Tourism industry workers play an important role in the implementation of mitigation strategies. A destination may have good intentions in devising a code of conduct or a sustainable development policy; however, these strategies will fail if tourism industry workers are not properly informed of it and do not understand its rationale. For example, most tourists have been made aware of water consumption issues use by hotel placards informing them of the destination’s water resources and requesting that guests elect to reuse their linens. Many are willing to support this policy on the basis that they would not change their linens daily at home. However, it is too often the case that tourists find that their linens have been replaced by the housekeeping staff regardless of their decision. Similarly, tourists may be requested to separate their trash into designated bins for recycling, only to see staff dumping the bins together as waste. These tourists may become frustrated with this lack of follow-through and therefore ignore such requests in the future.
Finally, local residents must also understand the pertinent environmental issues of the destination and the strategies that are being undertaken to maintain its resources. Again, the best efforts of tourism stakeholders to develop activities with minimal environmental costs can be undermined by unsustainable activities undertaken by the local population. For example, the destination may seek to establish policies to conserve its resources—say sand or trees. However, if people in the local community have a basic need for these resources, or if they have little direct stake in tourism but can profit from the extraction of these resources, they will use them. This, of course, erodes the basis for tourism at the destination and contributes to a decline in the environmental quality and general quality of life in that place.
Conclusion
Environmental geography is a vital component in the geography of tourism, as it represents the intersection of people and environment. Although there are certainly exceptions, much of tourism involves some type of interaction between tourists and the environments of the places that they visit. As with all human-environment interactions, this will have an impact on the environment. While these impacts are more likely to have negative consequences, concerted efforts can be made by stakeholders at all scales (i.e., locally, nationally, and globally) to maximize the benefits that tourism can have for the environment at the destination and to minimize the costs.
Key Terms
climate change mitigation
environmental carrying capacity
environmental geography
perceptual carrying capacity
physical carrying capacity
protected area
tourism carrying capacity
Notes
1. Visit Baltimore, “An Inner Harbor Timeline,” accessed February 16, 2011, http://baltimore.org/misc/uploads/meetingplannerspdf/Inner_Harbor_Timeline.pdf.
2. The Wilds, “The Wilds,” accessed February 16, 2011, http://www.thewilds.org/.
3. Makasutu Culture Forest—The Gambia, “History,” accessed February 19, 2011, http://www.makasutu.com/index.php.
4. Kalemani Jo Mulongoy and Stuart Chape, “Protected Areas and Biodiversity: An Overview of Key Issues,” United Nations Environment Programme, accessed February 19, 2011, http://development.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/pdf/protected_areas_bioreport.pdf.
Sources
Castree, Noel, David Demeritt, and Diana Liverman. “Introduction: Making Sense of Environmental Geography.” In A Companion to Environmental Geography, edited by Noel Castree, David Demeritt, Diana Liverman, and Bruce Rhoads, 1–16. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2009.
Holden, Andrew. Environment and Tourism. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2008.
Nelson, Velvet. “Investigating Energy Issues in Dominica’s Accommodations.” Tourism and Hospitality Research 10 (2010): 345–58.
———. “Promoting Energy Strategies on Eco Certified Accommodation Websites.” Journal of Ecotourism 9, no. 3 (2010): 187–200.
Williams, Stephen. Tourism Geography. London: Routledge, 1998.
Part IV
The Geography of Space, Place, and Tourism
Destinations are the places of tourism. Just the idea of them is enough to captivate our imagination and create a demand for our experience of them. We formulate an idea in our minds of what we think it will be like and then, if we can, we try to turn these daydreams into reality. Given this opportunity, there are many factors that will shape our trip—from the way the destination is organized to the ways we choose to experience it. As tourists, we would never conceptualize this in geographic terms. However, as geographers, we know that basic concepts, like space and place, can help us better understand the various patterns of the world, including those of tourism.
Geography is described as a spatial science. The concept of space is used to study the organization of various phenomena across the earth’s surface. The geography of tourism allows us to explore the distinct spatial patterns of tourism at different geographic scales. Geography is also described as the study of places. The concept of place is used as a means of understanding the character of parts of the earth’s surface as well as the ways in which people think about and interact with them. Adapted for the geography of tourism, we can use place as a tool to help us understand the character of tourism destinations, the ways in which people think about those destinations, and the ways in which they interact with the destinations they visit.
Earlier in the book, we used the topical branches of geography to help us better understand the context of and key issues in tourism. In this final section, we will use fundamental concepts in geography to explore tourism as a geographic phenomenon. Chapter 11 examines the creation and evolution of distinct spatial patterns at tourism destinations. Chapter 12 discusses tourism representations of place, in which ideas and expectations are created about places before they are visited. Finally, chapter 13 considers the ways in which tourists experience the places they visit.
