Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues

The development of tourism is frequently justified on the basis of its potential contribution to the broader socio-economic development of destination areas. Indeed, tourism is generally considered an effective vehicle of development, yet the meaning and objectives of ‘development’, and the extent to which it can be achieved through tourism, is rarely questioned. Moreover, the relationship between tourism and development remains an under-represented area of study and research.

This book addresses this gap in the literature by challenging many of the widelyheld assumptions about tourism’s developmental contribution. In the first part, a theoretical link is established between the discrete yet interconnected disciplines of tourism studies and development studies. More specifically, the meaning of development and successive development paradigms are considered within the context of tourism. This provides a conceptual foundation for the second part of the book, which addresses a number of fundamental issues related to tourism’s potential contribution to development. These include issues of economic development, regional development, socio-cultural development and environmental development. Finally, the third part focuses upon barriers to tourism-induced development, arguing that a new political economy of tourism, the consumption of tourism and the dominance of the sustainable development paradigm represent significant counterpoints to overly simplistic models of tourism’s potential contribution to development.

Richard Sharpley is Professor of Tourism and Development at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. He has previously held positions at a number of other institutions, including the University of Northumbria (Reader in Tourism) and the University of Lincoln, where he was Professor of Tourism and Head of Department, Tourism and Recreation Management. His principal research interests are within the fields of tourism and development, island tourism, rural tourism and the sociology of tourism.

David J. Telfer is Associate Professor at Brock University, Canada. His principal research areas include the relationship between tourism and development theories, economic linkages between tourism and host communities, tourism planning and rural tourism.