Does ecotourism contribute to sustainable destination development,or is it just a marketing hoax? Analyzing twenty-five years contested journey of ecotourism through a meta-analysis of tourism journal publications

ABSTRACT

Conducting a periodical systematic review on a given field of study enables to comprehend the conceptual development of a discipline. A decade has passed since the last in-depth systematic review on contemporary ecotourism research has been published. This study is, therefore, executed to systematically analyze ecotourism research articles published in the previous twenty-five years and thereby to reassess the past, understand the present and envisage the future of ecotourism development. 470 articles published in nine top-tier tourism journals are screened and analyzed. Thematic and summative content analyses are employed to examine the contents of each publication. The findings highlight that over the years, researchers have examined myriads of ecotourism research themes. Despite fluctuations over the years, the overall publication trend shows growth. Most ecotourism studies are conducted in developing countries, with Asia taking the lead followed by Africa and Latin America. However, in terms of researchers’ domicile, the USA becomes the first followed by Australia, the UK, and Canada. Despite modest successes, overall, the contribution of ecotourism towards sustainable destination development remains indiscernible. The current study provides up-to-date insight into the ecotourism literature by highlighting the main themes and trends of ecotourism research over the last twenty-five years. Research findings also enhance our understanding of the evolution of ecotourism research and ignite further study in ecotourism by suggesting issues that merit rigorous investigation.     

Who wins and who loses? Unpacking the “local people” concept in ecotourism: a longitudinal study of community equity in Ankarana,Madagascar

Tourism in the Ankarana protected area, Madagascar, has increased since the early 1990s, linked to growing national and donor interest in conservation and ecotourism. Using a qualitative and longitudinal approach, this analysis focuses on the social impacts of tourist intensification, comparing and contrasting communities on either side of the protected area. As tourist numbers have increased, infrastructure to accommodate them has developed and tour guiding has professionalized. In this process, the locus of tourism shifted from the loosely organized, “grassroots” tourism of the western side of Ankarana to the organized, externally financed, easy-access tourism of the eastern side, with both environmental and social consequences. The paper argues that a concentration and professionalization of ecotourism services within a region can marginalize neighboring human communities even though not necessarily leading to increased overall environmental degradation. It contributes to tourism studies by engaging a political ecology approach to unpack the concept of “local people” through a multi-community study of the ripple effects of ecotourism within its immediately surrounding areas. This study of community equity acknowledges the need for balanced evaluations of tourism's effects. It also recognizes the value of nuanced empirical studies for planning to meet goals of location-specific environmental and socioeconomic sustainability.     

Sustaining culture and seeking a Just Destination: governments,power and tension – a life-cycle approach to analysing tourism development in an ethnic-inhabited scenic area in Xinjiang,China

Set against the background of China's changing economy and its rapid rise as a major tourism provider, this paper examines the development of tourism, and tourism policies, in Kanas (Xinjiang), an ethnic inhabited scenic area in north-western China which has seen visitor numbers rise from c. 800 to c. 1 million annually from 1990 to 2013. It uses the first four stages of Butler's Tourism Area Life Cycle model (TALC) as a framework, analysing governments’ role in policy-making and implementation, and the tensions and conflicts at each TALC stage. It finds that the TALC is a useful analytical framework in China, despite its command economy, and governments’ multiple roles in tourism development. The position of cultural heritage and the characteristics of the Tuva and Kazakh ethnic minority peoples in tourism in Kanas are critically examined, as is China's concept of social harmony and progress. Social harmony is compared – and contrasted – with the emerging concept of the Just Destination in destination planning and management. The minorities are found to be weak in knowledge, capital and bargaining power, but the relationships involved are complex and still evolving. The paper is one of a JOST series on China's new tourism management policies.     

Littering in protected areas: a conservation and management challenge – a case study from the Autonomous Region of Madrid,Spain

This paper examines issues surrounding littering in protected areas (PAs), one of the most ubiquitous and conspicuous impacts of tourism activity. In addition to obvious visual, landscape-affecting impacts, litter may have hazardous consequences for biodiversity and humans. In order to precisely assess littering in a densely populated region with high levels of visitation to natural and protected areas, we counted, measured and classified all types of non-organic litter covering an area of 1 cm² or more found on the ground in zones intensively used by visitors (picnic areas and paths) within the 10 PAs of the Autonomous Region of Madrid. On average, 11.65 m²/ha of litter were recorded in those zones. Strict visitor management measures greatly reduced that figure. Over 75% of all litter was paper and cardboard, and plastic; 88% of litter coverage was by large pieces over 25 cm² in size. We tested the hypothesis that the amount of waste found on paths is correlated with the distance to the entrance to a PA, but no general model fitted actual litter distribution patterns, although empirical results backed the hypothesis for most cases. A range of waste management strategies are explored and litter management measures suggested for problematic PAs.     

“This is not only about culture”: on tourism,gender stereotypes and other affective fluxes

In this article, I challenge the idea of a “one-way” relationship in which tourists are supposed to contribute with economic resources and freer gender roles to the development and empowerment of “poor, rural and traditional women”. By reflecting on my own located, gendered and embodied position during my ethnographic fieldwork among women performing bobbin lace in the Coast of Death (Galicia, Spain), I analyze how gender roles and stereotypes interact in both directions, leading to misunderstandings and performances of pride and resentment on behalf of the craftswomen. Some gender stereotypes associated with the craftswomen by the tourist gaze and other affective fluxes such as policies, economy and heritage regimes are not only changing contexts but also being embodied, traditionalizing the craftswomen and curtailing their flexible economic practices by transforming both crafts and bodies into something that is just “culture”.     

