The notion that tourism can contribute significantly to poverty reduction strategies is attracting great interest from multilateral institutions, tourism bodies, donors and other organizations around the globe. Tourism is certainly a major contributor to economic development in many small island developing states (SIDS) and often it is the only industry in these countries to consistently demonstrate growth in recent years. However, the growth of tourism in SIDS is by no means synonymous with poverty reduction, in fact, in some cases it entrenches existing inequalities. If tourism is to contribute significantly to the reduction of poverty in SIDS, a broad approach that values social sustainability as well as the more popular environmental sustainability and economic growth will be necessary. In addition, governments need to establish an effective policy environment and play a stronger regulatory role if sustainable, equity-enhancing tourism is to emerge. The paper suggests effective ways in which ...

Tourism and poverty reduction: issues for small island states.

This paper proposes a model which integrates tourism in a continuum of poverty alleviation strategies within the antipodes of neo-liberalism and protectionism. It is argued that despite growing evidence in favour of regulative and (re)distributive approaches that in practice come closer to protectionism than neoliberalism, the most influential international organisations, as well as governments worldwide, follow a largely neoliberal laissez-faire approach to poverty alleviation coupled with market-friendly ‘pro-poor’ supplements. This paper argues that tourism per se fits very well into neoliberal interpretations of poverty alleviation, while it tends to aggravate poverty-enhancing inequalities if allowed to operate in a free market environment. Drawing on evidence from current research into poverty alleviation, it is argued that in order to be pro-poor, growth must deliver disproportionate benefits to the poor to reduce inequalities which have been found to limit the potential for poverty alleviation. He...

Growth versus equity: the continuum of pro-poor tourism and neoliberal governance.

In this paper I address how the ideology of Costa Rican exceptionalism and whiteness has maintained racial inequality with the growth of global tourism Whereas scholars of whiteness in Latin America typically ignore how the ideology has supported racial inequality in structural forms, I explore how discursive racial discourses influence how structural inequality practices in the tourism industry take form I examine the narratives and symbols from public and private Costa Rican tourism actors who use Costa Rica's racial ideology of exceptionalism and whiteness to position the nation's cultural wealth Two narratives to define Costa Rica are promoted: (1) environmental uniqueness; and (2) rural democracy traditions These narratives support white inclusionary and black exclusionary practices in tourism economic activity Because Costa Rica is perceived as ‘white’ and represents a ‘white habitus’, it distinguishes itself as a ‘democratic’ and ‘safe’ place to visit, while negatively racialized Afro-

‘… Latin America without the downside’: racial exceptionalism and global tourism in Costa Rica

Fiji, despite the peculiarities of its indigenous social structure and its land tenure systems, can be seen to be exhibiting patterns and processes of socio-economic differentiation that, in some respects, are not unlike those experienced in rural communities in other parts of the developing world. Previous explanations of such differentiation pointed to various dichotomous relations: between traditional and modern, individual and communal, rural and urban, Fijian and Indian, or capitalist and proletarian. This study, involving the analysis of survey data on a num­ ber of Fijian communities, questions all these suggested divisions. The theoretical perspectives adopted to date modernization or Marxism do give some insights into Fijian society but cannot explain the com­ plexity of social and economic divisions. Instead, it is suggested that there is no basic pattern of significant socio-economic differentiation within the Fijian communities studied, though there are major tensions, conflicts and differences in outlook. Any class divisions that may exist are predicated externally upon the relations between rural people and the urban-based entrepreneurs. Critical in all these relations, and for simmering tensions within rural society, is land tenure. The case study evidence points not only to severe pressure on land, and inequalities in land endowment, but also to 'extra legal' practices being used by landowners and tenants together to cir­ cumvent a cumbersome, inequitable and inflexible official land tenure system. Land is the key because its availability or otherwise largely determines the ability of people to engage in commercial agriculture, their involvement in off-farm labour, and many of their day-to-day relationships with their neighbours. Differentiation in rural Fiji cannot be understood without reference to the realities of land and land tenure.

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Land and differentiation in rural Fiji

Several commentators have described international tourism in the South Pacific as having the characteristics of a new plantation economy. This paper examines this proposition with reference to tourism development in Fiji. Although several aspects of the industry are dominated by foreign interests and do show some of the attributes of a plantation economy it is argued that the development of secondary tourism opportunities and the absence of a single source of foreign investment in the tourism industry provides the Fijian government with a higher degree of bargaining power in its International relations. Nevertheless, threats to tourism development still remain in the form of political instability and dependence on foreign-controlled aviation linkages.

Gail Grynbaum

Papers

Tourism And Underdevelopment