Decline In Tourism Research Articles

A multi-sectoral model of tourism and resource sector transformation

ABSTRACTDespite preoccupation in the literature with tourism decline and rejuvenation there is limited research and theoretical frameworks to understand the impact a dominant resources sector has on tourism and its ability to rejuvenate. Grounded in transformation theory, this research explores the mechanisms of change within two resource sector dependent regions (Gladstone and Roma, Australia) with a focus on the ramifications for tourism. Adopting a qualitative approach, the economic evolution of the regions is explored through 78 in-depth, interpretative interviews with residents and key stakeholders. Since 2006, several projects aimed at converting coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas have been transitioning through exploration, approval and construction to operation in these regions. Results indicate that recognition of vulnerability and the need for change (coined ‘seeds of transformation’) were apparent in each region despite the mining boom still peaking. A multi-sectoral model of transformation is theorised to add explanatory power to previous conceptualisations of tourism transformation.

Terrorism and tourism in Israel

While the relation between terrorism and tourism has been an important topic for tourism research, the questions whether terrorism affects tourism immediately and how long after a terrorism event tourism recovers are, as yet, not clearly answered. The aim of this article is to better understand the magnitude and temporal scale of the impact of terrorism on tourism. To this end, a research model differentiating between short-term and long-term effects of terrorism on tourism is developed and analyzed for the destination Israel using data on tourists from Germany. The results show both short-term and long-term impacts with a time lag between the terrorist event and the beginning of tourism decline of 1 or up to 6 months. An economic influence on the development of tourist arrivals was not detected, but seasonality plays an important role in the relationship between terrorism and tourism.

A case study on effects of oil spills and tar-ball pollution on beaches of Goa (India)

This paper reports the impact of oil spills and tar-ball pollution on the coastal ecosystem of Goa. The factors responsible for degrading the marine ecosystem of the Goan coastline are analyzed. Uncontrolled activities were found to degrade the marine and coastal biodiversity, in turn polluting all beaches. This had a direct impact on the Goan economy through a decline in tourism. The government must adopt the necessary control measures to restore Goan beaches and the surrounding coastal areas.

Addressing the threats to tourism sustainability using systems thinking: a case study of Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

Tourism is a dynamically complex system. Planning for sustainability is therefore difficult because past system behaviour is often not a good indicator of future behaviour. Despite this, tourism planning is mainly based on forecasting methods that rely on historical data to predict future trends with the assumption that tomorrow's world will be much like today's. To properly manage dynamically complex systems it is necessary to understand the underlying system structures that influence current as well as future system behaviour. This is the domain of systems thinking, which is not a forecasting method, rather a method used to understand the feedback mechanisms that influence system behaviour over time. This study describes the link between tourism development and systems thinking theory, and uses this to identify underlying systems structures likely to influence tourism development and sustainability within Cat Ba Island, Vietnam. We show that current policies promoting rapid tourism growth on Cat Ba Island are likely to be fixes that fail due to unintended consequences that ultimately undermine sustainability. To ensure sustainability, the policy focus must switch from growth to planning for limits to growth before tourism carrying capacity is undermined, which could ultimately lead to tourism decline.

Managing tourism decline: insights from the Isle of Man

Qualitative interviews conducted in the Isle of Man investigate local perceptions of a tourism industry in long-term decline: a development stage typically overlooked. Negative impacts of decline are revealed, including facilities loss, landscape erosion, and a heightened sense of peripherality. Together such impacts undermine local identity and attractiveness of place. Tourists are welcomed as they help to affirm the pride residents have in their island, create atmosphere, provide social interaction opportunities, stimulate positive emotions and combat negative stereotyping. Emphasised is the on-going importance of tourism impacts in a peripheral location. Practitioner recommendations are therefore made calling attention to the need to more carefully manage the process of decline. Potential strategies for achieving this are signposted.

Tax Evasion, the Provision of Public Infrastructure and Growth: A General Equilibrium Approach to Two Very Different Countries, Egypt and Mauritius

A dynamic multi-period general equilibrium model is used to analyse prospects for growth in two very different countries, Egypt and Mauritius. The advantage of using a single model, when comparing alternative policies across countries, is that it removes the concern that different conclusions are based solely upon model differences, which would be the case with multiple models. Each country faces certain key impediments to growth. In Egypt, the high level of tax evasion reduces the country's ability to carry out growth-enhancing fiscal policies, while the inadequacy of public infrastructure in Mauritius leads to a similar impediment to growth, requiring a fiscal solution. For Egypt, the revolution of 2011 affected growth, particularly because of the impact of a dramatic decline in tourism. In looking at how to increase growth, the focus is on the low rate of tax compliance in Egypt; the study finds that fiscal policies designed to reduce tax evasion are successful in modestly increasing GDP growth. Unlike Egypt, Mauritius has not suffered from any immediate shock, but public infrastructure shortages are bottlenecks in GDP growth, which has slowed in recent years. Therefore, the elasticities of private production with respect to stocks of public infrastructure are examined, and used to implement the general equilibrium model. Modest increases in spending upon public infrastructure, compensated for by corresponding decreases in current spending, were found to lead to increases in real GDP growth. However, beyond certain levels, higher infrastructure spending results in an eventual decline in real GDP growth.

