TRUnews
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Newsletter from Tourism Research Unit, Aalborg University No. 12/September 2006 ISSN-nr.: 1603-5844
Going Completely International Crossing borders, encountering other cultures and peoples, consuming unfamiliar products - all in all tourism is clearly an international activity and has been studied as such by the Tourism Research Unit, at Aalborg University for years. Apart from being studied in their own right, international research topics have also constituted an indispensable comparative perspective on more domestically oriented tourism research projects. Also cooperation with external partners has taken place across borders, which has contributed to inspiring research projects and results. What is new concerning internationalisation and TRU is, however, the fact that our Tourism Studies programme has become international, and so we now welcome students from all over the world whom we are sure will contribute to an inspiring study and research environment. In view of this, it is only natural that TRUnews is now published in English, and in future we also hope to bring insightful articles from our international as well as national students reflecting the cross-cultural projects and assignments that they will be involved in. This issue of TRUnews takes into consideration that we welcome both new and internationally minded readers. Hence an outline of the research areas, current research projects and external partners that TRU is involved in is presented. In line with the research profile, appetisers of two current research projects are given: One project deals with place branding and consumption and the influence of films in relation to this; The other project presented here looks at the emergent area of experience design and how best to construct recreational spaces. On the more provocative side, this issue also includes two articles from tourism students: The lack of growth of small tourism businesses and the positive effects of this is the focus of one of these contributions; the other contribution critically reflects on the area of sustainable tourism and the moral and biased argumentations that seem to hold sway within this area. As always we cover a range of research topics, identify problem areas and possible solutions to these and hope this will bring about discussions and curiosity among our readers. Anette Therkelsen Editor, TRUnews
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Content Researching Tourism: Opening closed doors .....................................................................................3 Consuming Fiction, Consuming Places.The influence of films on tourists` place consumption ........4 Social Experience Infrastructure – an important element in the future experience design..................6 News in brief......................................................................................................................................13 Peter Pan in a Tourist Context – on the lack of growth of small tourism businesses.. ......................14 Immoral Tourism Theory...................................................................................................................16 TRUnews no.13 /January 2007..........................................................................................................18
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Editors:
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The content of TRUnews© may be reproduced with clear indication of source – unless otherwise specified in the text. In such a case – please write to Anette Therkelsen, Fibigerstraede 2, 9220 Aalborg Ø.
Anette Therkelsen (editor-in-chief)
Tourism Research Unit Aalborg University Fibigerstraede 2 9220 Aalborg Ø Tlf.: 9635 8080 Fax: 9815 1126 http://turisme.aau.dk
Henrik Halkier Peter Kvistgaard
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Researching Tourism: Opening closed doors. By Henrik Halkier, TRU Research is often seen as a lonely activity, carried out behind closed doors by other-worldly characters, abstract and disengaged from reality in any form known to the general public. But while good research certainly requires periods of quiet reflection and writing, tucked away in your room, it also has a much more sociable side to it. Many research projects are collaborative, involving two or more colleagues writing joint papers, often work has been inspired by very concrete problems encountered by actors in the tourism industry, and more often than not the actual gathering of information is an intensely social process requiring in-depth interviews and all sorts of gettingaround skills. In short, while it is good to be able to concentrate on abstract matters and your laptop, this is not enough – and this is true too at Aalborg University’s Tourism Research Unit (TRU). TRU is part of the cross-faculty Department of History, International and Social Studies. Like the rest of the department, activities at TRU are interdisciplinary and draw on traditions from both the humanities and social science, and we aim to have a close and fruitful link between teaching, research and development activities. Consisting of a relatively small core of full-time staff, we draw on colleagues in other departments and universities, and, of course, recent graduates, to engage in research and development projects. Associated with the SPIRIT doctoral school, we also supervise Ph.D. students within the field of tourism. At TRU we are engaged in basic research at the forefront of knowledge creation, but we are also involved in applied research projects in collaboration with external sponsors as well as tourism development projects of a more practical nature. In recent years, research in tourism at Aalborg University has focused on three main areas of enquiry, namely • • •
market developments and market communication organisation and innovation destination development and tourism policy
Due to the complex nature of tourism and the interdisciplinary tradition of Aalborg University, many research projects cuts across these three areas. Ongoing and recent projects include • • • •
place branding in tourism, including cross-sectoral umbrella branding initiatives aiming to appeal to tourists, investors and residents research into the motivation of tourists, i.e. what do different groups of tourists – e.g. families travelling with/out children – consider to be a ‘good holiday’ and how does the motivation change as tourists become more experienced travellers research into the knowledge processes in tourism, focusing on how knowledge is used and created by different actors on the tourism arena, and what implication this has for attempts to guide developments in particular directions through public policies, and research into destination development from an experience economy perspective, focusing on the conflicting perceptions of locals and tourists.
