Limits to community participation in the tourism development process in developing countries

This study deals with a normative concept of participatory development approach, which originates in the developed world. In particular, it analyses and explains the limitations to the participatory tourism development approach in the context of developing countries. It was found that there are operational, structural and cultural limits to community participation in the TDP in many developing countries although they do not equally exist in every tourist destination. Moreover, while these limits tend to exhibit higher intensity and greater persistence in the developing world than in the developed world, they appear to be a reflection of prevailing socio-political, economic and cultural structure in many developing countries. On the other hand, it was also found that although these limitations may vary over time according to types, scale and levels of tourism development, the market served, and cultural attributes of local communities, forms and scale of tourism developed are beyond the control of local communities. It concludes that formulating and implementing the participatory tourism development approach requires a total change in socio-political, legal, administrative and economic structure of many developing countries, for which hard political choices and logical decisions based on cumbersome social, economic and environmental trade-offs are sine qua non alongside deliberate help, collaboration and co-operation of major international donor agencies, NGOs, international tour operators and multinational companies.     

Global–local relationships and governance issues at the Great Wall World Heritage Site,China

Heritage preservation and tourism use are inevitably intertwined at heritage sites and are characterized by both symbioses and tensions, particularly at World Heritage Sites, where international initiatives interact with local priorities. The international designation impacts heritage preservation, tourism development and community well-being at the local level, especially in developing countries. This paper examines global–local relationships, as well as involvement and governance at intermediate scales, and their implications for preservation and development at Badaling Great Wall World Heritage Site in Beijing, China, through examinations of its management structure, heritage preservation and development plans, and the opinions of the local business community. Interviews were conducted with key officials of the Management Office and questionnaire surveys were distributed with local business operators. It is shown that multiple stakeholders operate in a hierarchical, multi-departmental management structure. International linkages are weak and via central government. Positive economic impacts from tourism are highly valued. High awareness of heritage preservation and positive attitudes toward tourism are identified among local business operators with relatively high tolerance for negative environmental impacts. Potential conflicts between global priorities by World Heritage designation and local needs for tourism development are illustrated. Practical implications for heritage and tourism planning and management are discussed.     

Modelling international tourism and country risk spillovers for Cyprus and Malta

Small Island Tourism Economies (SITEs) are developing sovereign countries that rely on tourism as a source of exports, and need a consistent inflow of foreign investment in order to facilitate economic growth. Access to international capital markets helps SITEs smooth out their consumption over time, while absorbing adverse domestic production shocks. This paper provides a comparison of tourism growth, country risk returns and their associated volatilities (or uncertainty) for 2 SITEs, namely Cyprus and Malta. Monthly data are available for both international tourist arrivals and composite country risk ratings compiled by the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) for the period May 1986 to May 2002. The time-varying conditional variances of tourism growth and country risk returns for the 2 SITEs are analysed using multivariate models of conditional volatility. Empirical results show that Cyprus and Malta are complementary destinations for international tourists. Changes to tourism patterns in Cyprus lead to changes to tourism patterns in Malta. Hence, tour operators and national tourism promotion authorities in Cyprus and Malta should collaborate closely in marketing and promoting joint tourism products. Moreover, foreign entities interested in investing in the tourism sectors of Cyprus and Malta should consider investment projects that span a long period of time. The performance of the tourism sector and the associated composite risk are independent of each other for the two countries. However, there is a direct relationship between the tourism sectors of Cyprus and Malta and their respective country risk settings.     

Dependency on Tour Operators

Abstract

Tour operators have increasingly emerged as the most powerful and influential factor of international flows from the main generating countries to various destinations, since they are able to interpret and manipulate the “push” and “pull” factors of the tourism process to a commercial end. As a result, many tourist-receiving destinations have to face the intervention of foreign tour operators in their tourism industry. Despite the crucial role played by tour operators for the development of insular regions' tourism, little empirical evidence is available on the relationship between tour operators and the destination tourism suppliers. This paper presents the findings of a study undertaken during the summer of 1997 on the Greek island of Crete. From the findings, it is evident that the Cretan tourism industry is heavily dependent on tour operators, and that various actions should be undertaken by the island's public and private sector to overcome this problem.     

