Tourism in Peripheral Areas: Case Studies
160
Tourism in Peripheral Areas: Case Studies
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781845413965 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Channel View Publications |
| Publication date: | 08/31/2000 |
| Series: | Aspects of Tourism , #1 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 160 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Derek Hall is a Partner in Seabank Associates, and latterly Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, UK. He has extensive experience in the field of tourism and political geography. His recent publications include Tourism and Geopolitics: Issues and Concepts from Central and Eastern Europe (CABI, 2017).
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Tourism in Peripheral Areas
Case Studies
By Frances Brown, Derek Hall
Multilingual Matters
Copyright © 2000 Frances Brown, Derek Hall and the authors of individual chaptersAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84541-396-5
CHAPTER 1
Perceptions from the Periphery: The Experience of Wales
DAVID BOTTERILL, R. ELWYN OWEN, LOUISE EMANUEL, NICOLA FOSTER, TIM GALE, CLIFF NELSON AND MARTIN SELBY
Introduction
This chapter looks critically at some of the key issues that underpin the notion of periphery, in the context of tourism in Wales. Ours is an excellent vantage point from which to examine issues regarding the periphery. Wales is a small country of some 2.8 million people, located on the western edge of Europe next to a larger neighbour. It bears many of the hallmarks of a peripheral area, having been traditionally regarded as one of the most economically disadvantaged parts of the United Kingdom. During the last two decades the economy of Wales has undergone a major transformation, with the old heavy industries of coal, iron and steel being replaced by a more diversified pattern of light manufacturing and service-based industries. Tourism is a major industry which, along with other elements of the economic and social fabric, has been subject to major structural change during recent years.
The chapter is in three parts. It begins with two introductory context-setting sections dealing respectively with the characteristics of peripheries and the main features of tourism in Wales. Two analytical themes set a framework for the consideration of five case studies in part three, which forms the paper's substantive core. Over the past five years several research projects have been in progress at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, examining different aspects of tourism in Wales. These studies provide recent empirical evidence of the condition of tourism in the periphery. Data from studies of place perception and rural tourism development, urban tourism, seaside holiday resorts, coastal pollution and international tourism to Wales are used to analyse critically tourism in the context of the core–periphery axiom.
The Periphery: Notions and Characteristics
Definitions
Humorists throughout the ages have warned us to choose our parents with care. Geographic humorists might remind us to choose our birth-places with equal caution! Because it sums up so many economic and cultural considerations, our location in terms of nationality continues to be one of the prime determinants of our life – and indeed has a bearing on whether we will even survive the trauma of our birth. (Haggett, 1983)
This quotation highlights succinctly – possibly at the risk of trivialising – the fact that we live in an unequal world. These inequalities have long been the focus of academic interest, spawning a strong tradition of theoretical and empirical work under the banner of development and regional studies. They also raise challenging policy issues and have prompted a wide variety of official initiatives aimed at ameliorating economic and social imbalances at local, national and international levels.
Like any other specialist area, the field of development studies has its own terminology, which has evolved over time in response to new theoretical insights and fashion. Reflecting the subject matter itself, many of the terms have a hierarchical dimension: thus, they distinguish between rich and poor, developed and developing, north and south, and so on. The metaphors used to describe the status of an area within the development hierarchy have become more colourful over time and, on occasion, more abstruse. Thus, for example, a distinction has been drawn in the USA between rust belt and sun belt industries while in Europe the long established 'golden triangle' has been joined by the 'blue banana' regions (Brunet, 1989).
Two further and very potent terms within the development study lexicon are 'core' and 'periphery'. Their meaning can be encapsulated as follows:
In any geographical space – whether a nation, a group of nations (like western Europe) or the world, there is a tendency for inequalities to grow, because an advanced area or 'core' attracts resources that increase its leadership and thus its relative income. (Seers et al., 1980)
Freedom of investment choice and the need to minimise transport costs has of course favoured the 'Golden triangle' countries in the EEC and operated to the disadvantage of peripheral industrial countries. (Kilby, 1980: 9)
Although the distinction between core and periphery is essentially a spatial one, the characteristics which set the two apart are often economic and social in nature. In brief, and at the risk of considerable over-simplification, the archetypal core location enjoys a high level of economic vitality, generally measured in terms of the value of the goods and services produced. It is metropolitan in character, and its residents enjoy a good standard of living and a vibrant lifestyle. The periphery, on the other hand, is characterised by relatively low levels of economic activity. Population is sparser, reflecting the greater reliance on agriculture and allied rural industries. There is often a long tradition of out- migration to more favoured areas. Infrastructure and social amenities tend to be poorer.
The nature of peripherality
It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss in substantially more detail the disparities between core and peripheral areas. It will be sufficient to note that the literature identifies a number of salient characteristics which set the two apart. The main ones are illustrated in Table 1.1 and then described in more detail. They tend to be mutually reinforcing.
