Fourth editionTourism and sustainability

Tourism and Sustainability

In a report published by Oxfam in January 2014 it was noted that the world’s richest 85

people have as much wealth as the poorest 50 per cent of the world’s population. A year

later that figure had been updated to just 80 people. It is a global unevenness through

which the barriers to in-migration of Third World migrants to wealthy First World

nations go ever higher, while the barriers to travel in the reverse direction are all but

extinct.

So how exactly does tourism contribute to narrowing this glaring inequality and gap

between the rich and the poor? Are ever-expanding tourism markets – and the new,

responsible, forms of tourism in particular – a smoke-free, socioculturally sensitive form

of human industrialisation? Is alternative tourism really a credible lever for lifting

poverty-stricken countries out of the mire of global inequality, setting them on the right

track to ‘development’ and eliminating poverty?

Tourism and Sustainability critically explores and challenges what have emerged as

the most significant universal geopolitical norms of the last half century – development,

globalisation and sustainability – and through the lens of new forms of tourism

demonstrates how we can better understand and get to grips with the rapidly changing

new global order. The fourth edition has been extensively revised and updated, and

benefits from the addition of new material on climate change and tourism.

Drawing on a range of examples from across the Third World, Mowforth and Munt

expertly illustrate the social, economic and environmental conditions that continue to

affect the tourism industry. With the first edition hailed by Geoffrey Wall as ‘one of the

most significant books produced on tourism [since the turn of the millennium]’, Tourism

and Sustainability remains the essential resource for students of human geography,

environmental sciences and studies, politics, development studies, anthropology and

business studies as well as tourism itself.

Martin Mowforth is a freelance researcher specialising in issues of environment,

development, sustainability and human rights in the region of Central America. He is

also a part-time associate lecturer in human geography at Plymouth University, UK.

Ian Munt is a freelance human settlements specialist and has worked on projects with

UN agencies, bilateral donors and non-governmental organisations in Central America,

Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe.

On previous editions

‘This book should be compulsory reading for all those engaged in tourism research.’

Erlet Cater, In Focus, Tourism Concern

‘One of the most significant books produced on tourism in the past few years.’ Geoffrey

Wall, Annals of Tourism Research

‘A valuable and overdue contribution to a multi-disciplinary area. This book meets the

challenge to say something clear and interesting in a quicksand of ambiguities.’ Professor

John Lea, University of Sydney

‘Informative, stimulating and provocative, the book deserves to be read by a wide

audience … It is absolutely essential reading for all those serious scholars of tourism

studies wishing to appreciate “the bigger picture”.’ Brian Wheeller, Annals of Tourism

Research

‘The book is quite simply one of the most important theoretical contributions to the

growing subdiscipline of tourism geography and is likely to be a mainstay for many

years to come.’ Keith Debbage, Annals of the Association of American Geographers

‘A far-reaching, timely and quite penetrating critique of some of the forms of tourism

that have emerged as a direct response to the clarion call for sustainable tourism

development.’ Michael Parnwell, Journal of Development Studies

Tourism and

Sustainability

Development, globalisation and new

tourism in the Third World

Fourth edition

Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt

Fourth edition published in 2016

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN,

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2016 Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt

The right of Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt to be identified as authors of this work has been

asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act

1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or

by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including

photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission

in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and

are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by Routledge 1998

Third edition published by Routledge 2009

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Mowforth, Martin.

Tourism and sustainability / Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt. -- Fourth edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Tourism--Developing countries. 2. Sustainable development--Developing countries. I. Munt,

Ian. II. Title.

G155.D44M69 2016

338.4’791091734--dc23

2015024606

ISBN: 978-1-138-01325-4 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-01326-1 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-79534-8 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman and ITC Franklin Gothic

by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby

In loving memory of Herbie and Feathers,

and for Matthew and Joseph

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List of figures xi

List of tables xiii

List of boxes xv

Preface to fourth edition xvii

Acknowledgements xix

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Purpose and limits of the book 1

