Book Reviews

John Tribe's paper 'Education for Ethical Tourism Action' (10 (4), 2002) proposes an action-oriented ethical tourism curriculum based on Aristotle's notion of phronesis, aimed at developing a disposition towards 'good' action rather than 'correct' action. This paper investigates the implications of Tribe's paper for the pedagogy and practice of sustainable tourism. Drawing upon Aristotle, it is argued that principles are an important guide to developing and exercising phronesis (practical wisdom) for living a good life, and for the practice of sustainable tourism. The paper also examines issues related to theoretical or scientific knowledge (episteme) and skill development (techne), and argues for a praxis-oriented curriculum that incorporates: (1) knowledge of sustainable-tourism principles, and (2) practice in which learned principles and phronesis (practical wisdom) constitutively guide tourism action and good conduct. The study also suggests that scholars and practitioners need to be more proactive and cognisant of the telos (purpose) and good of various tourism activities and curricula, for the individual and for the destination. Especially lacking in the study of sustainable tourism is discussion of the development of virtues and character for a good life in and through tourism. Virtue ethics offers potential for supplementing existing theories of rightness and obligation in sustainable tourism, and for conceptualising the meaning of 'good tourism'.     

The Margins of Texel

This paper analyses the sustainable development of tourism on the island of Texel, The Netherlands. It utilises the so-called 'corporate response model to the macro-marketing environment' to conceptualise the multi-dimensionality of the sustainability concept. This model differentiates among four 'margins' within which a tourism region operates. These margins are 'profit', 'risk', 'ecological' and 'socio-cultural'. The paper discusses a number of issues that are particularly relevant to the sustainable development of tourism. These include economic over-reliance on tourism, environmental management, land use conflicts and liveability. These issues are positioned at the interface between adjoining margins, and they represent spatial practices, conceptualisations of these practices as well as struggles over the symbolic construction of Texel. The analysis also reveals some existing strategies for sustainable development of tourism that are transferable to other regions. Although the case of Texel presents interesting practices and strategies of sustainable tourism, the overall balance in terms of results is still meagre.     

Ecotour Guide Training in Less Developed Countries: Some Preliminary Research Findings

This paper presents a critical discussion of the internationally prevailing understanding of the concept 'sustainable tourism'. It is argued that the current focus on stationary activities and local, intensive environmental issues is too limited both in relation to the concept of tourism and the concept of sustainable development. There is no tourism without travel. And, as shown in a Norwegian research study, tourist travel is a major source of serious environmental problems. The paper emphasises that sustainable tourism should be linked to a concept of sustainable mobility. However, this mobility would imply not only a change in the means of transport but also a reduced level of mobility in the rich part of the world. As this would entail new forms of tourism, other than those solely based on auto- and aeromobility, it represents a major challenge for the future development of tourism.     

Ecosystem Tourism: A Resource-based Philosophy for Ecotourism

Ecotourism has become a popular form of tourism development and marketing in the past ten years, often harnessing the growth in public concern over the wise use of natural resources. In most cases, however, impacts on the ecosystems that are the resource base for ecotourism products are either externalised or their consequences incorporated into the natural evolution of tourism products. This paper is an attempt to stimulate debate on the role that more holistic resource management should play in ecotourism developments. We contend that this can only be achieved through an understanding of ecological science. Credible ecotourism must be firmly based in scientific ecological principles that define ecosystem integrity, especially the resilience of ecosystem processes to disturbance. Such tolerance should be the fundamental measurement against which ecotourism products are monitored.We introduce the term 'ecosystem tourism' to summarise this agenda to define truly sustainable ecotourism development.     

Dynamic relationship between tourism,economic growth,and environmental quality

Abstract

In the recent era of globalisation, the tourism sector is growing rapidly and stimulates economic growth across the world, however, the inevitable environmental consequences of tourism cannot be ignored. For sustainable tourism, it is necessary to understand the interrelationship between economic growth, tourism, and environmental quality. Hence, the objective of the current research is to investigate the dynamic relationship between tourism, economic growth, and CO₂ emissions from 1995 to 2014 in the context of BRICS economies. A group of econometric tests robust to heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence is applied to achieve accurate and unbiased results. Empirical findings propose that tourism sector significantly encourages economic growth; however, tourism degrades the quality of the environment. Also, globalisation has a long-term relationship with economic growth but an insignificant relationship with CO₂ emissions. The long-term elasticities further recommend that investment stimulate economic growth and mitigate CO₂ emissions. Moreover, environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) holds in BRICS countries in its significance to tourism and globalisation. Finally, a heterogeneous panel non-causality test detects bi-directional causality between tourism receipts and CO₂ emissions. Moreover, tourism and investment in tourism Granger cause each other. Empirical findings direct towards important policy implications.     

