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The second feature is that tourism has a degree of seasonality, which can
generate a dichotomy of core-periphery workers with employees in the
periphery holding temporary contracts. The final element of their analysis
is the fact that tourism has undergone a process of restructuring that has
seen the development of a variety of different forms of tourism such as
cultural and industrial heritage exhibits that have different spatial attri-
butes. Some of these 'newer' types of tourism benefit the core while others
benefit the periphery. Within the destination region, Smith (1995: 199)
adapted the work of Gunn (1979) to develop a list of criteria to define tourist
destination zones:
•
The region should have a set of cultural, physical and social characteris-
tics that create a sense of regional identity.
•
The region should contain an adequate tourism infrastructure to support
tourism development. Infrastructure includes utilities, roads, business
services, and other social services necessary to support tourism busi-
nesses and to cater to tourists' needs.
•
The region should be larger than just one community or one attraction.
•
The region should contain existing attractions or have the potential to
support the development of sufficient attractions to attract tourists.
•
The region should be capable of supporting a tourism planning agency
and marketing initiatives to guide and encourage future development.
•
The region should be accessible to a large population base. Accessibility
may be by road, scheduled air passenger service or cruise ships.
A number of the specific concepts and models related to regional economic
development discussed previously in this chapter have been applied to tour-
ism in both urban (Beauregard, 1998) and rural areas (Sharpley & Sharpley,
1997). Christaler (1963) argued that tourism is a means of obtaining eco-
nomic development in peripheral regions with rich tourists travelling from
the metropolitan centre to the periphery. The periphery has expanded con-
siderably, with international tourist arrivals passing the one billion mark in
2012, travelling to locations that are more and more remote. Oppermann
(1992) found that, in Malaysia, active tourists who stayed in at least four
different localities contributed more to the goals of regional development.
Porter (1998) suggests that the building of a tourism cluster in developing
economies can be a positive force in improving outlying infrastructure and
dispersing economic activity. Other authors, such as Williams and Shaw
(1991) illustrate the potential for tourism to bring development to economi-
cally neglected regions of European countries while Peppelenbosch and
Tepelman (1973) suggest that infrastructure requirements for tourism could
act as regional development tools.
Tourism developments have been constructed to act as growth poles
to help stimulate regional development. Mexican government planners, for
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