Global Restructuring and Local Responses: Investigating Rural Tourism Policy in Two Canadian Communities

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between rural development strategies and tourism in two Canadian communities from 1975 to 2000. Concentrating on these case studies, the paper utilises a political economy approach to consider the forces leading to tourism having been positioned as a saviour in local economic development, and makes links between this and overarching ideological changes within the globalising capitalist economy. As capital cements its latest form through the withdrawal of the state and the extension of the consumption, service-based economy, tourism is naturalised as an appropriate policy response to rural development problems. The response of local governing structures to this era of political and economic restructuring can be seen as a move towards establishing a new regime of accumulation based upon the service industry. It is argued that the actions of the local state cannot be considered without a reflection upon the broader political economy; tourism is presented as a policy option that is part of a more general response to the changing place of rural areas in the continental and global economy. The paper contributes to a growing literature addressing strategies of tourism promotion within the context of economic development as four dimensions are presented: rationale, responsibility, execution, and content.