 GARTNER, W. C., MIHALIČ, T. (2013).

Introduction to tourism development -

issues and challenges. V: GARTNER, William C. (ed.), MIHALIČ, Tanja
(ed.). Tourism and developments: issues and challenges, (Hospitality, tourism
and marketing studies), (Tourism and hospitality development and
management). Hauppauge (New York): Nova Science Publisher's, Inc., cop.
2013, str. 3-11.

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION TO TOURISM DEVELOPMENT – ISSUES AND

CHALLENGES

William C. Gartner and Tanja Mihalič2

1
University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics, 248b Classroom Office
Building, 1994 Buford Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA
E-mail: wcg@umn.edu
2
Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana,
Kardeljeva ploscad 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
E-mail: tanja.mihalic@ef.uni-lj.si

ABSTRACT

Tourism development is an elusive term which means different things to different

people. In this book four separate sections attempt to cover an array of tourism
development issues. After the ‘’Introduction’’ (section 1), section 2 ‘’Tourism
development – System and Trends’’ informs the reader how the system is structured
and what are the trends affecting tourism development including where we are
headed, what are the new tourism markets, and what new tourist types are appearing
as a force to be considered. The next book section ’’New ventures in Tourism
Development’’ discusses how climatology and climate change relate to tourism, how
web based geographic information services (WebGIS) are changing tourism and what
kind of new growth opportunities space tourism will bring. Then, the last book section
on ‘’Tourism Development Case Studies’’ examines particular issues in depth; from
community development to stakeholder conflicts in Europe, Africa and Latin
America; from the birth of hotel development in China to regeneration of old
destinations in Spain, as well as from image and political instability in Central African
countries to sport tourism development in British Columbia.
This book is intended to give the reader some insights into new paradigms, new
issues, and old problems that are affecting the quality of life for host communities and
the experiential nature of tourism. It is our hope that those directly involved in
tourism development will be able to use this book for new ideas, issue avoidance, and
new approaches to the problem of how do we make money yet protect our
environment and culture. This, as the reader recognizes, is the sustainability
argument. In this book insights into how to develop in a more sustainable manner are
part of the offering.