Tourism product development and the changing consumer demand: A case study of Kenya

Kenya is an important tourist destination in Africa accounting for over 6% of the total international tourist arrivals to the continent. However, in recent years Kenya's tourism industry has been experiencing problems of poor performance and continuing decline in the number of international tourist arrivals. This study examines the main characteristics of the country's tourism product vis‐a‐vis the changing trends in global tourism market demands. It is argued that the underlying cause of the recent poor performance of the tourism industry relates to the nature of the country's tourism product. Over the years, Kenya has been offering a limited tourism product that is based on beach and wildlife tourism. Also, the marketing of Kenya mainly depends on overseas tour operators who mainly sell inclusive tour packages. Thus, the form of tourism product that is offered by Kenya has not responded to the recent changes and trends in international tourism market demands. Post‐modern tourists, particularly tourists from developed countries, are increasing becoming aware of the negative impacts of mass tourism and are increasingly looking for alternative tourism products that provide a deeper and more meaningful experience. Thus, if Kenya is to rejuvenate its tourism industry there is need for the country to provide a diverse alternative tourism product which is more appealing to the post‐modern tourists.     

The price competitive position of Mediterranean countries in tourism: Evidence from the Thomson brochure

Tourism in the Mediterranean region is highly dependent on the few, large, mass market tour operators situated in the North European tourist originating countries. Price competition is intense both between the tour operators and between the Mediterranean countries themselves. This paper uses the hotel package prices listed in the Thomson summer and winter brochures to develop relative price indexes of each Mediterranean country with respect to the Mediterranean average. Indexes are developed in the 3 star, 4 star, 5 star, 7 nights and 14 nights, half-board holiday packages. The prices in the Thomson brochure can be regarded as a unified, internally consistent, set of price data, compiled by the largest UK tour operator and offered to UK tourists desiring a Thomson summer holiday. The change through time of the competitive relative price ranking of hotels, regions and countries listed in the Thomson brochure, may be regarded as an important competitive indicator by industry operators and national policy makers concerned about tourism development.     

Perceptions of surfing tourism operators regarding sustainable tourism development in the Mentawai Islands,Indonesia

Surfing tourism has the potential to provide significant economic income and employment opportunities. However, the development of surfing tourism in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, has raised important questions regarding its impacts and sustainability. Economic leakages, increased pressure on the environment and resources, and adverse effects on local communities have been shown as the major barriers to sustainable development. This article provides insights into how surfing tourism operators perceive the development and impacts of the Mentawai Islands surfing tourism industry. This research project uses an interpretive qualitative approach and follows a case study methodology utilising semi-structured interviews with resort and charter boat surfing tourism operators. The study also investigated possible future directions for creating a more sustainable surfing tourism industry in the Mentawai Islands. Findings from the research showed that charter boat operators and resort operators had differing views as to how surfing tourism had developed: resort operators believed it to be sustainable, while charter boat operators felt it was unsustainable. A key finding of this study was that operators felt that surfing tourism had dramatically altered the traditional Mentawai village of Katiet and was producing adverse socio-cultural impacts on the local community. It is recommended that future research explore the issue of the impacts of surfing tourism development on other remote locations in Indonesia and other surfing tourism destinations around the globe.     

Environmental change,resilience, and adaptation in nature-based tourism: conceptualizing the social-ecological resilience of birdwatching tour operations

Resilience theory has emerged as a holistic concept well suited to analyzing tourism systems and which promises important insights into the sustainability of tourism destinations in the face of accelerating global environmental change (GEC). This article presents empirical research into the social-ecological resilience of tour operators using the case study destination of the Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand. It addresses the following research question: How do birdwatching tour operators build resilience to drivers of environmental change, including climatic drivers, into their operations? Qualitative interviews with providers of a specific nature tourism sector activity – birdwatching – were conducted with stakeholders including tour operators, conservation organizations, and local government members. The findings highlight current and possible future challenges to birdwatching tourism on the Otago Peninsula. The paper introduces a conceptual framework which highlights the tour operators’ main coping strategies in response to key perceived social-ecological system (SES) drivers of change. Overall, tour operators perceived their main social-ecological resilience to be the diversity of the species of the Otago Peninsula, their business experience, and the strength of their local stakeholder network to respond to SES crises.     

The Problems and Prospects of Sustainable Tourism Development in the Okavango Delta,Botswana

The objective of this paper is to assess the problems and prospects of sustainable tourism development in developing countries with special reference to the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Using both secondary and primary data sources, this paper points out that tourism in developing countries does not always adhere to the principles of sustainable tourism development. In the Okavango Delta, the tourism industry is designed to meet the interests of tourists from developed countries and is dominated by foreign safari companies. The tourism industry in the Okavango Delta does not significantly take into consideration the sociocultural, economic and environmental needs of the host economy. It is characterised by: the marginalisation of local companies and investors; leakages and repatriation of tourism revenue from Botswana to developed countries; the failure of tourism to promote rural development and poverty alleviation; and, the failure to observe local environmental regulations to conserve the Okavango Delta as a natural ecosystem. This paper argues that, despite these problems, such destinations have the potential to contribute to sustainable tourism development. This requires a planning process that satisfies the needs of tourists and tour operators while being sensitive to the sociocultural, economic and environmental needs of host countries and destinations.     

