Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dependency theory has faced a wide range of criticisms which mirror its
diversity of approaches. It is criticised for being highly abstract, pessimistic,
rhetorical and for emphasising external conditions over internal factors (So,
1990). Booth's (1985) well-known critique of dependency argued on a
number of fronts, including the fact that the meta-theoretical influences
within Marxism have led to grand simplifications, which are either wrong
or too general to be relevant to the most important practical issues facing
development economists (see also Booth, 1993). Critics argue that the depen-
dency perspective, with the exception of the structuralist school, is vague
on policy recommendations and does not identify concrete plans for newly
independent states (So, 1990). Friedmann and Douglas (1978) have published
a critique of the development strategy of the dualistic dependency theory.
The protectionist policies and isolationism of the structural school have also
been criticised for being overly optimistic about the point that industrialisa-
tion would end all development problems (So, 1990; Cardoso, 1979).
Dependency and Tourism
Tourism has been accused of creating the equivalent of a new type of
plantation economy. Tourism destinations in the developing world are the
'pleasure periphery' (the tourism belt that surrounds the industrialised zones
of the world) 'where the rich of the world relax and intermingle' (Turner &
Ash, 1975: 12). The needs of the metropolitan centre are being met by the
developing countries where the wealth generated from tourism is transferred
from the 'colony to the motherland' (Mathews, 1978). The predominance of
foreign ownership in the industry imposes structural dependency on devel-
oping countries (Britton, 1989) in a core-periphery relationship preventing
destinations from fully benefiting from tourism (Nash & Smith, 1991).
Dependency has been one of the dominant development theories used in
tourism research, and it has been explored by several authors (Britton, 1982a,
1987a, 1987b, 1989; Chaperon & Bramwell, 2013; Harrison, 1995a; Høivik &
Heiberg, 1980; Hills & Lundgren, 1977; Lacher & Nepal, 2010; Mathews &
Richter, 1991; Mbaiwa, 2005b; Mowforth & Munt, 2009; Turner, 1976a;
Wellings & Crush, 1983; and Wu, 1982). The basis of the dependency argu-
ment lies in the organisation of the tourism industry and in the structure of
Third World economies (Lea, 1988). Muller (1979) has argued that multina-
tional corporations have led to the under-development of the Third World.
The controlling and integrating force in international tourism has become
the large multinational First World companies which control airlines, cruise
ships, tour wholesaling and hotel chains. In the airline industry, alliances
such as the Star Alliance and One World have 26 and 14 member airlines
respectively and dominate the skies, and even ecotourism can be externally
controlled, as in the Okavango Delta of Botswana where foreign safari
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