Tourism and Regional Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 162

world-class recognisable icon. Other entrepreneurial strategies in promoting
redevelopment include attracting a world-class event to the city. 'The
Olympic Games represents the biggest prize for cities seeking mega-events'
(Holcomb, 1999). The main focus for the unsuccessful Toronto 2008 Olympic
bid was a multi-million dollar redevelopment plan of the city's waterfront
supported by the city, province and federal governments while the 2012
Olympics in the UK saw the redevelopment of parts of London.
Heritage tourism in urban areas has received increased attention (Jansen-
Verbeke & Lievois, 1999). In the context of European cities, it is suggested that
heritage tourism has the mission of marketing nostalgia, authenticity, educa-
tion and entertainment in a way to safeguard the heritage resources for future
generations. This is taking place within the objective of using tourism as a
stimulus for the urban economy and adding value to urban life (Jansen-
Verbeke & Lievois, 1999). The danger, however, is that these fragile sites are
finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the growing number of tourists.
Finally, casino complexes have become major tools in urban areas. Las
Vegas and Macau are two places synonymous with casino development
(Balas, 2013). In Las Vegas from 1970 to 2011, visitor numbers went from 6.7
million to 38.9 million and room inventory went from 25,430 to 150,161
(LVCVA, 2013). In Macau, there were 28 million visitors in 2011 (Balas,
2013). In comparing Las Vegas and Macau, each city has two main clusters
of casinos with major investments in Las Vegas at $33 billion and in Macau
at $6 billion (Balas, 2013). In the context of Las Vegas, however, this growth
strategy and the claims of job creation have to be tempered with increases in
compulsive gambling, struggles of citizens to afford housing in service sector
jobs, the reduction of public space in favour of private space, bankruptcy of
small independent stores, the fiscal difficulties of local government trying to
subsidise profitable gambling establishments while maintaining local infra-
structure and environmental degradation (Parker, 1999). Both Las Vegas and
Macau faced the 2008 global financial crisis, which slowed development
projects, making real estate entrepreneurs and policymakers cognisant of the
challenges of sustainability and climate change (Balas, 2013). The focus on
urban entertainment centres was highlighted by Hannigan (1998) in his
book Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis , in which he
states that cities have come to represent fantasy experiences and piers, facto-
ries and warehouses have been replaced by casinos, megaplexes, and themed
restaurants. Revisiting the topic in 2007, Hannigan suggests that the fantasy
city development is on the wane in North America; however, it has flour-
ished in other regions in the world, most notably in Dubai where attempts
to diversify the economy have seen a shift to tourism and real estate with
the creation of artificial islands in the shape of palm trees (Palm Jumeirah),
an indoor ski slope and the world's tallest building: the Burj Khalifa. With
the fantasy city on the wane, there has been a shift to the creative city,
where rather than the focus being on casinos and convention centres, culture