Sustaining urban place-making

Educational travel, a neglected area of study in sustainable tourism, has grown substantially over the last 20 years in part as a response to institutional missions to promote international education, but also as a result of the USA's national security concerns to nurture a global citizenry. Considerable future growth is predicted following the bipartisan Lincoln Commission report and under the pending new legislation in the USA. Our pre-test/post-test study of almost 5% (n = 651 US students) of the entire short-term, US educational travel market to Australia and New Zealand between 2008 and 2009 revealed significant differences between the cohorts of the two programs, both of which focused on sustainable development. The Australia program not only produced significant increases in global citizenship (as measured by scores on consumer behaviors, support for environmental policies, and environmental citizenship) beyond that of the New Zealand program, but any initial differences between the programs were erased following participation. Reasons for the differences in attitude change are discussed. Analysis also noted key differences between students with different political orientations, but no gender differences. Implications for managing educational travel, marketing Australia's and New Zealand's tourism, sustainable tourism planning, and theory advancements are discussed.     

A Framework of Approaches to Sustainable Tourism

Based on an extensive literature review, this paper proposes a framework of approaches to sustainable tourism. The framework is composed of four positions, chronologically sequenced according to the dominant understanding of sustainable tourism as a possession or goal. The positions are those of polar opposites, continuum, movement and convergence. The framework offers insights into the development of the sustainable tourism concept and enables identification of an author's approach to the concept.     

Family Vs. Non-Family Business Owners’ Commitment to Their Town: A Multigroup Invariance Analysis

This study examines differences between family-owned and non-family-owned small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) operating in regional tourism destinations. The research focuses on SMTE owners' commitment to stay in the town in which they are embedded. Based on samples of family (N?=?157) and non-family (N?=?141) businesses in regional South Australia, was used to test the construct validity of SMTE owners' “commitment to stay”. Multigroup invariance was used to test the factorial equivalence of scores from the commitment model across family and non-family businesses. Results support the validity of the “commitment to stay” CFA model. Multigroup invariance analysis suggests family business owners have a greater commitment to staying in their town. These results contribute to our understanding of the unique objectives and behaviours of family businesses in tourism as well as present important implications to destination managers aiming to support sustainable entrepreneurial development.     

Tourism Restructuring and the Politics of Sustainability: A Critical View From the European Periphery (The Canary Islands)

There has been considerable discussion of sustainable tourism development, in both theory and practice. Less attention has been paid to the discourses, ideologies and power relations which help to shape 'sustainable' tourism policies and planning instruments. This paper analyses recent initiatives introduced by the regional government of the Canary Islands, designed to bring about a more sustainable model of regional tourism, including a temporary moratorium on tourism development and the drafting of a strategic and normative set of guidelines for sustainable tourism. The paper considers the contested nature of the public debate that accompanied these initiatives within the wider context of the regionally distinct pattern of tourism and capitalist development. It is argued that the legacy of uneven development, and the entrenched power of regional economic and political élites, is likely to undermine the prospects for a just model of sustainable tourism, and to consolidate the continuing privatisation of space and socio-spatial inequalities across the region.     

Sustainable tourism and its use as a development strategy in Cambodia: a systematic literature review

Governments in many developing countries endorse sustainable tourism, despite associated practical limitations and challenges as a development strategy. Using the case of Cambodia, this paper illustrates how sustainable tourism issues in a developing country may be better understood through a systematic review of scattered relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature. This can help in identifying emergent themes and challenges, gaps in knowledge, and opportunities for future research. Analysis of 77 documents on Cambodia's sustainable tourism revealed themes and challenges relating to: (1) an emphasis on nature-based tourism (ecotourism); (2) calls for greater community engagement for sustainable outcomes; (3) stakeholder perceptions and values as drivers of tourism success; (4) cultural heritage as a key tourism attraction; and (5) foreign investment shaping Cambodia's tourism future. Unequal emphasis is given to key government policies for tourism development and there is limited practical guidance on how to realise a vision of sustainable tourism. There is a lack of consideration of how the socio-economic and cultural context affects sustainable tourism. The evidence suggests that sustainable tourism in Cambodia is questionable until fundamental economic, social capacity and policy issues are addressed, along with greater emphasis given to the tourism system's demand side.     