Women,gender, leisure and place: towards a more ‘humanistic’ geography of women's leisure

A growing interest in the role of place in social processes has led to a recognition of the need to incorporate these ideas into the study of leisure and recreation. A critique of the traditional geographical approach to the study of leisure and recreation is followed by a brief review of the geography of gender and humanistic geography literature, indicating the possible contribution that some of the perspectives contained in this material can make to our understanding of women's leisure. In conclusion, it is argued that it is only through developing a deeper understanding of the way individuals and groups perceive different places, with their complex mosaics of gender and class relations, that a more complete, more contextual representation of women's leisure can emerge.     

Making ecotourism sustainable: refocusing on economic viability. Lessons learnt from the “Regional strategic action plan for coastal ecotourism development in the South Western Indian Ocean”

Ecotourism has become the focal point of a wide range of private and public sector development initiatives in the countries of the Western Indian Ocean. The 2008 “Regional Strategic Action Plan for Coastal Ecotourism Development in the South Western Indian Ocean” aimed at both a strategic assessment of current achievements and the development of recommendations for policy action. Drawing on the research data initially gathered for this report, the article demonstrates the importance of fostering criteria for ensuring medium and long-term economic viability in the assessment of sustainable ecotourism development performance, both at micro- and macro-economic levels. The arguments are presented in the form of eight lessons learnt, and the article approaches the question of economic viability at the different levels of enterprises, projects and products, and in terms of public policy and planning.     

“Couchsurfing has made me a better person and the world a better place”: the transformative power of collaborative tourism experiences

ABSTRACT

Presented as an alternative form of tourism, Couchsurfing is a predominantly non-commercial accommodation type where hosts offer a “couch” to travelers through a hospitality network. Couchsurfing.com is considered as an icon of the sharing economy and more specifically of shareable tourism. This article provides a deeper understanding of couchsurfers’ motivations and shared values. Through an empirical qualitative study, we discuss the transformative power of Couchsurfing experiences, the underlying transformational processes, conditions, and socio-psychological and behavioral consequences. We also discuss the findings’ implications for society, businesses, and tourism in general.     

“Heritage” as alternative place and space: old-time music and roots- and routes-based tourism in Southern Appalachia

After a decades-long exodus of industry and capital from Southern Appalachia, heritage tourism attempts to generate revenue by representing cultural authenticity in an area historically occupying the place of cultural backwater in American popular imaginations. This paper analyzes the representational terrain that such a tourism project traverses to present viable narratives of cultural authenticity. I suggest that valuations of authenticity in these representations, while exhibiting ambivalences about the values of the past and present, foreground iconic and indexical relationships among music, musicians, and Appalachian history and landscape, in turn drawing on the appeal of a different orientation to space and place. This appeal of and for a cultural and affective alternate route – an alternative to a high-speed, rootless, globalized landscape of mass consumption – is both opposed to and dependent on that landscape for its value and viability.     

‘Heritagisation’, a challenge for tourism promotion and regional development: an example of food heritage

As a marker of regional identity, heritage remains a complex field of inquiry. The discussion proposed here will use food to investigate the process of heritage construction or ‘heritagisation’ as an important issue for rural tourism promotion. If food today is considered to be a locus of inter-cultural exchange that contributes to the construction of social identities, then it could also be considered as an important resource for rural development strategy. As it is also strongly associated with the tourism sector, gastronomic heritage, in its forms of construction and mobilisation, calls into question the social and cultural dynamics of a given space. The objective of this discussion is twofold and will treat the notion of heritage as a social construct and as a resource for action. We will attempt to answer the following question: At what point can heritage become a resource and component of professional opportunities? To what extent does this prove to be undeniably subject to the process of local ownership? Methodological note: I emphasise that this discussion, which results from a study of three rural regions in France, will attempt to formally and objectively posit a means of comprehending the process of heritage creation.     

Carrying capacity analysis and destination development: a case study of Gangotri tourists/pilgrims’ circuit in the Himalaya

The Himalaya has numerous natural, cultural, aesthetic, and adventurer tourists/pilgrims’ destinations, which are the major source of income and employment to the local people and revenue generation to the government. Meanwhile, tourism carrying capacity of these destinations is poor and thus tourism development could not take shape. This article examines carrying capacity and destination development of the Gangotri tourists/pilgrims’ circuit, which is also known as Gangotri eco-sensitive zone. We conducted this study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, in which we collected data on tourists/pilgrims flow, accommodation, transportation, and infrastructural facilities. Primary data were collected through interview of 160 persons of 8 tourists/pilgrims centres who are involved in tourism activities. Further, we employed a participatory observation method after an extensive visit of Gangotri tourisms/pilgrims circuit in January 2017. Secondary data were collected from the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Dehradun. We used correlation and rank method and analysed infrastructural facilities, carrying capacity dimensions, proposed destination development model for the circuit, and observed that a sustainable tourism development may enhance economic activities such as income generation and employment augmentation as the whole circuit obtains natural, cultural, and aesthetic importance.