Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
2 4
GEOGRAPHIES OF TOURISM
AND DEVELOPMENT
It was a warm summer day in the Andes Mountains and Ramón, the leader of an indigenous-
run tourism project, was commenting on their efforts and enthusiasm with the initiative. He
mentioned they were seeking to promote development and autonomy in their communities
and were very proud of their achievements. He was describing the risks and tensions they
have faced and the need to remain aware of them when he suddenly stopped, changed his tone
and expression and said he really didn't like development; that he actually didn't agree with
development. His comment points to the complex and contradictory nature of development
and tourism, which are concepts that both seduce and bring a sense of hope, while at the same
time invoking fears, distrust and bad memories. This chapter will explore geographical
approaches to development and tourism, two contested concepts that have increased in
importance in the last few decades and that have changed the world through their inter-
twined trajectories.
Development is a commonly used term but its meaning changes across time, places
and actors, and is highly contested. It is both a powerful discourse, bringing together ideas
about economics, politics, culture, the environment and social change, and a material,
concrete process which brings signifi cant changes to different places and peoples, through
which 'livelihoods are transformed, people and communities are moved and social relations
are reworked' (Lawson, 2007: 26). Despite its pretensions of neutrality and universality,
development is inherently political and ideological, linked to the values and belief systems
that underpin its assumptions (Power, 2003). Since its beginnings development has focused
attention on the so-called Third World, but it is deeply engrained in the histories and interests
of the developed world (Escobar, 1995). Development, then, infl uences our ideas of what
is desirable as 'good change', our understandings of places, peoples and ourselves, and
impacts the everyday conditions of our lives in grounded and geographically uneven and
unequal ways.
Despite their differing perspectives and approaches, geographers have contributed to the
study of development, highlighting issues around place, space and scale. They have embraced
a wide range of topics, including the spatial variability of development processes and its
causes; the geographical context in which development ideas and practices are situated and
how they vary in reinforcing, contesting or reproducing existing power relations; the ways in
which development is experienced and operates in different places and at different scales, as