Gender and sustainable tourism: reflections on theory and practice

Despite the rich and diverse tradition of research on the gender dimensions of tourism, such studies have had little impact on transforming unequal gendered power relations in the sector itself. In this paper, we are concerned with why this is the case and what steps might be taken to redress this situation. The paper argues that the challenges inherent in gender mainstreaming processes within public policies worldwide are replicated and – to some extent – exacerbated in the tourism sector. We contend that, despite its substantive insight into the sector, the impact of such literature has been minimal. We further suggest that this is, in part, due to the sustainable tourism paradigm's resistance to incorporating gender equality and gender analysis as core principles. In order to develop these arguments, we reflect on our experiences as specialist consultants in gender and sustainable tourism, drawing out some of the key tensions of integrating gender into sustainable tourism projects. In conclusion, we argue that there is substantive work to be done for gender to be integrated into the theory and practice of sustainable tourism, offering recommendations as to how this process might be improved.     

Applying diffusion theory to destination stakeholder understanding of sustainable tourism development: a case from Thailand

The concept of sustainable tourism development is widely considered to be necessary for successful tourism development, but there is uncertainty over destination stakeholders’ understanding and thus ability to implement the concept. Utilising diffusion theory, this paper explores the diffusion of the sustainable tourism development concept among stakeholders in the tourism destination of Kret Island, Thailand. The primary data collection involved semi-structured, in-depth interviews undertaken with 10 local government authorities and 45 local residents, and data were analysed using content analysis. Interpersonal communication was the key channel for the concept's diffusion, and the involvement of opinion leaders, change agents and social networks in this diffusion was explored. Many local residents were laggards in the diffusion of sustainable tourism development thinking in comparison with local government and local opinion leaders. It is argued that both interpersonal and media communication and the identification of key actors in the community are needed to effectively diffuse sustainable tourism ideas among destination stakeholders. The results validate the use of diffusion theory as a means to understand the transfer of the sustainable tourism development concept among stakeholders, and they also provide information useful for the design of information dissemination programmes.     

The multiple logics of tourism development in China

It has been widely demonstrated and accepted in the sustainable tourism literature that tourism development involves multiple stakeholders. However, little research has been conducted to examine the logics guiding and explaining the behaviours of the stakeholders in tourism development. Guided by the institutional logics perspective and stakeholder theory, this study identifies the logics of different stakeholders in China's tourism development through fieldwork in two tourism development cases (Yalong Bay and Haitang Bay) in Hainan Province and content analysis on secondary data from multiple sources. The logic of pursuing political legitimacy, the logic of fiscal income maximisation, the dual logics of the market and politics, and the logic of pursuing economic benefits were identified to be the dominant logics driving the behaviours of the central government, local government, tourism enterprises and local communities, respectively, in China's tourism development. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of tourism development in China.     

Rock art tourism in the uKhahlamba/Drakensberg World Heritage Site: obstacles to the development of sustainable tourism

This paper focuses on rock art tourism, a highly vulnerable heritage of broad public interest, only sustainable within an effective management framework. The paper explores tourism management in South Africa's uKhahlamba-Drakensberg World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2000 for its natural landscapes and its exceptional rock art heritage. In practice, nature dominates the area's tourism and management dynamics. Current tourism patterns, markets and frequencies, together with rock art's low place within tourist agendas, are described. This situation is shown to be a legacy of European Alpine romanticism, and the political rejection of indigenous cultural heritage prior to 1994, still expressed through visitor patterns and marketing policies. Despite rock art needing tourism to valorise its conservation, and being recognised by commentators and the state as a viable route to tourism development, heritage conservation, socio-economic regeneration and cultural empowerment, the failure to reform entrenched and ineffective tourism/conservation governance and management systems is exposed. The problems affecting rock art tourism have allowed the retention of unwelcome values from South Africa's pre-democratic era, risk the loss of World Heritage site status, the destruction of globally outstanding art works and waste an important opportunity to expand and diversify sustainable tourism in South Africa.     

Community agency and sustainable tourism development: the case of La Fortuna,Costa Rica

Previous sustainable tourism research has called for the promotion of community-based tourism as a means of achieving sustainable development goals. Such community-based development has been noted as essential for sustainable practices because of its capacity to benefit local populations while reducing tourism's negative consequences. Nonetheless, some researchers have warned that community-based tourism, by itself, does not necessarily lead to sustainable practices. This study examines local social interactional elements necessary for the achievement of sustainable tourism practices. Such practices are attainable when certain attitudinal, organizational and/or behavioral conditions are present within a community. Using a case study methodology, this article examines the interactional elements by which residents of La Fortuna, Costa Rica, engaged in sustainable tourism practices. The study was based on the theoretical notion of the community field. It used key informant interviews and participant observation. The study shows how economic, social and environmentally sustainable practices were made possible through community agency, the construction of local relationships that increase the adaptive capacity of people within a common locality. Key factors found to enable community agency are strong intra- and extra-community interactions, open communication, participation, distributive justice and tolerance.     