Many of these projects have been inspired by collaboration with external sponsors from the tourism sector – e.g. VisitDenmark or local tourist destinations – or are part of major international research projects – e.g. the Eurodite project sponsored by EU’s 6th framework programme – but have then taken on a life of their own. In that way, thinking about basic theoretical challenges and concrete,
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comparative issues mutually support each other, producing research that is not just good science but may also become useful for actors in tourism development. More information about the individual projects can be found on the TRU website or by contacting the members of staff responsible. And, of course, the most interesting projects will be presented in TRUnews. In other words, our doors open both ways, and we look forward to hearing from you with comments and queries.
Consuming Fiction, Consuming Places. The influence of films on tourists’ place consumption. By Anette Therkelsen, TRU ’Eeemil’ – a roar is heard and the audience turn their heads in anticipation. Soon their expectations are met as they see a fair haired boy with a blue cap and a wooden riffle in his hand running onto the stage with an angry-looking man close behind. Emil has been up to one of his many misdeeds again, this time teaching his younger sister, Ida, all the swear words she is not allowed to say, and therefore he is heading straight towards the woodshed to escape his angry father and repent his misdeeds by carving yet another wooden man for his collection. After the show the audience walk onto the stage – the adults look into the red wooden houses and talk to the actors and the children climb the wooden plank that connects the woodshed and the pantry (another of Emil’s famous misdeeds) or try to carve a wooden man just like Emil. And continually children and adults alike are heard retelling scenes from the Emil books and films: ‘This was where Emil did this, this was where Emil did that’ as they walk around the red wooden buildings of Katthult in Astrid Lindgren’s World in Sweden. As the small account above shows, a well-known fictional universe is something that can engage tourists, and, in this particular case of long-lasting children’s fiction, it can become something that all family members can gain from in each their way: The children in the sense of standing face to face with beloved characters from favourite books and films, and the parents’ as a nostalgic recollection of childhood memories. Apart from being an ingenious concept for an attraction, wellknown fiction can also be used by tourist destinations to brand a given country, region or city, which is seen not only in the case of Sweden, where the area of Småland is branded by means of Astrid Lindgren’s children universe, but also in cases like New Zealand (‘Lord of the Rings’), Scotland (‘Braveheart’), Dallas (‘Dallas’), Verona (‘Romeo & Juliet’) and many more. And research has shown that tagging onto a successful fictional universe increases the number of tourists to a given place (Riley et al. 1998, Tooke & Baker 1996), though the type of success, national or international, naturally determines whether the market reached is domestic and/or international. Also more proactive strategies are employed by several destination marketers, as they promote their places particularly towards film producers as future film locations (Kim & Richardson 2003). In these cases due attention should naturally be given to attracting those films that tally with the strategy of the destination and with that the intended target groups (ibid.) From a consumer perspective, an interesting question to raise is how we may understand the attractiveness of fiction in a tourism context. Why is it that tourists seem to engage in a fictional universe, perhaps sometimes at the expense of the more factual reality of a place? Is fiction perceived as a means to understand aspects of the past or present nature of a place or is the fictional universe rather an end in itself – that which the tourists wish to engage in and become familiar
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with? Does fiction function as a blueprint for tourists’ experiences of a place in the sense that it sets the itinerary for what the tourists seek out and how he understands the place, which is well in line with what certain marketing ploys aim at? Or does fiction primarily function as an eye-catcher drawing the tourists’ attention to the given tourist destination, triggering the tourists’ memory about a fictional representation of a place and its people. These are among the questions that a future TRU research project will focus on, in which I will scrutinise the role of films in relation to place consumption and through a number of comparative studies try to understand how films may or may not influence tourists’ perception, choice and consumption of place. The scarce literature on this subject gives a few suggestions as to what is at stake when fiction intervenes with tourists’ place consumption. Urry (1990) holds that like the promotional efforts of the tourist marketers, the television screen displays a series of framed images through which tourists experience the tourist destination. In relation to this, it is worth noting that fiction, as opposed to promotional efforts, is an autonomous image formation agent not driven by any tourism related commercial interests, and is as such particularly credible in forming a destination image (Kim & Richardson 2003). Schofield (1996) argues that films and television programmes act as pull factors to tourists in that they catch the tourists’ attention and generate interest in the place they feature. Kim & Richardson (2003) develop this line of thought arguing that not only do films catch attention, they also familiarise tourists with places and lower the level of anxiety that may be related to holidays. Hence the film becomes a kind of vicarious experience of the place that has significant impact on actual place consumption (ibid.). Hall (in Mercille 2005) introduces a more nuanced understanding of the effect of films on place images and consumption in that he argues that tourists may be placed within a continuum ranging from accepting the representation, over negotiating the representation, to opposing the representation made by the film. And finally, in this literature appetiser a salient point made by Tooke & Baker (1996) should be mentioned: As the actual place is not identical with the place represented in the film, tourists may develop illusionary as opposed to more realistic expectations of what the place is like and hence a mismatch between expectations and actual experiences may occur. Apart from getting closer to an understanding of how and why films influence tourists’ place consumption, the outcome of this research project is also meant to be of a more practical nature in the sense that implications particularly for the Danish tourism trade will be scrutinized. In other words, do Danish film and literature contain some unexploited potentials for Danish tourism? Maybe the world famous literature of H.C. Andersen can be turned into an even better eye-catcher and attraction for Danish tourism, perhaps by lending an eye to the successful concept of Astrid Lindgren’s World in Sweden. And perhaps some of the national and international success films and tv-series which are situated in specific places (Barbette’s Feast, Matador, The Flying Squad to mention a few) contain a tourism potential not yet realised? Hopefully the Danish tourism trade will find some of the findings of this research project useful in their continual efforts to develop product offers and promotional appeals.
References Kim H., Richardson S.L. (2003) Motion picture impacts on destination images. Annals of Tourism Research. 30. 1. pp.216-237. Mercille J. (2005) Media effects on image. The case of Tibet. Annals of Tourism Research. 32. 4. pp.10391055.
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Riley R., Baker D. & Doren C.S. (1998) Movie induced tourism. Annals of Tourism Research. 25. 4. pp. 919-935. Schofield P. (1996) Cinematographic images of a city. Alternative heritage tourism in Manchester. Tourism Management. 17. 5. pp.333-340. Tooke N., Baker M. (1996) Seeing is believing: the effect of film on visitor numbers to screened locations. Tourism Management. 17. 2, pp.87-94. Urry J. (1990) The Tourist Gaze. Leisure and travel in contemporary societies. London: Sage Publications
Social Experience Infrastructure – an important element in the future experience design of recreational spaces? By Peter Kvistgaard, TRU This is a case story about a seaside resort on the Baltic coast in the German federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Kühlungsborn is the name of the resort. The story is about the resort and its development since the German reunification in 1990 with some facts and numbers. But it is much more a story about spaces and corridors, people mingling, gazing, biking, talking, bathing, playing, running, eating, drinking, sitting and much more. It is about the existence of social experience infrastructure. The aim of this article is to present a case study that may provide the reader with insights of a resort from which something may be learned. But it is also the aim of the article to try to go beyond the immediate impressions and experiences that may be had from a visit to Kühlungsborn. Does Kühlungsborn really provide a good story to its visitors, and what is the content of this story? What is the central theme of the story and what is the connection between the story and the physical space? By doing this two notions are used and discussed: the notion of social experience infrastructure and the notion of the hybrid experience space.
The case – Kühlungsborn in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany The linkage between the physical and aesthetic spaces in Kühlungsborn seems almost perfect. The town with its 7,500 inhabitants is situated on the Northern coast to the Baltic Sea between the seaside resorts of Rerik (budget holiday) to the west and Heiligendamm (upmarket) to the east approximately 25 km from the biggest city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rostock. Kühlungsborn aims at attracting the upper middle class and it is very dependent on income generated from tourism. The town has succeeded in attracting tourists from the neighbouring big cities of Berlin, Hamburg and Hanover all year round because of the proximity and easy access due to the new A20 motorway – and naturally also because of Kühlungsborn’s attraction as a spa and seaside resort. Even though June, July and August are still the main season, the rest of the year is now also very important for Kühlungsborn. Seasonal spreading has occurred over the last few years. The town consists of two main areas; Kühlungsborn East and West (please take a look at the map below). These two areas are connected by the beach, the beach walk, the beach forest and the beach street (Strandstrasse). Behind the forest which is situated behind the beach street and between the two main areas is an area for the inhabitants of the town. That is not to say that the inhabitants do not live other places, but the main area for the inhabitants is behind the city forest.
