pb 234x156mm, spine 17.3mmmm ‘Tourism Development and the Environment: Beyond Sustainability?is a timely, refreshing, BT Tourism, Environment and Development Series o e and thought-provoking critique of sustainable tourism development. Challenging us to re- u y examine the very nature of sustainability, globalization and the tourism industry as a or i capitalist endeavour, it is essential reading [which is] sure to generate future debate.’ ns m David J. Telfer, Department of Tourism and Environment, Brock University, Canada d SD ‘Is sustainable tourism an idea “whose time has now passed”? Or does uncritical allegiance ue sv to this notion blind us to the substantial economic benefits tourism brings to (differentially te structured) global destinations? Sharpley says it does, and his case is cogently argued, al io empirically based and compelling. The debate over international tourism has been raised to np a a new level.’ m C b Tourism o DSoavuitdh HPaarcriifsico,n F, iSjic Ihsloaonld osf Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of the ver credits: D ility?ent a Development Tourism Development and the Environment: Beyond Sustainability?challenges the uba n sustainable tourism development paradigm that has come to dominate both theoretical and i ph d o practical approaches to tourism development over the last two decades. It extends the to sustainable tourism debate beyond the arguably managerialist ‘blueprint’ and destination- ©Se th and the Environment: fwcacdtooouneicutnldvhturuce iisspnerleoamr ptodplo t ca ,mdua eniertepsisdvsnps e mceetrl ooosnw adnp,vh cetmtierihhvcomee ehntn hl,pmao tano.upe terTtm anhcvhrtooeeyaisnrnr l t m ttchbci.no eoaoRumlnnoeeetikpsfevse saiax est,rtlo ewtssra eo.sci tnt Hihaioagtaesinc nr t tslaht sihe mce inaent iees nvtaar iv raicptzooianorelnoud n impetnesioovt emrtsenoonien cd topas utflrl ih catetseehtlvuitr eoeaams nrittslnuaoi nutarisongsett ita tvarpahbeeionenic lld aiaietEt ypibnpca pltaaoer rt‘sll osh-itc eoauasycucsc pohtdraairneesneionmsv rsm aeet eobdlqiorc ieuilpte,iovit mssyseui’otel reoaicns pgiomotmsef-nednat Hotel Los Jasmines Pool in Van Randall/istockphoto.com Ba e Environm Beyond Sustainability? L‘RTaiocnuhcraaisrsmdh i,Sr eEh,n aUvriKprolenymiesn Pt raonfeds Dsoerv eolfo Tpomuerinstm’. and Development at the University of Central inales Valley, Cubathing in the Blue La ent: Richard Sharpley ©g Soo R usan © ic About the series: na MRob ha ‘Tourism, Environment and Development’ aims to explore, within a variety of contexts, orale Broe rd the developmental role of tourism as it relates explicitly to its environmental s/istok/isto Sh consequences. Each book will review critically and challenge ‘traditional’ perspectives on ckphockpho arp (sustainable) tourism development, exploring new approaches that reflect contemporary to.cto.c le economic, socio-cultural and political contexts. omom y www.earthscan.co.uk Earthscan strives to minimize its impact on the environment Tourism Development and the Environment: Beyond Sustainability? Tourism, Environment and Development Series Series Editor: Richard Sharpley School of Sport, Tourism & The Outdoors, University of Central Lancashire, UK Editorial Board: Chris Cooper, Oxford Brookes University, UK; Andrew Holden, University of Bedfordshire, UK; Bob McKercher, Hong Kong Polytechic University; Chris Ryan, University of Waikato, New Zealand; David Telfer, Brock University, Canada Tourism Development and the Environment: Beyond Sustainability? Richard Sharpley Titles in preparation Tourism and Poverty Reduction Pathways to Prosperity Jonathan Mitchell and Caroline Ashley Slow Travel and Tourism Janet Dickinson and Les Lumsdon Sustainable Tourism in Island Destinations Sonya Graci and Rachel Dodds Please contact the Series Editor to discuss new proposals at [email protected] Tourism Development and the Environment: Beyond Sustainability? Richard Sharpley London • Sterling, VA First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2009 Copyright © Professor Richard Anthony John Sharpley, 2009 All rights reserved ISBN: HB 978-1-84407-732-8 PB 978-1-84407-733-5 Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan Cover design by Yvonne Booth For a full list of publications please contact: Earthscan Dunstan House 14a St Cross St London, EC1N 8XA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 1930 Fax: +44 (0)20 7242 1474 Email: [email protected] Web: www.earthscan.co.uk 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA Earthscan publishes in association with the International Institute for Environment and Development A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sharpley, Richard, 1956- Tourism development and the environment : beyond sustainability? / Richard Sharpley. p. cm. – (Tourism, environment, and development) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-84407-732-8 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-84407-733-5 (pbk.) 1. Tourism–Environmental aspects. 2. Tourism–Economic aspects. 3. Economic development–Environmental aspects. 