Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
time. They were developed at an early stage in
international mass tourism during the 1960s,
when rising incomes, increased leisure time and
holidays with pay, technological advances in
transport, and a desire to travel fuelled a tourism
boom in Europe. In spite of the loss of their
fashionable status as the 'jet set' visitors—who
often create the image of a subsequently popular
venue—moved on to new, less frequented
destinations, the total numbers of tourists to the
Spanish Costas have not fallen substantially.
Instead, the nature of the industry there has
changed as luxury hotel and restaurant provision
has been replaced or outnumbered by lower-class
hotels, self-catering units, cheap cafes and
supermarkets (Barke and France 1996).
In a similar way, there is to be a revitalisation of
Butlin's holiday camps in Britain (Walsh 1997),
both as a response to changing consumer demand
and in an attempt to revive the flagging profits of
the company. By providing a focus for holiday
demand, these revitalised camps should help to
ease pressure on more vulnerable locations
elsewhere. Similar ventures, like Center Parcs and
a range of theme parks, provide popular short-
break destinations in areas close to centres of
demand. They are also based on robust artificial
rather than less resilient natural attractions.
The perception of mass tourism solely as a
provider of ghettos that focus visitors away from
less resilient areas is perhaps a little defeatist. It
is
possible for this traditional form of tourism to
become gradually less destructive and begin to
move towards achieving higher levels of
sustainability, even in less developed countries. The
use of more local food and menus, thereby
improving links with local agriculture and
encouraging the employment of local chefs, is one
step in this direction. As such, it begins to
introduce the concept of local participation and
empowerment through the increased employment
of local people, especially in skilled and managerial
positions, which leads to a rise in local ownership
and more involvement in decision making. These
are examples of 'green viruses', which are
described by Muller (1994) and illustrated in Box
23.3 in relation to the West Indies. Changes like
Mass tourism—can it become more
sustainable?
Traditionally, this type of tourism caters for those
who prefer a risk-free environment, often within
a familiar setting, where the cultural components
have been imported, e.g. language, beer, 'tea like
mother makes', fish and chips. Such people usually
prefer to spend their holiday among large numbers
of like-minded companions, who require English-
speaking guides and hotel staff, and entertainment
similar to that found at home. Demands of this
nature have often provoked conflict with host
communities and environments (among others,
see Mathieson and Wall 1982; Pearce 1989).
Nevertheless, to some extent this pattern provides
a degree of sustainability for the industry and for
the market as a whole, although some sectors of
the market decline as wealthy and fashionable
tourists quickly move away to remoter, less
commercial venues as their satisfaction levels fall.
A pragmatic acceptance of these changes does
not inevitably lead to an abandonment of the
search for a more sustainable approach to tourism.
The creation of tourist ghettos can satisfy a
considerable proportion of existing demand and
focus it into areas and resorts whose environment
has been degraded in the process and the lives,
customs and economy of the local people
irrevocably altered. However, concentrating
visitors into tourist ghettos does not necessarily
involve a continued deterioration of the physical
and human environment after the initial changes.
Many seaside holiday resorts, like Blackpool and
Scarborough, are over 100 years old. Their
construction changed the physical environment,
but subsequent modifications have led to minimal
structural changes. Local authorities, even in
'notorious' resorts like Torremolinos, have
attempted to improve the image of the destination
by measures such as planting trees, cleaning and
upgrading buildings, promenades, street lighting
and monuments, removing rubbish, and
improving sewerage systems.
Many of the resorts of the Spanish Costas,
including Torremolinos, have continued to
provide a focus for tourists over a long period of
