Abstract
Following a Marxist and, more specifically, a global capitalism perspective, this paper outlines the peculiar characteristics of tourism to argue that the recent developments of this sector have prominently contributed to the transnational integration and global accumulation of capital. These developments are explored by using a Marxist conceptual framework, including class and value relations, within a broader ecological context. Taking into account the particular pattern of development and rapid growth of tourism in recent decades, we examine the implications for the uneven and combined development of global capitalism. More specifically, we examine whether the growth of tourism may sufficiently counteract the global over-accumulation crisis, as well as the particular ways in which capital can extract and appropriate rent from tourism. It is broadly argued that the development of tourism tends to increase the unevenness, as well as the inequalities and the instability, of global capitalism and while it seems to apparently relax the current over-accumulation crisis, it rather tends to further exacerbate the unfolding socio-ecological crisis.
Highlights
Tourism has rapidly developed in recent decades, since the 1970s
Such an over-expansion of fictitious capital may be related to real estate or financial and productive activities associated with tourism development and an expectation of future profits, which may never be realized
We have attempted to develop a Marxian theoretical framework and utilize an array of analytical categories in order to better understand the developmental trends, the class relations and power conflicts, the interchange of society and nature and the socio-ecological implications associated with the rapid development of tourism
Summary
Tourism has rapidly developed in recent decades, since the 1970s. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) (2018), international tourist arrivals have increased from 25 million in 1950 to 278 million in 1980, 674 million in 2000 and 1323 million in. The growth and global expansion of tourism has implied a transformation and commodification of landscapes and hospitality, while the massive development of tourism and standardization of tourist packages, to take advantage of economies of scale and reduce costs, have led to a construction of huge hotels and cruise ships, leading to impersonal relations and alienating conditions All these conditions, together with an increasing exploitation of labour within tourism itself, tend again to increase rather than reduce alienation, while the uniformity and environmental degradation resulting from massive, commodified and standardized tourist services tend to undermine the distinctiveness and attractiveness of particular tourist destinations and the profitability and potential accumulation of capital operating in this sector. It might be said that the tourism developed under capitalist conditions is rather self-defeating and the sector itself tends increasingly to become self-destructing
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