Conclusion: Tourism and Development - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 465

utilised in non-Western settings ? How does sustainability act as a barrier to
tourism development ? Is it time to move beyond sustainability ?
Part 3 of the topic identifies barriers and challenges to using tourism as
an agent of development. While tourism has the potential to contribute to
the economic and social development of a destination, there are characteris-
tics of the industry which limit its potential as a development tool. The
emerging global power structures of the tourism industry can take control
out of the hands of the destination leaving only the local elites and multina-
tional corporations to benefit. Climate change will have a significant impact
on the entire planet, impacting destinations, tourists and the industry. It was
also argued that tourists themselves are more generally interested in them-
selves and their needs as opposed to altering their form of consumption to
maximise the benefits of tourism for the destination. Is there really a grow-
ing segment among the tourist population who is becoming more environ-
mentally friendly and concerned that the money they spend circulates
throughout the local economy ? Human rights violations in tourism are
increasingly coming to the forefront and those destinations which attract
tourists yet violate human rights will not move forward on development
indicators. A range of global risks can also challenge tourism development
and utilising international studies as a lens may help to better understand
these barriers and challenges. Finally, the last chapter challenges the concept
of sustainable development. The use of a set of restrictive guidelines may
actually prevent other forms of development such as large-scale mass tour-
ism from potentially being a very good source of foreign exchange and an
alternative model is put forward.
The Nature of Tourism and Development
To conclude the topic, four concepts will be considered: the nature of
development, the nature of the tourism industry, the nature of tourists and
the nature of the destination. The nature of development and how it is mea-
sured has become more complex over time. Knutsson (2009) refers to this
increasing complexity by stating there is widening potential repertoire in the
intellectual history of development. The question of how a region or a nation
moves towards becoming more developed is just as complex. Development
has moved from a focus on economic growth to a more holistic approach
taking in a wider range of variables, so what is the goal of development ? It is
important to ask the questions: development for whom and development by
whom ? Many of the development paradigms are based in Western thought
and consideration needs to be given as to how appropriate they are in a global
context. It is also important to keep in mind that real problems of under-
development in the world exist and for the individual experiencing problems
of day-to-day survival, theoretical debates may not hold much meaning. As