Chapter 11
The Organization, Development, and Management of Space in Tourism
Tourism does not occur evenly across space, whether we are considering the distribution of tourism destinations at the global scale or a destination’s activities at the local scale. However, the spatial perspective isn’t just important in helping us understand patterns of tourism. It plays a vital role in helping stakeholders make informed decisions regarding the planning, development, organization, and management of tourism to maximize all those benefits and minimize the costs discussed in the previous section. While these issues may seem as though they would be best approached from a business perspective, the geographic perspective has been incredibly influential in developing concepts and strategies to ensure the best possible interactions between tourists and the places they visit. In fact, some of the most important contributions to our understanding of tourism have been made by geographers.
This chapter uses geography’s spatial perspective to examine the organization, development, and management of tourism destinations. These factors play an important role in determining the nature of a destination, the type of tourists that will visit, and the experiences they will have there. In particular, we will examine the division of space at a destination and patterns of movement within the destination as a key spatial pattern. In addition, this chapter discusses some spatial management strategies that may be applied at destinations to maximize the economic, social, and environmental benefits of tourism and minimize its costs, to ensure long-term sustainability.
The Organization of Space in Tourism
Tourism destinations are organized in different ways depending on the nature of the destination and its attractions. In one of the most important analyses of tourism as a social phenomenon, Dean MacCannell drew upon work in sociology to describe this organization.1 In particular, he starts with sociologist Erving Goffman’s structural division of social settings. Goffman’s theory suggests that places have front regions and back regions. Front regions are those that are open to and intended for outsiders
. This is the part of a place that is carefully constructed to present a certain image to outsiders, and it’s where these outsiders interact with the insiders who function as hosts or service providers. Back regions are those that are reserved for insiders. This is the part of the place that facilitates insiders’ daily activities; it’s where they can be themselves rather than putting on a show or providing a service. Because the back region is generally closed to outsiders, this helps maintain the illusions presented to outsiders in the front. In his work, MacCannell extends this structural division into a continuum of stages from front to back and applies it to the context of tourism. This continuum is a useful tool in helping us appreciate the complex organization of space in tourism destinations.
The first stage of this continuum is a true front region; it is the space that has been entirely constructed for the purpose of tourism. This includes all-inclusive tourist resorts and theme parks. These sites have little, if any, relation to the character of the larger place in which they are situated. For example, one of the Busch Gardens amusement parks is referred to as Busch Gardens Europe. This does not reflect its location—which is, in fact, Williamsburg, Virginia—but rather describes the park’s European theme. This, of course, differs substantially from the other offerings of Colonial Williamsburg as a tourism destination. The people tourists encounter in these front regions are either also tourists, and therefore other outsiders, or employees doing a job. In the case of Busch Gardens, this ranges from the ticket taker to the “German barmaid” serving food and drinks at one of the park’s restaurants and the Irish dancers performing regular shows.
The second stage is also a front region designed for tourists, but it is has been decorated in a style intended to be reminiscent of a back region in that place. These areas are not likely to be mistaken for a back region; however, they aren’t intended to be. The Wimbledon Tennis Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, might make use of the name of the famous professional tennis tournament and perhaps even decorate their facilities with championship merchandise. Yet, no one will ever confuse this site with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, near London, England.
The third stage is still a front region, but it is a simulation of a back region. In contrast with the second stage, areas in this stage may be intended to convince visitors that they are, in fact, visiting a back region. While many working dude ranches offer the opportunity to participate in a cattle drive, interest in such experiences has given rise to tourist ranches. These ranches may exist within the same setting as the working ranches, which contributes to the appearance of authenticity, but it is a romanticized—and most likely sanitized—version of ranch life that is re-created for visitors to experience. These outsiders may not be aware of the difference between the actual and simulated experiences, either due to the provider’s attention to detail or simply their own lack of knowledge.
In some cases, it may be difficult to distinguish the third stage from the fourth stage. As a front region, space in the third stage is still constructed for the purpose of tourism. In contrast, the fourth stage is a back region open to outsiders. As such, it was not explicitly constructed for tourism, but it has been altered, to varying degrees, to accommodate tourism. Thus, working ranches would fall into this category. Likewise, this would include other types of working farms or factories that are open to visitors or conduct tours. For example, vineyards and breweries are primarily intended to produce wine and beer for sale, and these places conduct their normal business on a daily basis. Yet, at the same time, many are open to the public, at least on certain days or at specific times, to see the process and to sample the product.
