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initiatives not only function within but are dependent upon the continua-
tion of the mainstream tourism system (Harrison, 2008).
More significantly, perhaps, the inherent divisiveness of sustainable tourism
principles which implicitly label more traditional, mass forms of tourism
development as 'bad' or unsustainable also severely restricts the extent to
which tourism can contribute to development. In other words, the increas-
ingly 'entrenched, doom-laden apocalyptic view' (Middleton, 1998: 230) about
the 'crisis' of mass tourism during the 1990s, referring to both the product of
mass tourism as manifested in extensive and homogenous 'Costa'-type devel-
opments and also its modes and patterns of consumption, firmly rejects the
possibility that such forms of tourism cannot only contribute to development
but may also do so more effectively than alternative or sustainable tourism.
As noted above, however, not only does tourism occur in innumerable
different destinational contexts (each destination seeking to address its own
specific developmental challenges and needs through tourism), but in many
cases destinations have purposefully, and successfully, turned to traditional,
mass forms of tourism to underpin their social and economic development.
This not only suggests that it is right and proper that destinations decide
upon their own path to development rather than accepting policies (such as
sustainable tourism development) that might be imposed upon them, but
also it is the characteristics and needs of individual destinations that should
determine the nature, scale and direction of tourism development. This, in
turn, points to an alternative approach to developing tourism based upon the
'capitals' possessed by a destination.
A Destination Capitals Approach to Tourism
Development
The concept of 'capital', not only in the traditional sense of economic
capital but also in a broader sense to include other capitals, such as social,
cultural or natural capital, as a basis for sustainable development policy is not
new. For example, the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA), which 'centres
on the objectives, scope and priorities for development from the perspective
of poor people' (Carney, 2002: 13), focuses upon five distinctive capitals -
natural, social, human, physical and financial capital - as the basis for under-
standing and analysing the livelihoods of the poor. In a similar way, Forum
for the Future (www.forumforthefuture.org) offers the 'Five Capitals Model'
as a basis for sustainable development within a capitalist framework. In
other words, it identifies five distinctive capitals that any organisation uses
to deliver its products and services. These products and services contribute,
in turn, to improvements in people's quality of life but, in order to continue
to do so, stocks of them must be sustained and enhanced (Figure 15.4).
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