Tourism and Socio-cultural Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 223

cancellations of trips. Governments wanting to pursue tourism as an agent
of development need to ensure tourist security. A more light-hearted indica-
tor of the link between tourism, peace and stability is the 'McDonald's
theory of conflict-prevention' developed by Tom Friedman of the New York
Times . A McDonald's hamburger shop is often one of the main MNEs pres-
ent in more developed tourism destinations. The theory states that two
countries with McDonald's restaurants do not go to war with each other
(Naím, 2001).
With the shift to sustainability, additional focus has been placed on
involving local communities in planning processes (Hall, 2000). As Swar-
brooke (1999: 123) suggests, 'one of the cornerstones of sustainable tourism
development is the idea that the host community should be actively involved
in tourism planning and should perhaps control the industry and its activi-
ties'. The rationale for increasing the level of community involvement in
tourism planning is that it is believed to be in keeping with ideas of democ-
racy, it gives a voice to those who are most affected by impending develop-
ments, it makes use of local knowledge in decision-making, and it reduces
potential conflicts between hosts and guests (Swarbrooke, 1999). This shift
in focus has the potential to empower local communities and thereby
increase local political autonomy and promote opportunities for endogenous
decision-making. Empowerment and enrichment, which a community can
gain through the involvement of the local population, can be of benefit to the
overall civic process of a society. In many cases, the consensus is that develop-
ment should be small-scale with reasonable government intervention in order
for community development to be successful (Dahles, 2000; Kamsma &
Bras, 2000; Kappert, 2000; van der Straaten, 2000).
The empowerment of communities and women through tourism is dis-
cussed in detail in other chapters in this topic (see Chapters 4 and 6). This
section briefly looks at the empowerment issue as a social phenomenon
induced by tourism development. Issues of empowerment (especially female
empowerment) are considered to be an important indicator of social welfare
(Andrews, 1988). Although the United Nations established the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and affirmed the equal rights of men and
women in 1948 (Momsen, 1991), it was not until Danish economist Boserup,
in 1970, documented the uneven distribution of development benefits to men
and women that agencies and governments responded with initiatives to
address the situation (Staudt, 1998). In development and modernisation the-
ories, men and women are affected differently. In modernising developing
nations primarily based on agriculture, for example, the new and better-
paying jobs tend to be given to men, with women often losing control of, or
access to, resources (Momsen, 1991).
With tourism being a part of the service industry, it is often considered
part of the 'informal sector' and workers are not officially registered. Women
in Africa and the Caribbean play a significant role in the retail sector labour