Tourism as a multidisciplinary subject 2

Key themes and key words 3

Tourism and geographical imagination 7

Layout of the book 8

Chapter 2 Globalisation, sustainability, development 12

Tourism in a shrinking world 13

Uneven and unequal development 15

Sustainability and global change 20

Development and the Third World 34

Conclusion 48

Chapter 3 Power and tourism 51

Power play 52

The political economy of Third World tourism 56

Tourism as domination 57

Alternative critiques for alternative tourism? 65

Conclusion 84

Chapter 4 Tourism and sustainability 86

Mass tourism and the origins of new forms of tourism 87

Resulting problems and the rise of new forms of tourism 98

Terminology 100

Defining the ‘new’ tourism 101

The principles of sustainability in tourism 104

Agenda 21 and sustainable development in tourism 112

The tools of sustainability in tourism 113

Whither sustainability in tourism? 121

Contents

viii • Contents

Chapter 5 A new class of tourist: trendies on the trail 124

Class, capital and travel 125

A new class of tourist? 135

The scramble for Third World destinations 146

Conclusion 152

Chapter 6 Socio-environmental organisations: where shall we save next? 154

New socio-environmental movements 155

Environmentalism and new tourism 159

Environmentalism and power 176

Conclusion 181

Chapter 7 The industry: lies, damned lies and sustainability 182

Trade and tourism 182

Size and structure of the industry 189

Redefining sustainability 196

New personnel and features of the new tourism industry 218

Conclusion 225

Chapter 8 ‘Hosts’ and destinations: for what we are about to receive … 227

Local participation in decision-making 228

Government control/community control 242

Displacement and resettlement 253

Visitor and host attitudes 261

Conclusion 268

Chapter 9 Governance, governments and tourism: selling the Third World 270

The politics of tourism 271

Assessing the politics of tourism 274

Tourism as politics 276

Globalisation and the politics of external influences 279

Sustainable tourism as political discourse 296

Conclusion 311

Chapter 10 Climate change and new tourism: the elephant in the room 314

Mitigating the impact of new tourism 317

Cutting back new tourism: the degrowth agenda 323

Adapting to climate change: can new tourism destinations

survive? 325

Conclusion 331

Chapter 11 New tourism and the poor: making poverty history? 333

Understanding poverty 333

The Millennium Development Goals and tourism 336

Pro-poor tourism 342

Migration and remittances 353

Human security 358

Conclusion 365

Contents • ix

Chapter 12 Cities and new tourism: guess who’s coming to town? 368

Urbanisation as the antithesis of development 371

Cities as economic machines 374

Recycling places: heritage and the urban poor 376

Pro-poor city tourism? 383

Slum tourism: aestheticising the poor or taking control? 385

Conclusion 393

Chapter 13 Conclusion 395

Key themes and key words 395

New forms of Third World tourism 397

Globalisation, sustainability and development 399

Sustainability and power 400

New tourism, new critiques 401

Whither new forms of tourism? 402

Appendix 1 Travel and tourism-related websites 405

Appendix 2 Websites relating to carbon budgets and carbon offsetting 408

References 410

Index 441

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1.1 Key themes and key words 4

2.1 Globalisation and the tourism industry 15

2.2 Transition in late 20th century capitalism 27

2.3 Tourism, sustainability and globalisation 33

2.4 The age of development 36

3.1 The power jigsaw 52

3.2 Neo-colonial discovery? 70

3.3 An alternative tourist’s guide to an exciting region 76

4.1 History of the tourism industry 88

4.2 Ethics and the industry 93

4.3 Global tourist arrivals 96

4.4 Criteria often used for sustainability in tourism 105

5.1 The culture of travel 126

5.2 Self-discovery and the social field 134

6.1 Global distribution of Survival International’s membership 158

6.2 The global growth of protected areas 173

7.1 Elements of the tourism industry 190

7.2 Consultancies and forms of consultation 210

8.1 Participatory community development – there you go! 230

8.2 Number of visitors to the Galapagos Islands 242

8.3 The TEA guesthouse in Laguna, Toledo district, south Belize 244

8.4 Inside the Laguna guesthouse 245

8.5 The Hotel San Blas, Panama 252

9.1 Tourist arrivals and receipts, Egypt, 1994–2012 272

9.2 Poverty and the ‘hard-line market bolsheviks’ of the IMF 284

9.3 Regulating the Third World 293

9.4 National protected areas of Belize 297

9.5 Tourist arrivals and receipts, Belize, 2001–12 298

9.6 Ecotourism on Ambergris Caye – or not? 301

9.7 The Burma boycott debate 310

10.1 Tourism-related water conflicts 327

11.1 The drive towards the MDGs 342

11.2 Greater Mekong Subregion tourism sector problem tree 352

11.3 Tourist arrivals to and migrants from Latin American and Caribbean

countries 355

12.1 Slum dwellers as a percentage of urban population by region 369

12.2 Heritage hotspots: historic city centres on new tourism circuits 378

Figures

xii • Figures

12.3 Luang Prabang 379

12.4 Slum tourism in the Global South 389

13.1 Tourism, sustainability and globalisation 398

Tables

2.1 International tourist arrivals and receipts from selected First World

countries 17

2.2 International tourist arrivals and receipts from selected Third World

countries 18

2.3 The world’s top tourism spenders, 2004 and 2012 19

2.4 Post-Fordism and tourism 25

2.5 The UN’s Millennium Development Goals 39

6.1 Tourism and the spectrum of environmentalism 161

6.2 Protected area categories 173

7.1 A qualitative assessment of some differences between a conventional

mass tourist package and a typical trekking package 197

7.2 Selected characteristics of ‘new’ and specialised tour operators 199

8.1 Pretty’s typology of participation 232

8.2 Doxey’s levels of host irritation extended 267

9.1 Tourism interest groups 276

9.2 Agenda 21: responsibilities of governments 291

10.1 CO2

emissions of selected countries, 2010 319

11.1 MDGs and the travel and tourism industry 337

11.2 Pro-poor tourism 343

11.3 Pro-poor tourism strategies 344

11.4 What 10 per cent of a country’s tourism receipts might mean to the

poorest households 347

13.1 Key themes and key words 396

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