The most obvious disadvantage of peripheral areas, from a manufacturing and service delivery standpoint, is their remoteness from mass markets. This is often coupled with a remoteness from suppliers of raw materials and components. Together these factors mean higher transportation costs, placing firms located within the periphery at a comparative disadvantage in today's highly competitive environment.
Peripheral areas often lack effective control over major decisions affecting their economic and social well-being. The major decisions tend to be taken at the core, where the key economic and political institutions are based and the headquarters of major companies are located. As a consequence, organisations and individuals within the periphery often feel a sense of alienation, a feeling of governance from afar and a lack of control over their own destiny.
Internal economic linkages tend to be weaker at the periphery than at the core. The weakness of regional multiplier effects is a salient characteristic. Thus, for example, whereas the creation of an economic activity in the core will probably encourage other activities there, the creation of economic activities in the periphery will tend to have comparatively limited secondary impacts within the hinterland. Material flows will tend to be between the core and the periphery, rather than within the periphery.
Migration flows tend to be from the periphery to the core. This is probably the most dramatic characteristic and it is readily demonstrated by the sustained population drift from rural areas to urban centres in developed countries and by the mass migrations that have occurred from peripheral countries to their core counterparts. Irrespective of the destination, the outcome is a loss of people from the younger, more active and more talented segments. Since many peripheral areas are also important tourism destinations, they are often seen as good retirement locations. Although on the face of it this can help to counteract the effects of outward migration, the inflow of older people serves only to exacerbate the imbalance caused by the loss of young people.
Peripheries are characterised by a comparative lack of innovation. New products, new technologies and new ideas tend to be imported rather than developed within the periphery. To a large extent, this results from the fact that productive and managerial resources are concentrated at the core.
Information flows within the periphery and from the periphery to the core will be weaker than those from the core to the periphery. People within industrial south Wales may be more informed about events in London than they are about what is happening in more rural northern parts of their own country. Conversely, residents of London will often have comparatively little up-to-date information on what is happening in Wales, prompting them to place a greater reliance on impressions which are long established and possibly stereotypical. Thus, for example, the many people who regularly make the comfortable two-hour train journey from Cardiff to London, take in an all-day meeting and then return home early that evening are familiar with expressions of surprise from fellow delegates who find it hard to believe that such a schedule is commonplace and that Wales is not as far away as they had imagined.
Government may be required to play a greater role in promoting economic development in the periphery than in the core. Industrial south Wales, for example, was one of the first four areas to be designated to receive government assistance under the Special Areas Act 1934 and, more recently, specialist agencies have been established in both Scotland and Wales to help regenerate the economy. In Italy the 'Cassa per il Mezzogiorno' has been established to promote the disadvantaged South.
Peripheral areas are also distinguished by their geographical characteristics. They are often noted for the beauty of their landscapes and seascapes, which may be expressed in a very dramatic way. Their physical character – perceptual and actual – is often described using such stereotypical terms as wilderness, remote, off the beaten track, the back of beyond and unspoilt.
Issues for tourism
Wanhill (1997) identifies the following as being the main tourism issues facing peripheral areas in Europe, suggesting that local differences are usually a matter of degree:
• the alternative is usually an extractive (primary resource) economy with a small manufacturing base;
• there are limited market opportunities or markets have declined;
• delivery of the product is usually through small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with their attendant difficulties;
• there is a lack of tourism infrastructure or obsolete product;
• there are weather restrictions on the length of the season, as in Northern Europe;
• remoteness and strong natural environments are a product plus;
• environmental threats to undisturbed wilderness are likely;
• the social impact on small, close-knit communities can be great;
• the community lacks education, training, capital (public and private) and entrepreneurship, which mitigates against business formation; and
• there are limited organisational structures, lack of planning, direction and little statistical information.
We now turn specifically to Wales, a country on the periphery of Europe, starting with an examination of its tourism industry.
Tourism in Wales: An Overview
Wales, a small country of some 2.8 million people, along with England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, forms part of the United Kingdom. It bears many of the hallmarks of a peripheral area, insofar as it is located on the western edge of Europe next to a larger neighbour. In European terms, it forms part of the Atlantic Arc region which takes in the western part of the UK, as well as Ireland, the west of France, the north west of Spain and the whole of Portugal (Commission of European Communities (CEC), 1994). The regional grouping exhibits many of the typical characteristics of peripherality, including:
• a pattern of urban development clustered around cities of relatively modest size;
• relatively poor (but improving) transport links with European capitals and within the areas concerned;
• a higher dependence on traditional (and declining) manufacturing industries;
• a greater reliance on tourism, which tends to be concentrated on coastal locations and heavily dependent upon the traditional family market.
Tourism is a well-established industry in Wales and its structure and organisation is well documented. The Wales Tourist Board's medium-term policy document, Tourism 2000 – A Strategy for Wales, provides a good insight into contemporary policy issues and the following introduction to tourism in Wales draws heavily from it (Wales Tourist Board (WTB), 1994).