The Global Recession as the Key Factor in the Swiss Tourism Decline

The research question investigates the famous sector of Swiss economy and the world’s effect on it, especially the global recession. To determine to what extent the global recession has been the key factor in the decline of Swiss tourism, several factors in Switzerland were examined, such as the effect of global recession itself, foreign exchange, and global warming. These factors were chosen because they could have influenced tourism the most. A lot of research was done by gathering statistics from the Federal Statistical Office in Switzerland. After analysing these reports and understanding the statistics, the data for presentation and analysis in this essay was chosen. During the analysis other external sources were used to support the evidence. The analysis was based on exploring the factors that might have influenced Swiss tourism described above. Although global warming and exchange rates affected Swiss tourism, the greatest effect came from the global recession. It had a negative effect as the demand for tourism decreased during the recession from 2007 to 2009. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s2p59

Revitalisation of Orlík reservoir – case study of a regional restoration project

This case study describes the bottom-up formation of a regional project for restoring a reservoir. Land use changes in the upper Vltava river basin caused the eutrophication of Orlik reservoir, which resulted in water blooms, which in association with socio-economic changes caused a decline in tourism in this region and serious difficulties for local people. The study examines how public awareness helped in the establishment of a restoration project, its framework and strategy. Regional governance of the project management took into consideration both knowledge-based solutions and the interests of local people and municipalities. The project has the potential for resolving both environmental and socio-economic problems and providing a sustainable win-win strategy for the region, residents, tourists and stakeholders.

The Influence Evaluation of Tourism on Chinese Rural People Living in Minority Areas

In this paper, through understanding the basic situation of three villages at different stages of life cycle development about tourism, using the method of grey correlation analysis from the quantitative aspects, the results show that impact assessment on rural tourism in different stages is different [1]. The impact on tourism stable stage is the most; tourism decline stage is relatively weak; tourism development stage is the weakest.

World Heritage, Tourism Destination and Agricultural Heritage Landscape: The Case of Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, Canada

Abstract: Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, an outstanding example of a traditional land-use that is representative of human interaction with a distinctive environment, has been presented for UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) designation. One of Canada's most fertile agricultural landscapes, it is also an iconic memorial site for a people who overcame a tragedy of forced migration—the Acadian Deportation—in 1755, which has since become the lure for significant numbers of tourists to the region. Now facing a double threat of agriculture change and tourism decline, Grand Pre has high expectations from its recent WHS designation (2012) and the perceived tourism that it will bring. This concept paper discusses Grand Pre as a globally important agriculture heritage system and, in light of previous research, questions its expectations of WHS designation as a conduit for future economic viability and sustainability in the region.

After Cannibal Tours : Cargoism and Marginality in a Post-touristic Sepik River Society

This article challenges the ethical allegory of the widely hailed film Cannibal Tours, drawing on two decades of ethnographic research in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, most recently in 2010. First, I sketch the contemporary plight of a middle Sepik, Iatmul-speaking community that yearns for a “road” to modernity and tourism but increasingly sees itself as “going backwards.” Second, I argue that tourism allows middle Sepik inhabitants to express artistically subtle messages about contemporary gender, identity, and sociality in the Melanesian postcolony. Third, I demonstrate what happens when the tourists go home. And almost all of them have done so, especially after the sale of the tourist ship, the Mela nesian Discoverer, in 2006. Tragically, the recent decline in tourism corresponds to a dramatic degradation of “basic services” offered by provincial and national authorities, and a devastating flood during the 2009–2010 rainy season. Facing all this, Iatmul feel increasingly disenfranchised, despondent, and desperate to attract new tourists and to discover, after a century of unfilled commodity desires, the source of material plenitude locally associated with modernity. Toward this aim, villagers now speak about something I never expected to hear in this once prosperous community: narratives about deceased kin, voyaging back to the village like ghostly tourists on a numinous ship, striving to bring local people wealth and commodities, only to be barred by Europeans. What happens after Cannibal Tours? The ideology of a cargo cult.

