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development of wine tourism in the area is also due to the numerous food
and wine festivals and events held throughout the year featuring local food
and wine, which highlight not only the product but also the producers and
farmers (Telfer, 2000b; Telfer & Hashimoto, 2013b). One of the key factors
for the success of rural tourism in the Niagara Region has been the develop-
ment of partnerships. As indicated in Telfer (2001a), the success of the winer-
ies has been the development of competitive advantage of embedded clusters
similar to the concepts highlighted by Porter (1998).
While rural tourism continues to gain in popularity as a regional develop-
ment tool, planners need to be aware of the possible conflicts and whether
the region can accommodate large numbers of visitors. There is also possible
migration of labour out of the traditional industries such as agriculture into
the tourism sector leaving fewer people on the farm when needed at harvest-
ing time. Reflecting on over 30 years of modern rural tourism, Lane (2009:
366) argues that 'a key challenge will be to retain the individual post-Fordism
approach inherent in rural tourism, retaining personal discovery and an arti-
san approach while being keenly professional'. With increased competition
between rural areas, Butler and Hall (1998: 117) pose the question '[h]ow
many heritage trails, pioneer museums and villages, historic houses, roadside
produce stalls, authentic country cooking, festivals, country shops, and
Devonshire teas can we stand ? ' This increased competition has forced rural
areas to develop strategic place marketing through imaging or reimaging.
Island Tourism Development
From the Caribbean to the islands of the Mediterranean or the South
Pacific, tourism is the development option of choice for many islands, where
there is a lack of resources and a limited range of other economic activities.
As Milne (1992) suggests, the microstate category of islands is an amorphous
one as it groups relatively large nations with mature tourism industries such
as Malta, Fiji or Barbados alongside extremely small states with limited visi-
tor flows and small populations such as the Cook Islands or Niue. In develop-
ing tourism, there is a set of common issues which islands face (Butler, 1996).
Islands are vulnerable to external influences, have limited local markets and
lack a critical mass. Depending on the island, they may have poor communi-
cations and transportation links with potential markets. One of the sources
of vulnerability is a high rate of dependence on agencies for providing ser-
vices such as transportation and finance. In cases where the government is
off island, their priorities may be different from those of the host population.
Despite these challenges, many island nations pursue tourism. However, in
general, the smaller the island, the less control the local population has had
over the nature and scale of the tourism development (Butler, 1996; Graci,
2013). More recently, concerns have been raised over long-haul flights to
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