Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
relationship between production and consumption in terms of the supply of products.
Both the tourists' consumption (often expressed as the demand—examined in Chapter 2)
and the products and services produced for their visit (the supply) form important inputs
in the overall system of tourism and the wider development of society. However, prior to
examining different facets of production, the geographer's contribution to theoretical
analysis in this area is examined.
TOWARDS A CRITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF TOURISM
PRODUCTION
According to Britton (1991:451), the geography of tourism has suffered from weakly
developed theory since 'geographers working in the field have been reluctant to recognise
explicitly the capitalistic nature of the phenomenon they are researching'. While Shaw
and Williams (1994) review the concepts of production and consumption (also see
Debbage and Ioannides 2004; A.M.Williams 2004), it is pertinent to examine critically
Britton's (1991) innovative research in this area since it provides a theoretical framework
in which to interpret tourism production. Within the tourism production systems are
• economic activities designed to produce and sell tourism products
• social groups, cultural and physical elements included in tourism products as attractions
• agencies associated with the regulation of the production system.
In a theoretical context, Britton (1991) argued that the tourism production system was
simultaneously a mechanism for the accumulation of capital, the private
appropriation of wealth, the extraction of surplus value from labour, and
the capturing of (often unearned) rents from cultural and physical
phenomena (especially public goods) which are deemed to have both a
social and scarcity value.
(Britton 1991:455)
The production system may be viewed as having a division of labour between its various
components (transport, accommodation, tour operators, attractions and ancillary services)
as well as markets (the demand and supply of tourist products) and regulatory agencies
(e.g. industry associations) as well as industry organisations and structures to assist in the
production of the final product. Britton (1991:456) rightly points out that 'the geography
texts on tourism offer little more than a cursory and superficial analysis of how the
tourism industry is structured and regulated by the classic imperatives and laws
governing capitalist accumulation'.
The tourism industry is made up of a range of separate industry suppliers who offer
one or more components of the final product which requires intermediaries to co-ordinate
and combine the elements which are sold to the consumer as a discrete package. Both
tour operators and travel agents have a vital role to play in this context when one
recognises the existence of a supply chain (Figure 3.3). What this emphasises is the
variety of linkages which exist and the physical separation of roles and responsibilities to
the supply chain (see Page 1994b). While information technology may assist in
