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Tourism and Politics: Introduction
P. M. Burns and M. Novelli
Tourism is a powerful mix of cultural, economic and political
phenomena; it has multiplemeanings and applications loaded with the
ambiguities encapsulated by Zygmunt Baumansconcept of liquid
modernity (Bauman, 2005). Its continuing growth is exposing
tourists toa bewildering array of images, destinations and
decisions on a scale hitherto undreamt.Since 9/11, global
inventions of the other have increasingly taken on a heightened
polit-ical dimension especially in the sphere of travel and the
tourism, so that these stereotypedconstructions meet constantly
shifting local frameworks and global realities (Scraton, 2002).The
consequences cannot be reduced to the simplistic idea of place and
space becomingoccupied only by vapid tourists and congenial,
compliant local populations: tourism is simplytoo political,
important and valuable to be so dismissed. For instance, how is
tourism and itsrelated sectors to deal with passports, borders,
mobility and the politics of exclusion (migrantversus tourists) in
the light of increased (some say draconian) travel security
measures(Montanari & Tomas, 2005).
Tourism is often described as the worlds biggest industry: this
is simplistic at best anddisingenuous at worst. Many, including the
present authors, doubt this proposition as thereis no clear idea
upon what premise it is made and what is included in or taken out
of tourism.Even so, doubt about the exact size does not lead to
concomitant doubts over the scale oftourism: we can all agree that
tourism is hugely significant in terms of environmental,
socio-economical and political implications. It does not require
detailed empirical investigationto see the ways in which the
regional and transnational flows of tourists as well as the
variousscapes created by its sectors (airlines, hotels,
e-businesses, etc.) making up the tourism indus-try are reordering
the world (Franklin, 2004). The intersections of people on the
move,geographical space and compressed time as characterised in the
globalisation debates andillustrated by affordable airfares and
opening up of new destinations are clearly framed bypolitics and
ideologies (Burns, 2004) resulting from economic imperatives.
The potent but unstable mix of politics, ideologies and economic
principles become evenfuzzier when culture and heritage are thrown
into the pot as frequently happens with thedevelopment of tourism
(Selwyn, 1996). Where culture and heritage become politicised,as
increased competition, accompanied by the intensification of market
forces, exacerbatesexisting tensions and forms of co-operation
between regions and nations, as well as creatingnew ones, the area
of cultural politics is revealed. Socially constructed consensus
about the
Tourism and politicsCopyright 2007 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
of reproduction in any form reserved.ISBN: 0-08-045075-X
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nature and shape of tourism at a destination, and perhaps more
importantly, the consensusby which cultures acquire symbolic value,
may reflect political imperatives and ideologicalcurrents, and thus
can be directly linked to questions of democracy, power and
citizenship.
Issues of politics, risk and security are illustrated by the
events of the New York 9/11and London 7/7 and more explicit attacks
on tourists. These acts of terror offer a stark reminderthat the
unhindered mobility upon which travel depends can be easily
shattered. In a sense,tourism is predicated on freedom of mobility,
the politics of security and the negotiationof risk (Hall, Timothy
& Duval, 2003), thus challenging the very idea that tourism can
beseparated from other areas of policy-making.
The local interactions of tourism with politics and democracy
are increasingly beingframed by global realities such as General
Agreement and Tariffs and Trade (GATT), GeneralAgreement on Trade
and Services (GATS), World Trade Organization and corporate
alliances.The result is often the privatisation of tourism spaces,
erosion of labour rights, and a newcultural politics of identity
(Enloe, 1989; Lippard, 1999). A clear understanding of the
polit-ical nature of tourism is an essential precursor for
innovation and co-operation within thesector. Given tourisms
propensity towards micro and Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs),and its local location within a context of international
competitiveness, the creation of anenvironment free from relative
restriction balanced with human (community) rights should beseen
(in an era of corporate social responsibility) as part of tourisms
product development.
Tourism development itself is political in terms of policy
decision about public expendi-ture (e.g. on human capital and
physical resource development), together with support andmediation
on the sustainable use of resources. The introduction of new labour
patterns thatreflect tourisms seasonality and the accompanying 24/7
service ideology adds further polit-ical complexities as
traditional cultures try to adjust to new pressures and challenges
withoutresorting to the bunker mentality of resistance to change.
Finally, it could be argued that theact of marketing a country as a
destination is political in the fact that decisions will be madein
terms of what images to project, what (whose) stories to tell and
who to include (and thusexclude) in the constructed and projected
identities chosen to represent the space involved.
The first contribution by Linda Richter has been intentionally
chosen as the introductorychapter setting the scene for the entire
volume. It offers some really thoughtful considerationson the
democratisation of tourism within the framework of globalisation
and focuses ongeneral issues such as power, security, terrorism,
global heath and decision-makers positionin their regards. The
insights Linda brings to the volume are thus reflected in several
of theother chapters.