1. INTRODUCTION

Tourism development is an elusive and arguable term. There are numerous

definitions of tourism, development, and tourism development and the term is
evolving over time. Nowadays there is a strong call for a more holistic approach to
development that recognises that higher economic growth rates and higher income or
gross domestic product per capita are necessary, yet development also refers to
education, health and nutrition, less poverty, a better environment, equality, freedom,
sustainability, a culturally richer and happier life (Stiglitz et al., 2010; World Bank,
1991). Nevertheless, for the specific purposes of this chapter a more pragmatic view
on tourism development is taken, development is seen as either a state or a process.
When considered as a state it is usually with respect to some ranking such as
developed and developing countries and regions, in terms of general economic as well
tourism development (Mihalič, 2012). It puts the present level of development into
perspective vis a vis other regions of the world. However when considering tourism
development it is usually viewed as a process of moving from one level of
development, with its corresponding economic level, into another. Some would argue
that tourism development, moving into a higher level of economic condition, actually
degrades elements of the environment or culture. Others argue from strictly an
economic perspective and suggest that development brings with it new employment
and investment opportunities. This book looks at tourism development from both of
these perspectives.
As the world enters into a new era of increased opportunity for many, owing to
recent structural changes in the Middle East, continued economic expansion in Asia
and a resurgence of economic growth in Europe and North America tourism will
continue to expand. However, the outcome of tourism development will be
determined not by some macro concepts but by the will and dedication of those
working directly to channel development into productive and beneficial outcomes.
There have been many articles written about the good that comes from tourism
development. Among those claims is that tourism fosters peace between people. It is
more difficult to fight with someone once you begin to understand them. Others will
counter with tourism leads to resentment and misunderstanding. Each proponent of
these differing views has their own examples that lend credence to their argument.
Surely when tourists travel in an “environmental bubble” with the purpose of travel to
enjoy the resources of another land and with no intention of cultural mingling then a
barrier is erected between the local culture and the tourist culture. In the documentary
“The Great Indian Yatra” (Kishore, 2000) divisions between tourists and local
cultures are highlighted. Documentary presents the a lack of meaningful exchange and
interaction between the foreign tourist community and the host population and
examines failing of tourism as an economic stimulant in its present form in India.
Upon viewing this film it is easy to understand why someone could argue forcibly that
tourism breeds division, dislike and sometimes outright hatred between locals and
tourists.
No one can deny that when two distinctly differently cultures come together
opportunities exist for misunderstanding. This is further augmented when the two
groups represent different economic classes. Yet there are other examples where in
spite of the differences there is respect for each other and tourism development is a
desired local outcome. Again it is the approach and pattern tourism development takes
that is the usually the critical factor.
However, tourism development challenges tourism researchers and practitioners
and has become one of the central discussion points and remained so during the last
decade. This argument can be supported by a number of tourism development books,
published in the last decade. They focus on tourism development in a certain
destination or offer more general and comprehensive views on tourism development.
Among the latest there is a group that attempts to establish a link between the
development and tourism studies and deal with a number of fundamental issues
related to tourism as a an agent for development (Sharpley, 2002; Sharpley & Telfer,
2008; Smith & Duffy, 2003). Then other books defend and challenge the concept of
tourism sustainability which has become the main development paradigm in the field
(Hall & Brown, 2006; Mowforth & Munt, 2009; Sharpley, 2009). These books bring
diverse issues on tourism development in connection with poverty, regional
development, policy, strategies and tourism development case studies from all over
the world (Burns & Novelli, 2008; Kumral & Önder, 2012; Leslie, 2009; Liburd &
Edwards, 2010; Sharpley & Telfer, 2002; Xiao, 2002, 2007). Each of these books
contributes its own piece to the tourism development debate, explores new approaches
and challenges that reflect the ever evolving economic and social contexts and reflect
our current understanding of the tourism – development correlation.
When we embarked on this book it was without any preconceived notions about
what would be the outcome with respect to whether tourism development would be
viewed by the contributing authors as a means for good or evil. The main reason for
this is as co-editors we took on a project that had been initiated by the publisher. We
did not choose many of the authors. As it turned out this was a good thing as we
received contributions, especially in the case study sections, that took both sides of
the issue. We did augment what we were provided with invited contributions from
other scholars. We do not claim that this is a balanced book but at least it began
without any prejudged notions. And the range of contributions will bear this out.

2. TOURISM DEVELOPMENT – SYSTEM AND TRENDS

There are a number of interesting chapters in this book that provide us with a
glimpse about the near term and long term future of tourism development. We have
divided book chapters in four sections. After this Introduction chapter the stage is set
with the section about tourism system and trends.
Based on World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) research, the chapter by
Aramberri shows that tourism development is closely related to high per capita
income in the majority of the countries that place a bet on it; that, however, tourism
development does not necessarily coincide with economic development in general;
and that tourism development mostly happens and will mostly happen for the
foreseeable future in definite geographic areas or clusters: North America and the
Caribbean Basin; Europe and the Mediterranean; East and Southeast Asia; and,
partially, in Oceania. Aramberri argues that tourism is not a global force in the
economic sense of the word and that expectations that it might soon turn into one are
greatly overstated.
In the next chapter, Dwyer argues that change, being the one constant in life, must
be monitored closely for tourism development to be successful. Whether it is climate
change or political change new ways of doing business are constantly forcing
readjustments. It is those communities or businesses that monitor change and have
strategic plans for reacting to anticipated change that will prosper. Change is not a
wildcard in that it is random. Yes there is random change that we must deal with but a
lot of change can be foreseen through trend analysis. Dwyer identifies some of the
overriding trends that tourism related businesses and destinations should take into
account. Trends are apparent in demographics, political, economic, environment,
social etc. and they are also apparent with consumer tastes. New technology may lead
to new attractions (see the chapter on Space Tourism in this book) and new consumer
tastes may follow from the trends such as the “staycation” meaning travel very close
to home that resulted from a recession and higher energy prices (economic trends).
Dwyer argues that the future is somewhat predictable if we pay attention to the past
and present. Many of the chapters presented in this book attest to that view.