Volume and value
In relative terms, tourism is far more important to the economy of Wales than it is to other parts of the UK. Provisional figures estimate that spending from day and staying visitors to Wales in 1996 totalled £1.9 billion, an increase of 13% over 1995 and representing about 7% of GDP. Tourism supports some 90,000 jobs in Wales, about 9% of the workforce (WTB, 1997). The domestic market remains by far the largest source of business for Welsh tourism. According to the joint United Kingdom Tourism Survey, 11 million overnight tourist trips to Wales (for all purposes) by UK residents generated spending of £1718 million in 1996, which represents 8.5% of total domestic tourism spending within the UK (WTB, 1997). Wales has traditionally performed far less well in overseas markets. The last full year for which official statistics are available is 1995 when, according to the International Passenger Survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics, Wales attracted 740,000 overseas tourists, whose total expenditure amounted to £203 million. The latest figures from the joint United Kingdom Day Visits Survey show that day visitors to and within Wales spent some £550 million in 1996 (WTB, 1997).
Accommodation
A joint research initiative by the WTB and local authorities in 1989/90 identified a total accommodation capacity of 523,291 bedspaces in Wales (WTB, 1991). Self-catering forms of accommodation predominate in Wales: the WTB's product database, which concentrates on commercial accommodation enterprises, reveals that no fewer than 46% of all bedspaces were in caravans and camping and a further 21% in other forms of self- catering accommodation; the remaining 33% were in serviced accommodation enterprises (WTB, 1994).
A significant proportion of Wales' serviced accommodation bedstock remains concentrated in traditional resorts, built during Victorian times. Establishments tend to be small and privately owned. Traditionally targeted at the domestic family holiday market, resorts have found it more and more difficult to compete with competition from overseas destinations. Considerable investment has taken place to refurbish and improve the accommodation base, aided by financial assistance from the WTB, other official sources and the European Union. This has helped resorts to extend the season and to win new markets (e.g. conventions), although some remain economically fragile. Concurrently, there has been an upsurge in new hotel development within key urban areas such as Cardiff and along major strategic corridors. This has enabled Wales to attract more business travellers and short-break visitors, lessening its dependence on the family holiday market.
The self-catering sector is very diverse in terms of its product. The scale of operations varies and so does product quality. A large proportion of self-catering accommodation is located at or near the coast, with large scale caravan parks a prominent (and often intrusive) feature of some areas. Like the traditional resort hotel product, much of Wales' self-catering stock was originally developed to serve the needs of family holiday visitors, drawn from conurbations in Wales itself or adjacent regions of England. Many caravan parks and self-catering complexes have been upgraded substantially, but there remain a number of poorer quality operations, which the WTB acknowledges to be ill- equipped to meet the needs of modern markets (WTB, 1994). The self-catering sector has been especially reliant on long-stay visitors in the past, and operators have found it more difficult than their serviced counterparts to develop short-break products aimed at winning new markets.
The natural and built environment
Wales is a beautiful country, well endowed with natural resources for tourism and recreation. There are three National Parks covering an area of 4098 km. There are also other wide areas of countryside which have attractive, sometimes fragile landscapes and many of these carry some other form of designation. For example, there are five designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and if their land area of 949 km is added to the National Parks, it will be seen that a quarter of the land area of Wales has been singled out for quality special environmental protection – a higher proportion than in other parts of the UK. There are 14 designated areas of Heritage Coast, covering 492 km of coast.
The built environment also forms an important part of the tourism infrastructure. There are 380 Conservation Areas and over 14,000 buildings have been listed as being of architectural or historic importance by Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments, the official body responsible for such matters in Wales). Wales is especially well known for its castles, which are an evocative and sometimes contentious reminder of a turbulent past. Among them are the four World Heritage Sites at Caernarfon, Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech. There are a number of attractive market towns in Wales, while resort towns such as Llandudno, Tenby and Llandrindod Wells are good and vibrant examples of the changing face of tourist resorts.
(Continues...)
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Table of Contents
Preface
Frances Brown and Derek Hall: Introduction: The Paradox of Peripherality
1. David Botterill, R. Elwyn Owen, Louise Emanuel, Nicola Foster, Tim Gale, Cliff Nelson and Martin Selby: Perceptions from the Periphery: The Experience of Wales
2. Marcus Grant: PACE: Guiding Rural Tourism Development in a Fragile Area
3. Julie Scott: Peripheries, Artificial Peripheries and Centres
4. Jens Kristian Steen Jacobsen: Tourist Perceptions of the Ultimate European Periphery
5. Joy Gladstone and Angela Morris: Farm Accommodation and Agricultural Heritage in Orkney
6. Steven Boyne, Derek Hall and Claire Gallagher: The Fall and Rise of Peripherality: Tourism and Restructuring on Bute
7. Nils Arell: The Evolution of Tourism in the Tärna Mountains: Arena and Actors in a Periphery
8. Per Åke Nilsson: Tourism’s Role in New Rural Policy for Peripheral Areas: The Case of Arjeplog
Index