4. Sustainable development. I. Title. G155.A1S473 2009 338.4'791–dc11 2009007598 At Earthscan we strive to minimize our environmental impacts and carbon footprint through reducing waste, recycling and offsetting our CO emissions, including those 2 created through publication of this book. For more details of our environmental policy, see www.earthscan.co.uk. This book was printed in the UK by The Cromwell Press Group. The paper used is FSC certified and the inks are vegetable based. Contents List of Figures and Tables vii Series Preface ix Introduction xi List of Acronyms and Abbreviations xix 1 Tourism, Development and the Environment: An Introduction 1 2 Tourism and Development: From Economic Growth to Sustainability 29 3 Sustainable Tourism Development: A Critique 57 4 Tourism, Globalization and ‘Post-development’ 85 5 Tourism Environments 119 6 Tourism as Capitalism 147 7 Destination Capitals: An Alternative Framework for Tourism Development 175 References 199 Index 217 List of Figures and Tables Figures 1.1 The tourism system 12 1.2 Tourist experiences of destination environments 25 3.1 Müller’s ‘magic pentagon’ 60 4.1 The Gambia 110 5.1 A conceptual model of the tourism-environment relationship 126 5.2 The tourism-environment relationship: The destination 129 5.3 Location of the Lake District 142 7.1 A basic model of strategic management 180 7.2 A destination capitals model of tourism development 181 Tables 1.1 Technical definitions of tourists 7 1.2 Tourism arrivals and receipts growth rates 1950–2000 15 1.3 International tourist arrivals and receipts 1950–2007 18 1.4 The world’s top ten international tourism destinations 2007 19 1.5 The world’s top ten international tourism earners 2007 19 1.6 Percentage share of international tourist arrivals by region 1960–2007 20 2.1 The Millennium Project: Goals and Targets 33 2.2 Per capita GNI country classifications 34 2.3 The relationship between development and capitalism 37 2.4 Development theory from the 1950s 39 2.5 Characteristics of mass versus alternative tourism 44 2.6 Sustainable tourism development: A summary of principles 50 2.7 Cuba: Key tourism indicators 1990–2005 55 3.1 Principles of sustainable tourism 62 3.2 Sustainable development and tourism: Principles and objectives 70 3.3 Tourist arrivals: Iceland 1990–2007 81 3.4 Hotels and guest houses in Iceland by region 2007 82 4.1 The globalization debate and tourism: A summary 100 4.2 Least developed countries: Selected development and tourism indicators 104 viii TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT 4.3 The Gambia: Selected development indicators 2005 112 4.4 Tourist arrivals (air charter) in The Gambia: 1972/3–1994/5 113 4.5 Tourist arrivals in The Gambia: 1995–2006 114 5.1 Climate change impacts, implications and tourism outcomes 140 6.1 Economic influences on tourism demand 157 6.2 The Five Capitals 159 6.3 Tourism growth rates in Cyprus 1960–1973 169 6.4 Tourism in Cyprus 1975–2007: Key indicators 170 6.5 Arrivals from major markets 1990–2007 (% of total) 171 7.1 Dubai international tourist arrivals 1985–2006 184 7.2 Dubai hotel data 1998–2007 185 7.3 Seaside resorts’ market share of English tourism 1973–1988 (%) 190 7.4 Estimated visits to Blackpool 1989–2007 (millions) 191 7.5 Tourist arrivals and receipts Bhutan 1989–2006 195 7.6 Tourism: Purpose of visit 1996–2006 196 Series Preface The relationship between tourism and the physical, socio-cultural, economic and political environments within which it occurs and upon which it impacts has long been recognized and considered within the academic literature. At the same time, the potential role of tourism as an agent of socio-economic development has also long been promoted and debated, although it is only relatively recently that a more critical and theoretically informed perspective on this role has been adopted. However, these two issues have been implicitly connected within the concept of sustainable tourism, a tourism development paradigm that, since the early 1990s, has dominated the tourism literature but which, to a great extent, has focused on prescriptive, managerialist or ‘blueprint’ approaches to tourism development. Moreover, it is now increasingly accepted that the sustainable tourism development debate has reached something of an impasse. The purpose of the Earthscan Tourism, Environment and Development series, therefore, is to advance knowledge and understanding of the relation- ship between tourism and the environment at a time when not only is the environmental agenda in general, and climate change in particular, gaining increasing political prominence on the international stage, but also when environmental integrity is the key challenge facing the tourism sector. Collect- ively focusing on the tourism–environment–development nexus, books in the series explicitly relate the developmental role of tourism to its environmental consequences, critically reviewing and challenging contemporary approaches, and exploring new approaches, to managing and developing tourism within contemporary social, political and economic contexts. Each book presents a contemporary, succinct and critical analysis within a specific theme or context but, at the same time, contributes to a broader picture provided by the series as a whole whilst extending the debate beyond the contemporary perspectives of sustainable tourism development.