and market structures in international tourism, but that the consequences of such developments can be foreseen and therefore mitigated by appropriate pre-project planning.     

Site and situation strategy in tourism planning: A Mexican case study

Mexico has experienced all the effects, good and ill, of a large and expanding tourist trade. Tourism's negative consequences--economic dependency, crime, cultural erosion--have manifested themselves in tourist ghettos along Mexico's northern border, on the Mexican Riviera, and in the capital. This study is an assesment of contemporary Mexican tourism planning as it relates to these problems, and further as it seeks to make tourism a stimulus to economically depressed areas of the nation. A case study approach is utilized to identify the strategy of site and situation selection for the new programmed resort complex at Cancun on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan peninsula. It is concluded that Cancun embodies, at least for Mexico, a radical departure in tourism development. The resort is situated to attract a large foreign clientele and to create the greatest possible positive economic and social impact on a resident Mexican population that has suffered chronic underdevelopment.     

Assessing tourism's more complex consequences

Runyan, Dean and Chung-Tong Wu, “Assessing Tourism's more Complex Consequences,” Annals of Tourism Research, October/December 1979, VI(4):448–463. The development of tourism can have extensive physical, social and economic impacts. Certain of these impacts can be classified as relatively complex: those that take many variables to describe, are difficult to quantify and which are sensitive to policy or other difficult-to-predict interventions. The involvement of residents in an impact estimation process can serve to both forecast and appraise these relatively complex impacts. Relatively few techniques are available for estimation of complex impacts which do not rely almost exclusively on the intuition of professionals. Those that make use of lay individual input include Delbecq procedures, Delphi and IMPASSE. These techniques can be used to identify potential impacts by structuring group discussions. A two-stage approach to estimating complex impacts is proposed.     

An overview of tourism and planning in the Federal Republic of Germany

German tourism research is an integral part of landuse and economic planning. This has led to the development and implementation of site attractivity and economic efficiency measures. Attractivity models incorporating a site's natural and artificial features are used to provide a comparative ranking of present and proposed tourist developments. Both cross-sectional and time studies indicate that the development of the tourist sector is not an efficient method whereby regional socio-economic disparties can be reduced.     

Policy choices in South Asian tourism development

Government tourism initiatives in developing countries have been applauded by tourism scholars as a means of assisting a private sector that has insufficient resources and assuring public control of the industry's future. This article reviews the tourism development experience of seven South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldive Republic) on five policy options: public versus private tourism development; domestic versus international tourism; class versus mass tourism; centralization versus decentralization; and integrated versus enclave tourism. All of the governments in the region have been involved in tourism development to some degree, but they have shown considerable variation in their responses to these policy choices. Which choices are made by a specific country, it is suggested, will depend as much on political and cultural considerations as upon economic factors.     

Towards a cohesive curriculum tourism: The case for a distinct discipline

This paper addresses a controversial topic in tourism scholarship which is simultaneously a problem and an opportunity in tourism education: the philosophical issue of academic disciplines and specifically, the question of a distinct discipline in tourism studies. It is argued that the orthodox approach to tourism education, multi-disciplinary studies, has become an impediment. It is suggested that a new discipline can be created by organizing the existing body of knowledge and that such a discipline can become the core of an inter-disciplinary approach. Certain characteristics of an embryonic discipline are outlined and innovations in this area at Sydney Technical College are discussed.     

Mass tourism and the dilemmas of modernization in Pacific Island communities

This paper relates global discussions of tourism as a means of development to the history of cultural contacts in the Pacific. The paper reviews the relevance of the existing literature on social and cultural impacts of tourism to the Pacific and suggests implications for policy makers and community leaders. The existing literature is found to be methodologically suspect and does not provide helpful knowledge to policy-makers.     

U.S. tourism in Mexico: An empirical analysis

This study estimated demand functions for tourism by U.S. residents in Mexico border areas, the Mexican interior, and overseas. There was no evidence that U.S. tourists substitute Mexico for more distant destinations as transportation costs rise. Border tourism is income elastic when the share of U.S. income of the border states is held fixed. Tourism in the Mexican interior is also income elastic. Tourism along the border is price elastic, while tourism in the interior is elastic with respect to U.S. and overseas prices but inelastic with respect to Mexican prices. The rise in the share of the Mexican interior in U.S. overseas tourism is not related to price factors. Recent devaluations of the Mexican peso are unlikely to provide benefits to the Mexican tourism industry.     

The political economy of tourism in the third world

When a Third World country uses tourism as a development strategy, it becomes enmeshed in a global system over which it has little control. The international tourism industry is a product of metropolitan capitalist enterprise. The superior entrepreneurial skills, resources, and commercial power of metropolitan companies enables them to dominate many Third World tourist destinations. This paper outlines the dynamics of this process, particularly in the context of the South Pacific.     