3. NEW VENTURES IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

The next book section joins some new ventures in tourism development, that we
managed to attract. Diverse chapters from so far uncontrolled changes in the
environment in terms of climate change to a celebration of tourism through advancing
technology, from Web technology to spaceflights.
Life cycles by definition are time driven. Over time destinations which remain
static tend to lose their appeal or cater to a declining or lower end market. There is a
reason that successful amusement or theme parks have survived over the years. They
continually add something new. Doing nothing is a recipe for decline. Doing
something has always been controllable but now we are facing development issues
that we can do nothing about. It has been recognized that climate change has already
begun to affect certain natural resource attractions. Most of the glaciers in Glacier
National Park in the United States are gone or rapidly decreasing not unlike what is
happening in the European Alps. The elevation for a ski resort to be successful
without extensive use of artificial snow making is continually rising with lower end
resorts facing the end of their business. In the fourth chapter Wang and Jiao discuss
the issue of decreasing glaciers and ways to adapt to this situation. Some of the
methods they describe are already been tried such as increased reliance on snow
making machines and the artificial wrapping of glaciers to delay melting. Other
adaptive paradigms are more future oriented and deal with the development of new
products and new markets. Whatever the choice doing nothing is not one of them if a
destination that relies on the presence of glaciers is to survive.
In a broader approach to climate change impacts on tourism Martínez-Ibarra and
Belén Gómez-Martín (chapter 5) review the recent attention being paid to climate
change and tourism and discuss different attraction types (e.g., sun, sea, golfing,
sailing) and how they may be affected by expected changes. Places where certain
activities are in abundance and supported by a natural resource base will have to
rethink their long term strategies. As climate change modifies the natural resources
base existing attractions recede and move to new locations that requires new thinking
about new attractions. The failure to plan for change will induce change but not the
desired change. That is why destination development based on tourism must
recognize that something no one can control in the short to mid-term does matter and
long term strategies are needed to overcome expected modifications of the resource
base used to support major tourist activities.
 One of the fastest innovations that has the potential to dramatically change how
and where we travel is technology. Chang, Jordan and Caneday (chapter 6) discuss
how more and more people are using Web based Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) for trip planning purposes. GIS has the ability to direct people anywhere in the
world with a great deal of accuracy. It is limited only by the data input to the system.
The use of GIS for geo cache games is expanding into tourism games where
destinations use the thrill of the chase and prizes to direct people toward their
destination. Other forms of technology will open up almost all parts of the world even
more. Using mobile devices that have the ability to serve as translators removes most
of the language barriers that currently favour the use of tour operators who organize
travel within the “environmental bubble”.
In other areas of advancing technology there will no doubt be new attractions and
even destinations that spring from it. The seventh chapter by Webber on advances in
space tourism paint a picture of an entirely new way to travel and new places to visit.
The barrier of price will eventually come down to a level that will support major
spaceports and associated communities to deal with “space tourists”. This is going to
happen in the not too distant future.
One area that technology has not advanced to the point of increasing travel is in
the area of long haul travel. There have been very few advances in the aviation sector
since the introduction in 1973 of the 747 jumbo jet. Yes the planes built and flying
today are more advanced and fuel efficient but they are not appreciably faster. It was
the time shrinkage in long haul travel accompanied by a very competitive airline
industry offering low prices that led to far away destinations becoming major tourism
development centres. As Aramberri points out in his chapter most travel is not of the
long haul variety but rather short haul domestic tourism, by a very large percentage.
This is probably not going to change. The world, in terms of accessibility, is not
shrinking like it did in 1973 and there are no indications this will happen soon. New
aircraft are built on a fuel efficient or capacity increasing platform and not with
respect to increasing speed. Additionally airline industry restructuring has led to
reduced capacity and higher fares. This is not a model for a rapidly expanding long
haul market.

4. TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDIES

This book contains a number of case studies. It is important to recognize that

tourism development is a multi-faceted approach. Examining different specific cases
gives the observer an idea of how it works from different perspectives. For example
Song in his chapter details how Hong Kong which is a Special Administrative Region
(SAR) of China is fuelling tourism development on the mainland. Hong Kong plays
by its own rules which is by design. Under British rule for most of the last century and
had developed a very sophisticated and professional tourism services sector. As a
world financial centre it also contained vast wealth. When mainland China opened its
doors to the rest of the world there was very little tourism development expertise and
very little capital to take advantage of the world’s pent up demand to visit and explore
China. This is when Hong Kong investors got involved. As many of them are Chinese
the xenophobia that may have existed with Foreign Direct Investment from other parts
of the world was not an issue. Without the Hong Kong expertise and investment
China’s overall development, not just tourism, would have been retarded.
 While Song deals with a macro case study, how one region impacts another
Derrick and Nash look internally at how stakeholders within a small community of
Aviemore handle development issues that arise. Originally the development of a new
Highland ski resort was viewed with some anticipation of widespread economic
growth. However it soon became apparent, at least to the stakeholders in the
community, that the resort saw itself as superior and did not need to collaborate with
much smaller community bases stakeholders. The community of Aviemore seems to
have adjusted nicely to this conflict by not relying on the resort to sustain its
economy. Over the years the community has embarked on a series of rejuvenation
projects and is not concerned about the decline in skiing. The community has adjusted
by coming up with its own long term strategies independent of its major attraction.
Stone and Stone also deal with community development issues but in this case on
the African continent in the country of Botswana. It has become common practice in
much of Africa to form community-based associations to deal with all types of
development, tourism included. These associations are set up to recognize the
importance of community in an African context. However they rarely work especially
with respect to tourism development. In areas where safari hunting is allowed it
commands a very high price. Community-based associations in these areas receive
more money from hunting license fees than from almost anything else they do and
they do not have to actively participate to receive this money. Education and skills
outside of agriculture and animal husbandry are lacking and there have been few if
any training programs intended to prepare community residents for careers in the
tourism sector. Consequently tourism development is done through outside agents
who provide low level skill based occupations (e.g., chefs, porters) for community
residents. Stone and Stone’s description of the development issues pertaining to the
Khwai Development Trust in Botswana provides a window into many of the same
problems faced by community level organizations on much of the continent.
The problems identified by Stone and Stone are not unique to the African
Continent. Brenner and Vargas del Río analyse the inner workings of a community-
based organization operating in La Ventanilla, Mexico. The opportunities for
development are essentially the same (i.e., tourism based) and the outcomes are
similar in that conflicts between members and the lack of a cohesive community
development strategy are apparent. Community-based organizations do not have a
good track record for dealing with tourism development whether it is in Africa or the
Americas. But yet they are frequently proposed as models for sustainable
development. Given the information provided in the two case studies one must
question whether this is the norm or the exception. We suspect it is the norm and
therefore the whole idea and structure for community-based tourism organizations
should be questioned.
By contrast to community-based organizations which encourage constant public
involvement in the tourism development process there are examples of communities
that have used their government to set the strategic direction and fostered ways to
implement the grand plan. Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada is a case in point.
Carey and Mason describe how the city of Kamloops recognized very early on that a
sport city offering year round activities and not just one off events could be a viable
development strategy. This strategic recognition and a plan for the city to build the
infrastructure while the private sector developed the attraction was what made it
work. There was no community-based organization, per se, involved rather the
community worked through its elective representatives. Are there problems with this
approach? Most assuredly but the success to date appears to indicate that the
beneficial outcomes have outweighed the costs. It should also be recognized that the
communities identified in this book represent those at the lowest level of education
and skills (Khwai, La Ventanilla) to those possessing high education and finely honed
professional skills (Kamloops). This would tend to indicate that it is not necessarily
the type of organization put in place for tourism development but rather the
educational level of those who are part of the organization.
Further in chapter 13 it is argued that destinations will also have to get smarter
and better. Pulido-Fernández and López-Sánchez discuss how some old sun, sea and
sand destinations in Spain are at the end of their life cycle and must rejuvenate or die.
This can be very expensive and politically difficult to navigate. At the same time new
destinations are offering modern amenities at competitive prices. The Mediterranean,
which has enormous tourist capacity, will be seeing renewed competition from
destinations in North Africa and Turkey. These destinations offer competitive pricing
and similar or better amenities at lower prices. Negative images have kept these
destinations from competing on the same level as more established destinations
operating in Europe. If the Arab Spring is successful in transforming political systems
these destinations will be able to compete even more aggressively against established
destinations making rejuvenation efforts increasingly important. At the same time
Asia is in the midst of a development boom of all types with its tourism sector
growing rapidly through domestic and regional tourism. As Aramberri points out it is
the domestic market that often provides the economic security for major tourism
development projects.
This could not be a book about tourism development without a chapter that deals
with image. Image has been established as a critical factor in tourism development
extending back to the early tourism literature of the 1970’s as evidenced in the
writings of John Hunt (1975) and Claire Gunn (1997) among others. Kimbu (chapter
14), looking at political instability in Central Africa and the effect it has on Cameroon
concludes that image plays a vital role in tourism development. This is nothing new as
previous literature has established this point but what Kimbu emphasizes is that
instability in a region affects all states in the region regardless of whether or not that
particular state is in chaotic times. Conflict elsewhere does not respect political
borders when it comes to tourism. One of the most damaging things that can happen
to a destination is to have the image of its safety and security in question. This has
been established many times. For example see Gartner and Shen (1992), The best
touristic resources cannot overcome a poor image especially when that image affects
something so critical as personal safety. There are exceptions to this and they are
based on faith. For example review the touristic figures for Israel during the height of
the second intifada or the numbers of pilgrims visiting Medjugorje in Bosnia and
Herzegovina during the height of the war there in the 1990’s. Faith based attractions
may be able to weather a poor image of the area in which they are found but they are
the exception rather than the rule.
Tourism image is another area where technology is changing how we operate.
Already we are seeing the use of social media to rapidly speed up “word of mouth”
transmission and reach more people in less time. According to Gartner’s (1993)
article on the Image Formation Process the use of organic end of the image formation
continuum is characterized by low levels of market penetration. Highly credible
solicited and unsolicited images did not reach many people until the widespread use
of blogs, and social media sites. Destinations that may have taken years to benefit
from positive word of mouth image formation can expect to see that time horizon
shrink. The same can be said for negative word of mouth transmission. But media in
general is still an overriding image formation agent as shown in the case study
regarding Cameroon.