The fifth stage is nearer to a true back region, but it is not completely closed to outsiders. Under various circumstances, outsiders may be allowed the occasional glance into these spaces. As a result, they might be “cleaned up” or modified a bit. While the home environment is typically a true back region described by the final stage, there are cases in tourism in which outsiders may be permitted into residents’ homes, again with varying degrees of accommodation. In some destinations with a poorly developed tourism infrastructure, there may be a lack of formal restaurants; therefore, tourists may take meals in residents’ homes. Although this is typically done on an informal basis, there are some examples of destinations that recognize this practice and have legal regulations for such in-home “restaurants” (e.g., Cuba’s paladares). Similarly, home stays and couch-surfing are intended to provide opportunities for tourists to meet local people and get an idea of what their life is like by staying in their homes. While residents who provide these services are unlikely to have the formalized arrangements for guests that might be found at bed-and-breakfasts, they will have to make some minor accommodations for their occasional guests.
The final stage, the sixth stage, is the true back region. This is the space that is not intended for, or expected to receive, outsiders. Such areas may be so far off of the typical tourist path at the destination that most tourists won’t find themselves there. They may not be of interest to tourists, or, in some cases, tourists may be prohibited from visiting them. Because tourists visiting the destination are generally not present here, the nature of the space and insiders’ patterns of behavior remain largely unchanged. With the exception of the cases described above, the home environment is typically a true back region. Even if an individual or a family lives in a destination region and works in the tourism industry, their home would provide a sort of refuge, a space of their own that need only meet their own expectations and allows them to do what they choose. Some cultural institutions place restrictions on social outsiders (i.e., foreign citizens or nonbelievers), such as dictating times they can be present, the services they can observe, and the attire they must wear. In some cases, these places may be closed entirely to outsiders. For example, although the Islamic holy city of Mecca is one of Saudi Arabia’s most popular tourism destinations, non-Muslims are prohibited.
This discussion of stages is part of a larger debate about the nature of the tourism experience. As we have already seen, the “tourist” is commonly generalized as and criticized for being someone who travels to another place without really experiencing it. In other words, the tourist’s experiences are primarily concentrated in the first stages of the continuum—those that represent front regions. The parts of a place he or she experiences are staged for the benefit of tourists and do not reflect the lived character of the place. As such, they are criticized as inauthentic. Indeed, some tourists are content with these experiences, as their primary motivation for travel may be to escape their normal environment as opposed to experiencing a new place. However, we know there are different types of tourists, and they have varying degrees of interest in experiencing the character of the place they are visiting.
Organized mass tourists will be those who are most content to experience only the front regions of a place, those that are designed for and cater to tourists. These tourists might travel to and stay at a popular all-inclusive chain resort on one of the well-developed islands of Hawaii, such as Oahu or Maui (stage 1). Individual mass tourists and explorers may experience more regions of the destination. They might stay at a resort on one of the islands (stage 1) but perhaps also eat at a Polynesian-themed restaurant (stage 2), attend a luau (stage 3), tour a pineapple plantation (stage 4), or rent a car and enjoy lunch at a local picnic grounds (stage 5). Drifters will choose a destination based on their desire to experience back regions. Thus, they might choose one of the least frequented islands of Hawaii, such as Molokai, or perhaps look even farther afield to the less developed islands of the South Pacific (figures 11.1 and 11.2).
Figures 11.1 and 11.2. While organized mass tourists travel to the Hawaiian Islands every year to enjoy the front regions of lavish resorts in a beautiful setting (top), there are also ample opportunities for explorers and drifters to get “off the beaten path” and experience the unique back regions (bottom). (Sources: Patricia Burnette and Kim Si
nkhorn)
This type of organization allows the interests and demands of different tourists to be met. At the same time, it may allow that place to better maintain its character. To attract all but the drifters, some adaptations must be made at the destination. At the least, this includes the development of a basic tourism infrastructure that will allow tourists to reach the destination, stay in facilities with the expected features and level of service, and participate in the activities that they want. However, niche destinations may be able to incorporate these adaptations into existing space that will fall into the middle stages of the spectrum without having to create any wholly artificial front regions. Mass destinations may choose to spatially concentrate this infrastructure into tourist zones that are entirely front regions, while the surrounding areas can be kept as back regions that continue to serve local functions.
Spatial Organization and Movement
Patterns of movement vary widely in tourism. We have already seen that movement can encompass the entire experience stage (e.g., cruises or road trips). There are also cases in tourism where little movement occurs during the experience stage. This is common at S destinations with all-inclusive resorts; there is little perceived reason or incentive for tourists to leave these resorts, as all of the desired amenities are available on-site. This can also be the case at destinations where tourists feel unsafe. In high crime areas, tourists may be advised against leaving the hotel or resort unnecessarily. However, movement will be a part of most tourists’ experience of a destination. These spatial patterns will depend on the organization of the destination, the nature of attractions, and the type of tourism, as well as the type of tourist and their level of comfort with the destination.
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