Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
2
The Evolution of
Development Theory
and Tourism
David J. Telfer
Introduction
The evolution of development thought since World War II is complex and
ever changing as various paradigms come to the forefront and recede, though
never disappearing as they face new and varied critiques. The diversity of
voices and ideas on development continues to expand in what Knutsson
(2009) refers to as a widening potential repertoire in the intellectual history
of development. The focus of development has widened in scope dramati-
cally from an initial focus on economic growth in the 1950s to a more com-
prehensive perspective today, reflecting shifts towards safeguarding the
environment with concerns over global climate change as well as the adop-
tion of a pro-poor agenda as evident in the UN Millennium Development
Goals (Telfer & Sharpley, 2008). Development theory and tourism have
evolved along similar time lines since World War II, with tourism continuing
to be one of the leading strategies for development in many destinations.
Tourism is being used to generate foreign exchange, increase employment,
attract development capital, create enterprises and promote regional develop-
ment as well as economic independence (Britton, 1982a; UNWTO, 2011f).
Countries are fiercely competing for international tourism receipts forecasted
to total over US$2 trillion by 2020 (WTO, 1998a) and arrivals predicted to
top 1.8 billion by 2030 (UNWTO, 2011f).
The purpose of this chapter is to address the theoretical gap between
development theory and the use of tourism as a development tool. It focuses
on the nature of development and the evolution of development theory since
the ending of World War II. Over the 10 plus years since the first edition of
this topic was published, new paradigms in development theory and tourism
have emerged reflecting the broadening of the development agenda. One of
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