5. CONCLUSION

This book is about tourism development but since that subject is so vast it is only
about certain aspects of tourism development. Yet the chapters contained here provide
a range of topics for thoughtful consideration. For example the two chapters that deal
specifically with community based tourism organizations question their efficacy. The
world has spent a great deal of time and effort to foster community based tourism
organizations yet in parts of the world they are synonymous with failure. Should we
conclude that the community based tourism organization movement has been a waste?
Or should we question what leads to failure and work to correct it or create something
entirely new? You will not find the answers to those questions in this book. But you
will find thought provoking arguments that will have you questioning how we go
about the process of tourism development and whether there are better ways.
Throughout, we have been inspired by some of what we have read in the
contributed chapters. We believe this book contains new information about important
issues. The case studies stimulate fresh thinking on some issues of tourism
development and expand the tourism development debate. And that is what this book
is intended to be. Not a textbook or a resource guide but rather an attempt to stimulate
debate about how we should go about this complex act of tourism development. If
reading any one chapter in this book causes you to rethink any notions you presently
hold than we believe we have done what we set out to do. If you take any points
raised in this book and begin a debate with someone about current thinking than you
are contributing to sustainable tourism development. If reading anything in this book
causes you to come up with a new paradigm about any one aspect of tourism
development than new knowledge and new hope for tourism development that is
benefit inclusive for all will be achieved. We have enjoyed working with the authors
in this book and do sincerely hope you receive some benefit from their shared
knowledge.

Acknowledgment

We are indebted to the following people who have aided the completion of this book.
Sincere thanks are extended to Matic Jeločnik, a student at the FELU (Faculty of
Economics, University of Ljubljana) who was very helpful in the collection of
chapters, and in organizing them in a formal and contextual aspect. Thanks go to
Nova for inviting us to serve as editors of this volume. and for providing the majority
of selected chapters. Thanks also to Carra Feagaiga and Nick Longo from the
Department of Acquisitions who were supportive of the whole book. We would also
like to acknowledge the funds of the FELU Tourism Institute FELU for resources that
helped in completion of this book. Finally we wish to thank the book's authors who
were diligent and extremely patient with our requests for revisions. We sincerely hope
you find value in the contents of this book.
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