The first section contains seven chapters discussing the themes
of Politics, Democracyand Organisations, with Chapter 2 by Cruz
examining the relationship between the per-ceived impacts (mainly
positive) of tourism development among the local residents
ofIntramuros, Manila and their voting behaviour being influenced by
the tourism friendlypolitical decisions of one particular
candidate. The local insights provided help us to locatethe global
trends identified at the beginning of the present chapter. By using
data relatedto the Eastern Germanys experience, Bhre (Chapter 3),
outlines the effects of privatisationduring market economy
transformation, highlighting the implication that this can
generatein terms of tourism SMEs and economic development in
general. Using empirical evidencedrawn from a study on the European
Union (EU) tourism policy environment, Anastasiadou(Chapter 4)
discusses the difficult role and challenging work of interest
groups at supranational
2 P. M. Burns and M. Novelli
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level. Coopers Chapter 5 investigates the changes occurring in
the Japanese tourism sectoropening up to inbound tourism and
analyses the new consensus on how the countrys culturecan engage
with the foreign other but be protected from its influence.
Higgins-DesbiollesChapter 6 focuses on the implications of an
Indigenous rights regime for tourism and nar-rates the efforts of
the Ngarrindjeri community of South Australia to reach an
agreementwith Australian federal, state and local government bodies
in order to preserve their indige-nous rights against any form of
homogenisation belonging to the word of capitalist glob-alisation.
Drawing from research conducted in Botswana on the San community,
Chapter 7by Keitumetse offers another perspective on indigenous
rights, by looking at the role andactivity of an international
advocacy organisation (Survival International) and by
investi-gating the different perception of indigeneity by
international advocacy organisations andnational governments. The
last chapter (Chapter 8) of this section offers a powerful pieceof
narrative by Selwyn and Karkut on a 3-year training, research and
development projectin tourism and the cultural industries in
Bosnia-Herzegovina within the EU TEMPUSframework. This unique
contribution offers discussion on issues of ethnic dissonance
anddivision, consideration on the nature of the organisation of
TEMPUS projects, questions aboutthe role of universities in
development and about the team work of international,
national,regional and local institutions; all of this is outlined
in a very critical and pragmatic waythrough the description of the
authors personal experience.
The second section also contains seven chapters and highlights
experiences from themesrelated to what can be summarised as Scapes,
Mobility and Space. Chapter 9 offers resultsfrom research conducted
by Ramchander in post-apartheid Soweto and highlights the
socio-cultural implications of a recent niche segment called
township tourism, as perceived bythe host population and aiming at
supporting the government and other decision-makinginstitutions. In
Chapter 10, by using as a background the Gramscian theory of
hegemony andconvergence/divergence model, Giampiccoli explores the
direction of contemporary tourismdevelopment in poor contexts, such
as the Southern African, and the effects of the currentlydominant
neo-liberal paradigm. Chapter 11 by Thirumaran presents a
perspective onMalaysias tourism policies in relation to
MalayChinese relations and suggest thatlocalglobal political
economy affects the commodification of ethnic Chinese heritage
fortourism in Malaysia. By focusing on experience on Scotland,
McMahon-Beattie andYeomans Chapter 12 highlight best practice in
terms of scenario planning and policydevelopment in tourism. Using
the case of Rimini, one of the Italian leading coastal
destin-ations, Chapter 13 by Conti and Perelli adopts an urban
regime approach to analyse govern-ance mechanisms in traditional
mass tourism destinations in the Mediterranean. Chapter14 by Reid
discusses the MTV Europe Music Awards events contribution to
Edinburghsre-imaging and local inclusion also looking at its
politicisation in terms of public subsidyallocation. By using the
case of Londons Stansted Airport expansion plans, Chapter 15
bySpaul highlights those landscape utilisation conflicts arising
from the need for airportsexpansions and the pre-existence of
countryside resources such as the Gardens of EastonLodge benefiting
attracting a steady flow of visitors.
The third section offers five chapters related to the themes of
Circulation, Flows andSecurity. Chapter 16 by Devine, Connor and
Devine examines Northern Ireland opportunitiesin sport tourism, one
of the worlds fastest growing niche markets. In Chapter 17, using
thedichotomy of tourist versus terrorist, Higgins-Desbiolles
utilises the style of polemic essay
Tourism and Politics: Introduction 3
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in order to expose some controversial truths about the
contemporary state of word affairs intravel and tourism. By
critical assessing the literature on dark tourism, in Chapter 18
Lisleanalyses the overlaps between tourism and conflicts in
relation to issues of global security.Chapter 19 by Munar offers a
rethink of the relationship between tourism and globalisationby
placing tourism research in the broader theoretical frame of
globalisation theory. Byanalysing the issue of global movement of
people, Simpson and Simpson (Chapter 20)offer considerations on the
relationship between law and the vague and shifting defini-tions of
travel and tourism.
The very least that the analysis above reveal is that tourism
deserves a more nuanced analy-sis than familiar binary divisions
(leftright, goodbad, rightwrong, NorthSouth,authentic-staged and
indeed hostsguests) can provide. By looking at an eclectic set
ofcase studies, this book provides a platform for critical
discourse and reflection on tourism,politics, democracy and the
deriving chaotic web of power relations.
References
Bauman, Z. (2005). Liquid life. Cambridge: Polity Press.Burns,
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4 P. M. Burns and M. Novelli
