Conclusion: Tourism and Development - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 455

global development. Global development is still evolving and focuses on new
emerging multilateral global governance structures. The efforts in promoting
a continental approach to tourism in Africa for 2063, noted above, reflect the
dynamic in global development of constructing new partnerships. At the
same time, however, modernisation remains a driving force in the tourism
industry as economic growth still is at the heart of the rationale for tourism's
role as a development tool. The sustainable development paradigm also con-
tinues to hold a dominant place in tourism (although challenged in this
book), as is evident by the innumerable codes of conduct, guidelines and
certifications developed both for the industry and tourists. All development
paradigms continue to play a role and as Hettne (2009) argues, development
paradigms need to be viewed in historical context and should not be viewed
as an evolution towards a universal theory of development.
As the nature of development continues to evolve and expand, it is impor-
tant to keep in mind that tourism is just one industry. Are we asking too
much from this industry to contribute to all the expanded dimensions of
development ? Yet in many destinations, tourism is the primary strategy for
development, whilst in others it plays a significant role in regional develop-
ment plans. Tourism development projects are not necessarily a universal
development option and what works in one country will not necessarily
work in another. As noted in Chapter 14, each country or region has its own
history, geography, anthropology, economics and so on that must be under-
stood as the destination comes to interact with the globalised tourism indus-
try, itself also impacted by a range of global risks. In the broader development
literature, various commentators have attempted to identify what makes
some countries successful and others not. Collier (2007) argues that while
many countries have developed remarkably quickly, the real challenge is the
countries at the bottom that are falling behind and often falling apart.
Sharma's (2013) Breakout Nations , Acemoglu and Robinson's (2012) Why
Nations Fail and Ghani and Lockhart's (2009) Fixing Failed States are three
books that attempt to document the challenges these nations face and the
potential strategies needed to move forward. Any prescription for change
(endogenous, exogenous or a combination) must, however, be viewed within
the values and ideology driving the change. Acemoglu and Robinson (2012),
for example, argue there is a link between what they refer to as inclusive
economic and political institutions and prosperity. What role, then, can tour-
ism play in contributing to development in these countries ? It is important
to note that many developed countries also have many citizens that face
issues of poverty as well.
The first edition of this topic, published in 2002, was compiled in
response to the then lack of literature in tourism studies providing a theoreti-
cal underpinning of tourism as a vehicle for development. This second edi-
tion attempts to further build stronger links between development theory
and the processes of tourism development. Therefore, this edition continues