Sustainable tourism: development, decline and de-growth. Management issues from the Isle of Man

The concept of sustainable tourism emerged as a reaction to the impacts of tourism development. This paper shows the relevance of sustainable tourism to tourism decline and the rising interest in de-growth. Mixed-methods research in the Isle of Man, UK, was carried out by analysing 355 postal questionnaires sent to randomly selected island households, and conducting 32 in-depth personal interviews. The research revealed a series of negative environmental and social consequences of tourism decline in a small island. Such consequences are found to occur despite successful local diversification into other industries, notably offshore finance. Consequences of decline are revealed as tangible, e.g. facilities closure, and as less tangible, e.g. a sense of rejection by off-islanders, and have led to an increasing sense amongst residents of isolation and loss of local attractiveness. Results suggest tourism decline, de-growth and economic replacement require sustainable management in order to facilitate change. Measures such as urban and rural landscape protection, may reduce adverse effects of decline. A re-assessment of the application of the principles of sustainable tourism in the context of decline, rather than development, is needed.

Understanding the reasons why tourists visit the Kruger National Park during a recession

The 2008 and 2009 recession increased pressure on travellers to cut costs on luxury items, such as going on holiday, and this has led to a global tourism decline of 8%. This, however, was not the case in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa where a sustained 1.6% accommodation unit occupancy growth was experienced. In order to sustain this growth, it is of the utmost importance to determine why people still visited the Park during this period. Thus the aim of the study was to determine why people still visited the KNP amidst the 2008 and 2009 economic recession. A total of 355 completed questionnaires were obtained at the Park during 15 December 2009 – 20 December 2009 (high season) after which various analyses (including factor analysis) were conducted. Six motives were identified and ‘escape’, ‘wildlife experience’ and ‘family benefits’ were rated most important. Push factors were more dominant to the extent that visitors regard taking a holiday to the Park as a necessity. It furthermore seems that visitors adapt their spending behaviour at the Park to still be able to afford the visit. This was the first time that research was conducted at a national park during a recession period and this information is important for South African National Parks, seeing as it provides a better understanding of visitors’ behaviour as well as feeling towards the Park (especially during recession), and leads to improved niche marketing and a competitive advantage. This research also provides a better understanding of visitors’ behaviour during economic downturns.

Identity, imaginary and tourism in the tuareg region, in Niger

This paper aims to understand the complexity of the identity questions related to tourism while discerning the different levels of identity within the visited society. This paper therefore deals with the development of tourism among the Tuareg of Northern Niger. Focusing the analysis on identity transformations observed among local actors. The authors discuss first the western imagination relative to the Sahara and the Tuareg, an element that the Tuareg have remarkably played upon to encourage regional tourism based on “Desert tourism”. Then, from an historical perspective, they study the growth of tourism in the Agadez region, while highlighting its appropriation by the Tuareg, and the identity adaptations to which this appropriation has led. Finally, the authors consider the decline of tourism, as a result of the 2007-2009 rebellion, and the presence in the neighboring Northern Mali of the Salafist brigade Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which prohibits access to the region to foreigners for security reasons.The brutal halt in the tourist activity came with the decline of the Tuareg subculture that had been forged through their entrepreneurial dedication to tourism.

Toward a New Tourism Policy in the French West Indies: The End of Mass Tourism Resorts and a New Policy for Sustainable Tourism and Ecotourism

In this study, we propose to analyze the limits of mass tourism in the French Antilles, specifically the decline of tourism, economic limits, and ecological degradation). The recognition of these limits is overdue, and signals a need to define another model for tourism development.The popular coastal sector in the south of Martinique has been subject new regulations to protect marine resources. These regulations require the development of new practices and a greater level of awareness for tourists, for example, around coral reefs and mangroves. Ecotourism programs aim to demonstrate to visitors the forests rich natural resources and biodiversity in general. It also features the inclusion of small rural businesses that benefit from additional sources of revenue as a result of ecotourism.The situation in the French Antilles is complex: Urbanization is fraught with serious consequences for the coastline. Tourism products currently being marketed on the island are not competitive (particularly against the political dynamics of the neighbouring island of Dominica). Ecotourism and sustainable tourism are just beginning to develop in such destinations, where tourism has been declining in the last ten years. The situation of the French Antilles is paradoxical in a region that generally has a very favourable tourism. Assessing these limits through the scope of ecotourism helps to highlight the causes of these difficulties and to adapting to new tourism practices.

Tunisia: 2012 Article IV Consultation: Staff Report; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Tunisia

This 2012 Article IV Consultation highlights that Tunisia experienced a severe recession in 2011 amid domestic and regional turmoil. Real GDP contracted by 1.8 percent, reflecting a sharp decline in tourism and foreign direct inflows. As a result of the economic downturn and the return of Tunisian workers from Libya, unemployment soared to 19 percent in 2011, with youth unemployment at 42 percent. Tunisia’s medium-term economic growth potential remains favorable, but unleashing it requires a comprehensive package of structural reforms to foster private investment.

