Travel Reference
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tenets of its parental paradigm) is unachievable in practice, but also has
resulted in a highly polarised and value-laden perspective on tourism devel-
opment. It is necessary, therefore, to consider briefly the theoretical weak-
nesses of the concept of sustainable tourism development that underpin its
role as a potential barrier, as opposed to contributor, to development.
The 'Problem' of Sustainable Tourism Development
Despite the widespread adoption of its principles and objectives, there
has been, as suggested earlier, a surprisingly consistent failure to explore the
theoretical links between sustainable tourism and sustainable development.
As a result, the concept of development as both the justification for and objec-
tive of tourism is rarely, if ever, considered; indeed, it is rarely questioned
whether tourism, in whatever form, is a suitable or effective vehicle for the
achievement of development.
More specifically, only recently have attempts been made to transpose
tourism onto the sustainable development template (see Figure 15.3).
These have revealed a number of significant problems or factors which
militate against the achievement of 'true' sustainable tourism development
(Sharpley, 2000b, 2009b). In particular:
•
As evident from Figure 15.3, a fundamental requirement of sustainable
development is the adoption of a holistic approach which locates the
developmental and environmental consequences of any activity or process
within a global socio-economic, political and ecological context. For tour-
ism, such a perspective is challenging, if not impossible, given the frag-
mented, multi-sectoral, private sector dominated and profit-motivated
character of the tourism production system. That is, the scale, complexity
and diversity of tourism and its interconnectedness with other sectors and
activities, is such that a global approach to its development is in reality
unachievable. Moreover, a specific problem in this context is the fact that
tourism, by definition, involves transport, and most forms of powered
transport are inherently unsustainable (Høyer, 2000). Thus, even if a par-
ticular local tourism project meets sustainability criteria, the travel
component may render it unsustainable in a broader environmental con-
text. Indeed, and as considered in Chapter 11, the environmental impact
of air travel in particular (both aircraft emissions and infrastructural
developments related to air transport) has not only emerged as a major
contemporary concern, but is also a highly controversial topic (Becken &
Simmons, 2005; Becken & Hay, 2007).
•
The political-economy of tourism can frequently represent a barrier to devel-
opment (Chapter 10). Thus, although dependency/under-development
is by no means inevitable, the structure, ownership and control of the
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