A Thorn for Beauty: Tourism Involution as a Pitfall of Sustainability

Abstract

In this article I present the course of events in a small country town, Thorn, in the Netherlands, where the local community gradually lost it's grip on the large-scale processes taking place, such as gravel extraction and agricultural reconstruction. The planned construction of a bungalow resort and a marina offered local government the opportunity to increase revenue from tourism and to reverse the loss of control. The authorities decided that the tourism project had to be situated at a distance from the town, without any relationship to local society. This strategy seemed to be a successful way of setting bounds on the one hand to negative tourism impacts and exploiting tourism in a positive sense on the other hand. But Thorn has also missed opportunities. The planning process lacked the qualities of creativity and innovation, and there was no question of any consideration of possible development alternatives. Recent history shows the inability of local politics to recognise or define opportunities and thus strengthen the town's position in relation to the external economic and political networks.