旅游发展背景下政治不信任的形成因素及其影响

信任或者不信任的动态关系变化对于理解现代社会、社会关系和发展过程是十分重要的。信任可以影响到旅游发展的成功或者失败,但是旅游学者很少关注到信任话题。文章以广东汕尾红海湾为例,采用质性研究方法,分析旅游发展背景下政治不信任是如何形成的,又是如何进一步通过空间实践影响旅游发展的过程。研究发现,政治不信任受到权力关系、收益成本感知、政治经济绩效、人际信任和文化导向5个因素的影响,是在特定的制度环境、社会互动和历史文化的复杂关系中交织形成的。政治不信任的存在,使得地方政府与地方社区之间拒绝社会交换以及社会资本的断裂,增加了旅游政策运行成本,延缓了旅游发展进程。研究一方面把政治信任理论视角引入国内旅游研究,另一方面修订和补充了旅游发展与政治信任的理论框架,并提出对政治信任研究的批判性思考。研究有助于推动从旅游管理"过程"的关注向旅游开发"起点"的关注,即政治信任问题一定程度上先天奠定了旅游发展的成功或失败,这为当下旅游开发中的善治问题提供了实践参考。     

International Tourism and Political Science Research

This paper points out that political scientists have been more negligent than other social researchers in investigating the phenomena of international mass tourism. They have not yet isolated tourism as a cluster of human activity from larger concerns such as general international relations, development, or foreign policy.There are three obvious levels of political activity related to tourism: politics of tourism in the marketplace, that is, in the metropolitan countries; politics and tourism in developing host nations; and ideological perception of international mass tourism. While there are other kinds or levels of politics involved in world tourism, these three deserve immediate political research.     

Ecotourism in Bhutan: Extending its Benefits to Rural Communities

This paper analyzes the present state of tourism in Bhutan and considers the prospects for the development of ecotourism. Empirical surveys of tour operators and foreign tourists indicate that visitors interested in the natural beauty of the Himalayan kingdom stay longer than those who come to experience its culture. By attracting younger tourists, ecotourism could contribute to the goals of Gross National Happiness. The majority of tourists and tour operators are in favor of ecotourism activities that might benefit local rural communities. The prerequisite for a substantial promotion of ecotourism would be changes in the Bhutanese tourism policy to encourage the diversification of tourism products.     

Social mediation in remote developing world tourism locations – the significance of social ties between local guides and host communities in sustainable tourism development

This article discusses the role of the local, or regional, guide as a social mediator between a host society and tourists, as a means of sustainable tourism development in developing world locations. The debate illustrates how previous studies have neglected this social aspect of mediation by tourist guides and partly absorbed it into the concept of cultural mediation. Empirical illustrations are offered from the context of small tourist group visitations to local villages in rural areas of Madagascar, where collective social norms still play an important role. A qualitative approach based on personal interviews with guides and on field trip experience and observation is employed. Empirical findings indicate that the inclination of the host society to welcome accompanied tourists is facilitated by the capacity of local guides to develop relatively strong social ties with the host society. It is suggested that the increased use of local guides with good social relationships with the local communities as against the mere employment of non-local accompanying guides working for centrally located tour operators can enrich the mutual experience quality in the encounter between visitors and hosts and support local sustainable development by enhanced local involvement. Implications for sustainable tourism practice are discussed.     

Benchmarking the Asia Pacific tourism industry: A Bayesian combination of DEA and stochastic frontier

This study measures and compares the efficiency of leading tour operator and hotel companies across several Asia Pacific countries. We use an innovative methodology that is based on combining the stochastic frontier and data envelopment analysis in a Bayes framework. We show from the results that Australia, Singapore and South Korea are the most efficient in both their tour operator and hotel industries. We further show that international hotels in the region have a slightly higher efficiency than local hotels. We provide a listing of the most efficient tour operators and hotels in each country and discuss the implications of our findings.     

