Paper short abstract:

Pro-poor value chain analysis (VCA) has been frequently applied to measure the economic impact of tourism strategies. This research tests VCA in Brazil's Northeast and asks to leave the positivist paradigm behind and move towards a more holistic and critical approach.

Paper long abstract:

In the globalised world, tourism has become one of the largest industries, creating 284 million jobs and generating 9.8 % of the world's GDP (WTTC, 2016). Due to the potential of tourism to achieve economic development, overcome poverty and reduce inequality, international development organisations have applied tourism as a strategy for development and poverty reduction in developing countries. To measure the economic impact of these strategies, pro-poor value chain analysis (VCA) has been frequently utilised. This research applied the standard pro-poor VCA approach and its associated guidelines by the International Trade Centre (2009) in a coastal destination in Brazil's Northeast to critically evaluate its methodological and explanatory value. While it offered valuable insight into the local tourism industry and identified economic impacts of tourism, it did neither provide explanations for the underlying reasons of the identified economic impacts nor of their value for poor people. In other words: pro-poor VCA only tells us 'where the money goes'; however, it does neither tell us 'why the money flows in a certain way' nor 'how it is valued by poor people'. This research asks to leave the positivist paradigm behind and move towards a more holistic and critical approach of evaluating the impact of tourism on poverty reduction that is underpinned by an investigation of power relations in the tourism value chain.

Paper short abstract:

This paper tracks how the concept of sustainability has been adopted and evolved within Ghanaian tourism policy and planning. A content analysis of tourism policy documents show particular shifts in the emphasis placed on on the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability.

Paper long abstract:

Sustainability is now back as the (re)new buzzword in international development. Within tourism, the year 2017 has been designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the UNWTO. Moreover, three of the 17 SDGs make explicit reference to tourism. Given the renewed focus on tourism's role in sustainable economic development and poverty reduction it is important to explore the extent to which the concept of sustainability has infiltrated tourism development policies and planning especially in developing countries.

This paper tracks how the concept of sustainability and sustainable tourism has been adopted and evolved within Ghanaian tourism policy and planning. A content analysis is undertaken on key tourism strategic planning and policy documents produced at the national level between 1996 and 2013. The findings show that earlier tourism plans in the 1990s had a stronger focus on the concept of sustainability. There was balanced emphasis given to the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. Contemporary tourism plans however appear to place more emphasis on the economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. This paper identifies particular shifts in how the concept of sustainability is being incorporated within tourism development plans and highlight the attendant effects. There is an increasingly narrow focus on the economic and environmental aspects with less emphasis placed on the social dimensions of the sustainability of tourism. This paper concludes by providing insights into how the shifts in sustainability identified in Ghanaian tourism policy and planning documents are shaping tourism development practices on the ground.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how the forces of globalisation and neoliberalism are determining the direction and mode of tourism development in Myanmar. We demonstrate how a globalised tourism industry is reshaping the national model to one which capitalises on weak governance and disempowered local people.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the influence of tourism as an agent of neoliberal capitalism within the context of Myanmar. It is a conceptual exploration that draws on secondary data from academic sources and planning documents, and this is augmented by primary data generated from three separate visits by the authors between 2014 and early 2017.

After almost six decades of international isolation the country is experiencing rapid economic growth and major change. Moves towards increasing democratisation, since 2011, means Myanmar's tourism industry has been propelled from "tourism pariah" to rising "tourism star", and is experiencing an extraordinary growth in tourism arrivals with associated revenues and investment.

The rapidity of Myanmar's recent transition and development presents a unique opportunity to examine how contemporary forces of globalisation and neoliberalism determine the direction and mode of its tourism industry from its beginnings. This paper shows how tourism is presented by the national government as an engine for economic development and livelihood diversification in poverty-stricken rural areas whilst also assisting in supporting protected areas which are being established to fulfil international conservation objectives. It then demonstrates how this is re-shaped by a globalised tourism industry into a socially and economically exclusive model which capitalises upon weak governance and disempowered local stakeholders. We conclude with observations which may point towards a more sustainable and responsible tourism industry.

Paper short abstract:

Tourism is using unsustainable amounts of water to the detriment of communities. The price of water is beyond the reach of some and pushes others into exploitative paid work. Based on fieldwork in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia I explore the unsustainable and disempowering aspects of tourism development.

Paper long abstract:

"According to the UNWTO tourism can empower women in multiple ways, particularly through the provision of jobs and through income-generating opportunities in small and larger-scale tourism… enterprises. And, that "…tourism can be a tool for women to unlock their potential … and thus contribute to SDG 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" (UNWTO 2015). They also claim "tourism can play a critical role in achieving water access and security, as well as hygiene and sanitation for all…. safeguarding our most precious resource" (SDG 6.) Do the realities on the ground match this rhetoric?

Based on intensive fieldwork in Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia including over 100 interviews and a multi-stakeholder meeting in April and July 2015 this paper explores how the development of tourism far from being sustainable and empowering delivers the reverse for many of the women in Labuan Bajo.

Tourism development is competing for water supplies with the local residents. The wages from tourism jobs do not cover the cost of living when water has to be purchased. Tourism development has dramatically increased the cost of living and the cost of water in particular, driving women into exploitative paid work and doubling their burdens as they continue to be responsible for all domestic and water work. For some, water procurement prevents them for participating in work outside the home reinforcing gendered divisions. Rather than empowering women, tourism is placing restrictions on women and their and careers due to water procurement problems.

Paper short abstract:

There have been recent claims that a ‘new mobilities paradigm’ is especially appropriate to tourism studies. However, applying Kuhn’s to social science generally is problematic and, though useful, 'the new mobilities paradigm' is neither a paradigm nor necessary in tourism studies.

Paper long abstract:

Kuhn’s perception of paradigms changed over time, and eventually he considered the exemplar to be the defining feature of specialised scientific communities, the sole arbiters of scientific progress, who possess a shared lexicon, more or less incommensurable to non-members. The ensuing debate as to whether or not paradigms, including the new mobilities paradigm (NMP), are found in the social science is summarised, and claims it is of special relevance to tourism studies are examined. Authenticity has indeed been a key concept, but ‘the discourse of authenticity’ has not dominated tourism studies, and Western and Asian scholars, despite a slow start, are now increasingly and successfully applying Western social science concepts to Asian (especially Chinese) tourism without recourse to a ‘non-Western’ or ‘Asian’ paradigm. However, while ‘mobilities’ is not a paradigm, the NMP is a useful perspective that is commensurable with different theoretical approaches to tourism and other forms of travel.