The tourism encounter: fashioning Latin American nations and histories

In recent decades, several Latin American nations have experienced political transitions that have caused a decline in tourism. In spite of-or even because of-that history, these areas are again becoming popular destinations. This work reveals that in post-conflict nations, tourism often takes up where social transformation leaves off and sometimes benefits from formerly off-limits status. Comparing cases in Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru, Babb shows how tourism is a major force in remaking transitional nations. While tourism touts scenic beauty and colonial charm, it also capitalizes on the desire for a brush with recent revolutionary history. In the process, selective histories are promoted and nations remade. This work presents the diverse stories of those linked to the trade and reveals how interpretations of the past and desires for the future coincide and collide in the global marketplace of tourism.

The strategic advantage in the coffee market of family agriculture in Alto Paraíso de Goiás.

This work analyzes family farmers in the municipality of Alto Paraiso de Goias, Goias state, Brazil, in their search for alternative sources of income that will establish them in the market. The municipality was first settled in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by miners and has, since then, maintained an agricultural tradition. Economic activity changed in the 1960's with the exploitation of tourism. However, the region's history is one of poverty and stagnation. Tourism was the main economic activity until the early 2000's, when diseases such as yellow fever were registered among tourists and the local population. The study was carried out using semi-structured questionnaires, applied to 28 farmers in the region. From an overall survey and assessment of rural life and development impairments, the aim of this work was to study the possibility of promoting the sustainable development of family coffee production units in the region. There are still old productive coffee trees (Coffea sp.) planted along rivers whose product is consumed by the local population and by tourists. Coffee was introduced in the region in the early eighteenth century by scout troops and is grown today by farmers who, after the decline of tourism, are searching for alternative sources of income allied to sustainable development. The conclusion is that these producers have intrinsic advantages for establishing a coffee production system that can be inserted into the specialty coffee niche markets. Therefore, to become a strategic advantage, small-scale production should be associated to local tradition, nature and handicraft, all of which are currently valued by the specialty coffee consumer market.

Kingdom of the Netherlands-Aruba: 2010 Article IV Consultation Discussions-Staff Report; Informational Annex; Staff Statement; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Kingdom of the Netherlands-Aruba

Aruba has an open economy with a history of stability-oriented macroeconomic policies. Adverse external shocks have led to a decline in tourism and disruption of oil refinery operations. Serious fiscal challenges need to be addressed and a fiscal adjustment program is needed to safeguard the sustainability of the public finances. Expenditure cuts and the central bank’s switch from a credit ceiling to an unremunerated reserves requirement as key policy tool is commended. The new monetary policy framework will likely increase the challenges to prudential regulation and supervision.

Structural Positionality and the Development and Decline of Tourism in a “Paradise” Resort:

Island of Yunnu, more commonly called Yoron, is one of the Amami Islands, located about 23 km north of the main island of Okinawa. In December 1953, the Amami Islands were separated from Okinawa, then under U.S. control, and incorporated into Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan. Yoron became the southernmost island of Japan, where young Japanese began to visit from the late 1960s. They enjoyed a vacation by the beautiful blue sea with coral reefs, and the warm hospitality of the islanders. Yoron was famed as the domestic “Paradise” in the subtropics in Japan.However, following the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese control and the re-establishment of Okinawa Prefecture in 1972, Okinawa became the primary destination for domestic tourists looking for the subtropical resorts. The foundations for the tourism development in Okinawa had already been laid by the U.S. military government after the separation of the Amami Islands. In 1970s, the rapid growth of tourism in Okinawa also saw an initial upsurge in tourists visiting Yoron, but as more attractive tourists sites with better facilities were developed in Okinawa, Yoron lost its appeal as a “Paradise” resort by degrees.These days see tourism on Yoron go from bad to worse, as the small island of Yoron is unable to offer something distinctive and different compared with Okinawa. The tourist gaze at Yoron was almost absorbed into the more general gaze at Okinawa. As Okinawa developed, Yoron had to try to strike out on its own within the larger framework of tourism centered on the Okinawa area rather than within the framework on the Amami area or Kagoshima Prefecture. Its resultant position has made it structurally vulnerable among other Okinawan tourist sites, and brought about the stagnation of Yoron tourism.This essay is an ethnographic study that focuses upon the development and decline process and the structural positionality of tourism on Island of Yunnu, a small “Paradise” resort island of the Amami Islands, in the context of Okinawan tourist area.