Managing Coastal Tourism Resorts

A Global Perspective

By Sheela Agarwal, Gareth Shaw

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2007 Sheela Agarwal and Gareth Shaw and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84541-072-8

Contents

Illustrative Material,
Preface and Acknowledgements,
The Contributors,
1 Introduction: The Development and Management of Coastal Resorts: A Global Perspective Gareth Shaw and Sheela Agarwal,
Part 1: Coastal Resorts in Transition,
2 The Problems and Dilemmas of Northern European Post-mature Coastal Tourism Resorts Tim Gale,
3 The Resort Economy: Changing Structures and Management Issues in British Resorts Gareth Shaw and Tim Coles,
4 Institutional Change and Resort Capacity: The Case of Southwest English Coastal Resorts Sheela Agarwal,
Part 2: The Diversification and Sustainable Development of Coastal Resorts,
5 Complexity, Interdisciplinarity and Growth Management: The Case of Maltese Resort Tourism Bill Bramwell,
6 Planning for Sustainable Development in Spanish Coastal Resorts Gerda Priestley and Joan Carles Llurdés,
7 A Tale of Two Islands: Sustainable Resort Development in Cyprus and Tenerife Richard Sharpley,
Part 3: The Pleasure Periphery and Managing the Postmodern Coastal Resort,
8 The Postmodern Resort and the Pleasure Periphery: The Case of Australia's Coastal Tourism Resorts Brian King,
9 Malaysia's Pleasure Periphery: Coastal Resort Development and its Consequences Joan Henderson,
10 Natural Heritage as Place Identity: Tofino, Canada, a Coastal Resort on the Periphery Alison M. Gill and Erin Welk,
Part 4: Coastal Resort Structures: Variation Versus Standardisation,
11 The Development of South Africa's Coastal Tourism Resorts Robert Preston-Whyte and Catherine Oelofse,
12 Resort Structure and 'Plantation' Dynamics in Antigua and Coastal South Carolina David B. Weaver,
13 Re-engineering Coastal Resorts in Mexico: Some Management Issues Sheela Agarwal and Gareth Shaw,
Part 5: State Intervention and the Planning and Development of Coastal Resorts,
14 The Role of the State and the Rise of the Red Sea Resorts in Egypt and Israel Noam Shoval and Kobi Cohen-Hattab,
15 Clientelist Relationships: Implications for Tourism Development in the Declining Coastal Resort of Kusadasi, Turkey Fisun Yüksel and Atila Yüksel,
16 Conclusion: Future Implications for the Development and Management of Coastal Resorts Sheela Agarwal and Gareth Shaw,
References,
Index,

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: The Development and Management of Coastal Resorts: A Global Perspective

GARETH SHAW and SHEELA AGARWAL

Introduction: The Coastal Resort a Neglected Tourism Environment

Despite the fact that coastal resorts are still the main tourism destinations for many holidaymakers, academic interest in such environments has been limited compared with other forms of tourism. Certainly, within the tourism literature, with the exception of a handful of studies that have focused on specific coastal resorts (Agarwal, 1999, 2002; Gale, 2005; Pollard & Rodriguez, 1993; Priestley & Mundet, 1998; Shaw & Williams, 1997a; Smith, 2004), these environments have either been neglected, subsumed within analyses of coastal tourism regions (Coccossis & Parpairis, 1996; Goytia Prat, 1996; Jordon, 2001; Knowles & Curtis, 1999; Twining-Ward & Baum, 1998; Zanetto & Soriani, 1996) or viewed in relatively narrow economic and historical perspectives (Beatty & Fothergill, 2004; Clegg & Essex, 2000; Soane, 1992; Tunstall & Penning-Roswell, 1998; Urry, 2002; Walton, 1997, 2000). For example, with regards to the latter, within the British context, seaside resorts have been seen as old forms of tourism, catering for a Fordist form of consumption based around mass tourism. Indeed, Urry's (2002) discourse on the decline of the British resort epitomises such views, claiming seaside resorts have not shared in the growth of tourism. More tellingly, he argues that 'seaside resorts have also become less distinct because of the de-industrialisation of many towns and cities' (Urry, 2002: 36). This has occurred in contrast to other environments, which have become new leisure spaces, re-fixing the tourist gaze so that resorts 'are no longer extraordinary' (p. 36). In part however, such ideas are contested by Walton (2000: 196), who argues that instead of discussing resort decline, 'we should be trying to explain the British seaside's survival'.

Part of the literature on coastal resorts is therefore concerned with the failure or decline of such environments. This in turn is also often linked with the so-called Butler life-cycle or resort life-cycle model (Butler, 1980; see Agarwal (2002) for a recent review and Butler (2005) for a much broader perspective). In this context, the resort is often viewed almost as an attachment to the mechanisms of the model in its different variations. Often what such studies have exposed is how little is known in detail about the functioning of coastal resorts due to inadequate levels of information at the resort level (Agarwal, 2005; Cooper, 1990; Prideaux, 2000; Shaw & Williams, 2002). In contrast, early tourism studies gave much more emphasis to coastal resorts, focussing especially on their layout and morphology, resulting in a range of structural models (see Pearce, 1995 for a review). Such representations however have focused mainly on physical features and land use patterns, neglecting the sociocultural aspects of coastal resorts or indeed details of development processes.

Based on the existing literature, our contention is that coastal resorts have received somewhat inadequate attention and have largely been neglected, relative to other tourism destinations. To date, surprisingly few books have been published that focus on coastal tourism resorts and consequently there has been little critical assessment of their development and management. Moreover, the majority of academic research undertaken in this area has very largely been completed within Northern and Southern Europe, at the expense of a wider global consideration. Given this lacuna, our aim is to readdress the balance by providing a global perspective on aspects of coastal resort development and management. In this chapter, we start by considering the growth and diffusion of the coastal resort, along with the development of international competition and the resort as a global tourism product, before going on to outline possible management issues and the organisation of this book.

The Development and Diffusion of the Coastal Resort: The Growth of International Competition

The historiography of the coastal resort has been relatively well researched despite the claims of Walton (2000). Lencek and Bosker (1998) have provided a general perspective on the development of the coastal resort, whilst Shaw and Williams (2004) and Gale (2005) have set such growth within a more socioeconomic framework. According to Walton (2000), the origins of coastal resorts may be traced back to Britain, when during the latter part of the 18th century, more organised and fashionable sea-bathing developed in England, thereby marking the institutionalisation of the beach. The creation of distinctive coastal resorts centred around the royal patronage given to Brighton on the south coast of England was confirmed by the completion of the Royal Pavilion in 1820 (Gilbert, 1954). This signalled a process of the...