Landscape Sensitivity and Tourism Development

The paper argues that carrying capacity is not the most effective way to analyse the relationship between the 'natural' environment and tourism pressure. Rather that concepts embedded within geomorphology, namely 'lag time', 'environmental thresholds' and 'dynamic metastable equilibrium' may provide a better approach to examine feedback between tourism and the environment. This could also provide the conceptual framework for the integration of the natural and social sciences in the study of tourism impacts, and the mechanism for truly sustainable development. The paper contends that the identification and management of threshold events and the use of base-line data on time scales of 10² to 10³ years should be at the centre of the decision-making process. The paper warns against the use of 'limits of acceptable change' as a way of managing the interplay between tourism and the environment. The relationship between shoreline management and tourism development is used to illustrate the arguments presented.     

Internationalising higher tourism education: the case of curriculum design in the Central Baltic Area

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to increase understanding of the process of curriculum design when incorporating an international dimension into a curriculum in higher tourism education. The process of the internationalisation of the curriculum design is investigated against a theoretical basis and described from a practical perspective by presenting a case from the Central Baltic Area. In this case, the purpose of the internationalisation of the curriculum is to provide an aligned skillset and knowledge necessary to support the development of the Central Baltic Area as a common tourism destination. First, a relevant and mutual skillset was identified by reviewing the existing curricula (N = 17) and national tourism strategies and plans (N = 3) as well as by interviewing representatives of tourism organisations (N = 103). Then, the identified skills and knowledge were translated into a joint curriculum and teaching processes.     

Protected area policies and sustainable tourism: influences,relationships and co-evolution

This paper explores the adoption of sustainable tourism ideas in a Park Authority's policies over a period of two decades in a developed world, category V protected area. There is only limited research on influences encouraging the inclusion of sustainable tourism ideas in protected area policies, or on relationships between sustainable tourism policies and other policy priorities. The paper departs from an approach which considers sustainable tourism policies in isolation, because potentially they are reformulations or extensions of other previous policies, or else indirect outcomes of other policies. There is assessment of influences on the Park Authority's sustainable tourism policies, and of the co-evolution between sustainable tourism policies and other policies. Such influences as government funding reductions and rising concern for community well-being affected the Authority's adoption of sustainable tourism ideas. Incorporation of sustainable tourism ideas in policies occurred gradually. It involved re-labelling established policies as well as reframing and extending those policies. It was often an indirect outcome of policy developments not focused specifically on sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism-related policies co-evolved with, and through, policies for community well-being, actor participation, and sustainable development. The approach used here is relevant for research on policy co-evolution in other policy fields.     

The impact of women's empowerment on sustainable tourism development: Mediating role of tourism involvement

Women's empowerment has been prioritised in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) recently, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030; albeit, women are still underrepresented in tourism industry. However, if robust women's empowerment is consolidated into planning and implementation processes, tourism can act as a vehicle for encouraging gender parity. This study examines the direct impact of women's empowerment (psychologically, politically, and socially) on sustainable tourism development (STD) and the indirect impact through tourism involvement. A total of 1000 women involved in the tourism industry in KSA filled out self-administrated questionnaires, analyzed using SPSS™ and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS. The results suggest that tourism involvement partially mediates the relationship between psychological and political empowerment and STD. Nonetheless, it fully mediates the relationship between social empowerment and STD. Several implications of the results for both policy-makers, tourism planners and tourism scholars are discussed.     

Transitions to Sustainable Tourism Mobility: The Social Practices Approach

In this article, we argue that current research on sustainable tourism mobility can be divided roughly into two streams. One covers primarily the organisational and technological side of tourism mobility, while the other concentrates on travellers' attitudes. To date, these streams have been organised as separate bodies of research. There is much to be gained by being able to create linkages between the two. To do this, tourism research will have to develop a less generalised and more context-specific approach to travelling behaviour. In this paper, the Social Practices Approach is suggested as an interesting conceptual tool to interrelate current approaches. By giving greater consideration to the contextual dimension of tourism practices, citizen-consumers might be mobilised more effectively as change agents. To analyse the potential roles of citizen-consumers in transition processes towards sustainable tourism mobility, two citizen-consumer-led change processes are differentiated. The first is directed at tourists in their consumer-role, by providers developing sociotechnical innovations enabling and tempting tourists to behave more sustainably, and by incorporating consumer-logics in supply. Second, tourists can be mobilised in their role as citizen-consumers through processes of sub-politics, social movements and political consumerism.