Tourism, technology and (post)industrial society "Tourism is no t rivial phenomenon. I t is a visible result of t he f our great waves of t echnology which have changed social geography of t he world since 1800: t he railway, t he st eamship, t he car and t he aeroplane” • Leisure developed as a release f rom f act ory discipline in t he ninet eent h cent ury, which it self ushered in a t ransit ion of product ive act ivit y f rom t ask orient ed t o t ime orient ed . • Tourism is a consequence of f undament al t echnological and st ruct ural changes wit hin post indust rial societ y Thompson, E. 1998: "Time and Work Discipline" in The Green Travel Guide (ed. G Neale). London: Eart hscan. Also in P ast and Present 38 (1997)
Tourism, modernity and postmodernism • Fundament al changes in t he st ruct ure of capit alism • I nnovat ion, t echnology, product ion, t ransport and communicat ions • Longwave t heory and t he t hird wave - ‘post indust rial’? • Changed relat ions bet ween rich and poor count ries - ‘post colonial’? • Post f ordism, f lexible specialisat ion and ‘j ust - in- t ime’ • Commodif icat ion of places and cult ures. • Time not now passed, but spent . • The t ourist phenomenon as a manif est at ion of post modernism?
‘Three waves’ Agricultural I ndustrial Service Primary I ndustria Tertiary (Agrarian) l (Service, Economy Economy ?postindustrial) Economy 1750 1850 1950
Psychosocial signif icance of tourism Why do we go? 2 views of t ourist ; • as ‘pilgrim’ ; people perceive a lack of meaning in t heir everyday lives and t heref ore search f or aut hent icit y is ot her (usually more primit ive) societ ies, or in t he past ( MacCannell 1976 The Tourist : A New Theory of t he Leisure Class . New York: Schocken) • as ent ert ained ; t ourist s are aware of , expect and are sat isf ied by superf icial and inaut hent ic event s and experiences - ' pseudo-event s' ( Boorstin 1964 : The I mage: a Guide t o Pseudo- Event s in America . New York: Harper) and ' hyper-realit y' ( Eco 1986: Travels in Hyper- Realit y . London: Picador). “Tourist s don’t j ust go somewhere else; t hey want t o be someone else” Taras Grescoe in The I ndependent Review Thursday 15 J uly 2004 p4
Market trends • Tradit ional demand levelling of f • New market s (e.g. EC & SE Europe) • Market segregat ion, dif f erent iat ion • Compet it ive advant age • Local awareness and det erminat ion • ‘Niche’ t ourism
Cont rast ing paradigms f or t ourism Liberal- conservative Radical- ethical (Oxf am, (WTO, I UCN) Tourism Concern) • rising living st andards • all of t hese - in t he advanced met ropolit an • disposable incomes count ries and t hird • ageing populat ion world elit es, but also • leisure t ime - t o spend • increasing disparit ies • great er int erest in bet ween rich and poor ‘t he ot her’ - t he global • t ourism a spat ially village dependant relat ionship • underst anding, (service sect or, cit izenship neocolonialism)
Sour ce: I UCN/ Eagles et al 2002
Sour ce: I UCN/ Eagles et al 2002
Tourism I ssues • “I am a t raveller, you are a visit or, t hey are t ourist s” Anon • “Of all t ourist s, t he most vulgar, ill-bred, of f ensive and loat hsome is t he Brit ish t ourist ” Revd Francis Kilvert 1840-1879 • “A spect re is haunt ing our planet : t he spect re of t ourism” Croall 1995: 5
Tourism, (ecotourism) and air travel *f rom London, UK Means Distance Cost Carbon (km) emissions (tonnes)* Package holiday in Airplane 2,520 £ 400 1.2 Benidorm, Spain Whale wat ching in NSW Airplane 34,020 £ 2,000 11.9 Aust ralia Family holiday in Airplane 17,410 £ 2,500 6 Disneyland, USA Camping in Devon, Train 664 £ 500 0.073 England *carbon emissions = t ravel only. Source: Simon Calder The I ndependent Review Thursday 15 J uly 2004
Carbon of f set s or greenwash; a cynical political a genuine attempt (on the part of attempt by the airline industry to tour operators and individual frustrate any tax on aviation tourists) to mitigate the damage fuel, a marketing ploy by tourist caused by international air enterprises and a sop to the travel and/or offer travellers the consciences of would-be ‘green’ opportunity to do so? travellers? • of f set s are growing; adopt ed • mainly volunt ary, limit ed t ake- by government as a policy t ool up • passengers should have t he • cash only part ially applied t o right t o choose mit igat ion, which is • does not reduce nat ional/ inef f ect ive on a global scale airline compet it iveness • air t r avel is No x (+more) not • air t ravel only one of many j ust CO 2 input s t o global warming • problem should be addressed anyway at source - r educe air t ravel