Integrated strategy for tourism education/training

Tourism is in need of a comprehensive framework within which to design and deliver education and training programs in a more effective manner. This paper reports the efforts of two provincial governments in Canada to formulate an integrated strategy on which to base the planning and development of a tourism education and training system. The goal of such integration is to ensure a greater degree of interdependence among different levels of the total education system so as to provide well-defined alternative career paths for present and future students. Initial results of the strategy on the development of the education infrastructure are reviewed.     

Evolution of tourism in the Scottish highlands

The evolution of the tourist industry of the Scottish highlands is discussed from the early eighteenth century until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Five stages of development are identified, which reflect the social, economic and technological changes occuring in Britain during those periods. The importance of fashion and taste and transportation improvements are given special emphasis. The early pattern of development of infrastructure structure and land use has significantly influenced the present characteristics of the tourist industry in the area.     

Tourism training in developing countries The social and cultural dimension

Tourism training in developing countries has narrowly focused on vocational and technical skills. Little thought has been given as to how this education fits into an existing socio-cultural environment, the problems of communication between guest and host, or to the demands and stresses placed upon those in the front lines of the industry. Part One of this paper looks at the need for the development of programs which broaden the scope of training. Such programs need to take into account the potential social and cultural risks of tourism for the industry worker, and the barriers to communication rising from different backgrounds, values, and expectations between hosts and foreign visitors. Part Two looks at some important considerations in educational development strategy, giving an example of such a program developed by the author in East Africa.     

Ludic and liminoid aspects of charter yacht tourism in the Caribbean

The behavior of charter yacht tourists in the British Virgin Islands can be viewed as a symbolic expression and an inversion of the central sexual and social ideologies of the tourists' home culture. The paper analyses the behavior as a form of play, following Huizinga and Norbeck, and in terms of liminality and communitas, following Victor Turner. The conspicuously “anti-structural” mores and behavior allow the tourists licensed suspension of everyday rules, while reinforcing the latter. The tourists' image of the Caribbean as a sensual playground and the hosts' image of the tourists as self-centered and frivolous are established and perpetuated in this liminoid context.     

Development of advanced tourism studies in Holland

Bodewes, Theo, Development of Advanced Tourism Studies in Holland. Annals of Tourism Research 1981, VIII(1):35–51. The entry of tourism studies into the field of advanced education is often a difficult process. Theory and practice sometimes serve conflicting interests. In the Netherlands an option has been taken for a theoretical, multi-disciplinary approach with links to the field of practice. Within this framework, tourism is indissolubly connected with leisure and recreation, leisure being the core of studies. This implies that the universities should educate leisure economists, leisure sociologists, etc., and that advanced professional educational institutions should educate leisure experts. This paper discusses whether the problems and solutions in the Netherlands are recognizable and/or useful abroad, and whether one institution can learn from the experiences of others.     

Inbound tourism policies in Japan from 1859 to 2003

This paper aims to clarify the development process of the inbound tourism policies of Japan from 1859 to 2003. Evolving through five periods and ten phases, policies have been variously promoted to obtain foreign currencies and break the country’s isolation at the earliest stage, to make it a peaceful and cultured nation via international exchanges and friendship after the Pacific War, and, more recently, to contribute to its economic revitalization in recession. The relationships between inbound and national land policies, as well as nonstructural aspects such as promotion, advertising, and services, are also examined.     

Price formation in tourism industry branches

To examine the pricing behavior of suppliers of holiday goods and services, a margin approach, originally developed to explain price formation in service industries, has been applied to different sectors of the tourism industry, using Dutch data. The fundamental idea of the margin approach is that both cost and demand factors influence price formation. The specific market situation is supposed to determine the extent to which changes in cost factors can be passed on to consumers. Despite difficulties with the quality of data, the results can be characterized as promising.     

Challenges and potential improvements in the policy and regulatory framework for sustainable tourism planning in China: the case of Shanxi Province

A sound policy and regulatory framework is essential in planning for sustainable tourism development. The paper examines opportunities and challenges for China's planning for sustainable tourism development from both policy and regulatory perspectives. Despite the enthusiasm for sustainable tourism, China's existing relevant policy and regulatory frameworks are generally fraught with contradictory objectives, and they are also often incoherent, have ambiguous legal provisions, and many organizations have duplicate responsibilities, unclear definitions of responsibilities, interlocking activities, and weak coordination due to the complicated institutional structure. Based on Shanxi Province, the paper explores the policy and regulatory issues affecting tourism and its sustainability, and it also assesses the possible options to foster an improved policy and regulatory framework for China's sustainable tourism development. A much stronger political will from all levels of government will be required to overcome a prevalent mindset for short-term economic growth and deep-rooted practices in pursuit of departmental benefits. It is also necessary for China and Shanxi under the new national tourism law to articulate and coordinate its laws and regulations with much improved supportive bylaws. Finally, more rational and effective institutional arrangements are needed, with clearly defined functions and responsibilities for government at varied levels.