Distortions in Tourism Development in the Dali Autonomous Region,China

This paper presents a tourism destination development sequence for Dali, Yunnan Province, China. The development of Dali highlights limits in the power of the local government as the lead stakeholder, which took a top-down approach to economic development. The government sought to address increasing control of the tourism sector by external tour operators through increasing its own control of local tourism attractions. This approach has been only partially successful in reducing distortions in the tourism channel. The origins of these distortions are described and analysed. A number of additional responses are suggested to improve the local benefits obtained from the inflow of tourists to this new destination area including development of a more market oriented competitive strategy that seeks to co-opt stakeholders into collaborative activities.     

生态旅游与当地居民利益——肯尼亚生态旅游成功经验分析

生态旅游已成为当今世界旅游业的热点 ,然而不适当或不科学的生态旅游开发已使很多生态保护区遭受了不同程度的损坏。本文以曾经是世界生态旅游成功的典范国家肯尼亚为例 ,分析了生态旅游的成功与当地居民利益之间的关系 ,试图提供给旅游企业开发者和经营者一个发展良好生态旅游的借鉴。     

European market for African destinations

Tourism marketing is problematic in African countries where, in addition to the usual problems faced by developing countries, there is a negative African image to be overcome. S. Nyaruwata, Research and Planning Manager of the Zimbabwe Tourist Development Corporation, has examined the views of European tour operators with the aim of evaluating the competitiveness of Zimbabwe relative to some other African destinations. He reports here on the results of his survey which seem to indicate that were Zimbabwe to overcome its problems of political instability then Zimbabwe would have a high potential for tourism development.     

The impact of successful cross-competencies on a career in tourism in Italy: the meeting point between the students’ perceptions and the requirements for professionals

ABSTRACT

The paper aims to understand how the changes occurring in the tourism sector are affecting the labor market in Italy, with a special focus on the relevance of successful cross competences (SCC). It focuses on comparing the relevance of these competencies in the perception of both students preparing to enter the tourism field and tour operators. The two-step study combined qualitative analysis that put forth specific characteristics of the tourism labor market in Italy through interviews with experts, and quantitative analysis that correlated the requirements of the tour operators to the ideas students have of what competencies tour operators entering the field should have. The results evinced differing perceptions of SCC and their relative importance in professional fields. Students manifest to miss awareness of the importance of SCC for their future careers. Furthermore, organizational ability, self-control and self-esteem were perceived by tour operators as the most important competencies to be acquired.     

A Review of “Raj Rhapsodies: tourism,heritage and the seduction of history”

Many researchers have used stage-based and life cycle models to describe destination development and local residents’ changing reactions to tourism. Typically, they report that resident attitudes towards tourism, and its perceived outcomes for host populations, worsen with increasing experience and involvement in tourism. However, stage-based models traditionally focus on mature destinations in developed countries. In contrast, scholarship on ecotourism derives largely from developing countries and suggests that increased participation leads to more favourable outcomes and attitudes towards tourism. This paper breaks new ground by exploring attitudes to tourism in an emerging destination in a developing country and linking that exploration to a revised stage-based model. It uses ethnographic data to evaluate responses to recent tourism development in Nicaragua. While findings are complex and do not support a linear relationship between the level of experience in tourism and the attitudes of local residents, they do indicate a relationship between these two theoretical perspectives that can be used to inform one another. Notably, workers in tourism are more critical of the tourism industry than residents are. Important amendments to stage-based models are suggested that will assist tourism planners with the creation of more sustainable, community-centred development.     

Buyer Decision-Making Behavior in International Tourism Channels

Summary

Despite the development and maintenance of effective channel relationships in international tourism markets being critical to a firm's success, little research has been undertaken in business-to-business relationships in cross-national markets (March 1997a; Crotts, Aziz & Raschid 1998). This research paper offers insights into the decision-making behavior of a critical intermediary in international tourism channels, the inbound tour operator (ITO). In an exploratory study, the purchasing attitudes of ITOs, in their functions as purchasers of tourism products on behalf of overseas clients, are examined. Respondents were asked to assess the importance of a number of supplier attributes for three types of tourism products: hotels, coach companies and restaurants. Twenty-six inbound tour operators specialising in the Asian or Japanese inbound markets into Australia were surveyed; though small in number these firms handled over 800,000 visitors to Australia in 1998 (including 82% of the entire Japanese market). The results from a 43-item questionnaire, designed after preliminary discussions with ITOs, reveal differences between the attitudes of Japanese-market and Asian-market ITOs in their purchase decision-making behavior and in buyer attitudes toward different product types. The findings offer useful lessons for suppliers in the management of their relationships with inbound tour operators.