Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The resort development process starts with the developer/development group that has a
number of key entrepreneurial roles which include 'a visionary, an entrepreneur, and the
orchestrator of the project' (Wickline: international development consultant, USA: see
Honey and Krantz, 2007: 82). Their key roles involve searching for resort development
opportunities, assembling fi nance from a variety of sources, and of course acquiring land to
develop the resort. Key sources of fi nance include private equity funds, pension funds, large
banks and other fi nancial institutions. The main drivers tend to be major investors looking
for good returns, and at this stage such investment may involve large banks to help fund the
development process. There are different pathways in terms of such investment opportunities,
including resort development companies, global investment companies, and of course the
stimulus of government. In terms of the fi rst of these, resort development companies are
increasing in their importance as their growth in numbers suggests (Honey and Krantz,
2007). They offer a range of services encompassing the entire process of development shown
in
Figure 31.1.
More importantly,
Figure 31.1
highlights the key players in the process along
with the major components required to develop such resort complexes. As can be seen the
major components are land, buildings, management aspects and brand creation.
A second pathway identifi ed by Honey and Krantz (2007) is slightly more complex, and
involves companies that advertise investment opportunities within the tourism sector. Most
operate online and will in many cases either work closely with a resort development company
or be linked to government agencies. In many cases the state plays a similar role through
promoting such investment opportunities (
Figure 31.1
).
The involvement of the state leads on to the third resort development pathway where it
plays a key development role, sometimes with the aid of international agencies such as the
World Bank (Hawkins and Mann, 2007). The role of these agents in the coastal development
process has received slightly more attention as pointed out by Shaw and Agarwal (2007),
Clancy (2001) and Brenner and Aguilar (2002) in the case of Mexico. In this instance,
tourism development became a major part of the country's economic plan based around the
creation of mega beach resorts such as Cancun. However, there is much variation within and
between the pleasure-periphery, as highlighted by studies undertaken by Honey and Krantz
(2007) on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund and Hawkins
et al.
(2002) for the UN
Environmental Programme. With regard to the latter, this study attempted to outline the
Figure 31.1
Ownership structure of purpose-built resorts