Carbon of f set s - pro A genuine attempt (on the part of tour operators and individual tourists) to mitigate the damage caused by international air travel and/or offer travellers the opportunity to do so? • Kyot o 6t h Conf erence (2000) agrees • of f set s are growing; adopt ed by government as a policy t ool • passengers should have t he right t o choose • does not reduce nat ional/ airline compet it iveness • air t ravel only one of many input s t o global warming anyway
Carbon of f set s - con Greenwash; a cynical attempt by the airline industry to frustrate any tax on aviation fuel, a marketing ploy by tourist enterprises and a sop to the consciences of would-be ‘green’ travellers? • Can’t balance (inf init e) f ossil f uel out put s against (f init e) sequest rat ion in living mat t er • ‘business as usual’ dumps problems on t he poor - N count ries t o meet proj ect s by proj ect s in S • cash only part ially applied t o mit igat ion, which is inef f ect ive on a global scale • air t ravel is No x (+more) not j ust CO 2 • mainly volunt ary, limit ed t ake-up • problem should be addressed at source - reduce air t ravel
Slovene domest ic t ourism 2005 • 59% of > 15yrs pop on a t ot al of 1.6m privat e (4+ night s) t rips = 2.6%^2004 • 20% only in Slo; 60% only abroad; 19% Slo + abroad • Only 12% t rips involve t ravel agent s • 40% pop > 15 yrs no t rip. Reasons: 37% f inancial, 25% ‘no t ime’, 18% healt h, 13% ‘pref er home’. 4% day t rips or secondary home. St at Of f ice Rep Slo 2006
I mport ance of cont ext • Legislat ive and inst it ut ional - what legal prot ect ion exist s, what mechanisms f or enf orcement and are t hey ef f ect ive? • Economic and social - what is t he nat ure of t ourism, why do t hey come, are environment al f eat ures ef f ect ively valued and managed? • Ecological and cult ural - what is t he int rinsic value of herit age f eat ures and how robust are t hey? • Blah Blah
Def init ions and neologisms • ‘new’ t ourism • ‘responsible’ t ourism • ‘alt ernat ive’ t ourism • ‘et hical’ t ourism • ‘advent ure’ t ourism • ‘sof t ’ t ourism • ‘nat ure’ t ourism • ‘ecot ourism’ • ‘cult ural’ t ourism • ‘appropriat e’ t ourism • ‘herit age’ t ourism • ‘green’ t ourism • sust ainable t ourism
Ecotourism "a f orm of t ourism inspired primarily by t he nat ural hist ory of an area, including it s indigenous cult ures. The ecot ourist visit s relat ively undeveloped areas in t he spirit of appreciat ion, part icipat ion and sensit ivit y... pract ices a non- consumpt ive use of wildlif e and nat ural resources and cont ribut es t o t he visit ed area t hrough labor or f inancial means aimed at direct ly benef it ing t he conservat ion of t he sit e and t he economic well-being of t he local resident s...” Zif f er, 1989 quot ed in Goodwin, 1996: 279 "... is a part icular f orm of t ourism dependant on high qualit y experiences in t he nat ural environment during which t he t ourist is provided wit h opport unit ies (t hrough an appropriat e int erpret at ion programme) t o learn about t he nat ural environment and as a result become more commit t ed t o environment al conservat ion... Ecot ourism can be seen as an agent f or personal and social change” (Markwell, K and B Weiler. 1999: "Ecot ourism and int erpret at ion" in Cont emporary I ssues in Herit age and Environment al I nt erpret at ion. Problems and Prospect s (eds. D Uzzell and R Ballant yne). London: The St at ionery Of f ice pp. 98-111)
Ecotourism critique • "a niche market f or environment ally aware t ourist s who are int erest ed in observing nat ure" Wheat 1994* • "an economic process where rare and beaut if ul ecosyst ems are market ed int ernat ionally t o at t ract visit ors" St eele 1993* • "...j ust as suspect as many of t he product s t art ed up wit h green packaging at your local grocery st ore" Wight 1994* • "The t ourism indust ry has been quick t o exploit t he market ing value of ecot ourism, t he more so since it s meaning is unclear and t here is no requirement f or t he operat or t o do more t han alt er t he packaging" Goodwin, 1996: 279 f rom which *are quot ed • "seized upon by opport unist ic t our operat ors who merely re-label t heir product s as a market ing ploy" Cat er and Lowman, 1995:4
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