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Kühlungsborn East is ‘the wild one’. There are different shops, hotels and restaurants. Some of the shops are only open during the period between May and October; others are open all year round. Only a few of the restaurants serve discount food (coca cola tourism as the politicians in Kühlungsborn call discount tourism). Most serve really good and varied food – often traditional and with many fish courses. It is also possible to party to the early hours. Kühlungsborn West, on the other hand, is ‘the quiet one’. There is a relaxed atmosphere in both areas, but in the Western area there is sort of a mundane laid-back attitude with emphasis on the quiet and pleasurable life. There is also an area with shops, but it is much smaller than in the Eastern area. Between the two areas one finds one of the main attractions of Kühlungsborn; the beach with the 240-meter long landing stage and the 3 km long seaside promenade. Along the seaside promenade there is the beach forest that both visibly and physically separates the town from the beach and the beach activities. It also provides a sort of windshield for the town. In the forest a number of facilities can be found such as concert facilities, cafes, bars, newspaper shops, restrooms, play grounds, parking spaces and numerous benches. This beach forest is a Concert on a warm Wednesday evening in July in Konzertgarten Ost masterpiece as it both separates from in the eastern part of the beach forest. Photo: Peter Kvistgaard and connects the beach activities with the town behind the beach. In 2003 Kühlungsborn finished the construction of a marina. In close conjunction with the marina a number of restaurants, holiday apartments and music clubs have been built thereby creating a new dimension to the maritime history of Kühlungsborn. Since the reunification of Germany in 1990 Kühlungsborn has experienced an enormous growth. Many investors from Germany and abroad have shown interest in developing hotels and apartment complexes in Kühlungsborn. However, in 1990 the politicians of Kühlungsborn decided to police a conservative development plan that had at its centre the restoration of the existing FDGB-houses that during the DDR-times had been used as ‘hotels’ in the state controlled leisure policy. Many of these houses still had the features of the seaside resort architecture from around 1900. They had in the words of the town mayor survived the DDR-regimes plans to deconstruct Kühlungsborn because of lack of resources. This is considered by the politicians in Kühlungsborn to be very fortunate. This development plan means that the number of beds has increased over a number of years in a controlled manner and with the effect that the original seaside resort architecture of the time around 1900 is intact. From 1995 to 2005 the number of beds has risen from 3,695 to 14,000 – an increase of 379%. In the same period the number of overnight stays has risen from 432,843 to 1,846,519 – an increase of 426%. Kühlungsborn has a sort of cohesive energy that is quite rare for a successful seaside resort like this – certainly rare in a Danish context. A cohesive energy can be described the ‘something’ that binds everything together so that visitors get the feeling that this is a nice place to be and that everything fits nicely together. This cohesive energy primarily consists of the way that the different and many experience spaces are bound together by means of corridors perpendicular and parallel to the TRUnews©- ISSN: 1603-5844 Aalborg University
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seaside, corridors in and to the beach and corridors in the city forests connecting the two town areas (East and West). These corridors invite inhabitants and tourists to stroll, run, skate, bike or whatever one feels like along the coast, in and between the two town parts or on the landing stage. Kühlungsborn offers a sort of maritime big city life on the coast. It is possible to enjoy the togetherness of many people or to enjoy the sunset alone – on the coast or on one of the many balconies that are part and parcel of the seaside architecture from around 1900. The motorway connections to and from Berlin, Hamburg and Hanover via the new A20 make it quite easy for people to visit Kühlungsborn within a couple of hours drive. This offers a good opportunity for big city people to enjoy the good life along the coast in a setting that offers many of the same features as they are used to at home. In this connection it must be mentioned that the social element of German culture apparently plays a pivotal role. According to the interviews and observations made in Kühlungsborn the social element is important to the majority of visitors to Kühlungsborn – be it in the main season or in the other seasons. It seems to be important for people to be together with other people in cafes, bars, restaurants, shops, on the promenade, on the beach etc. Solitude is not the main attraction in Kühlungsborn. The cohesive energy of the town may be interpreted as a sort of social infrastructure that offers a plethora of experiences together with other people. What binds this all together – besides the corridors – seems to be the story of the good and easy maritime big city life on the coast together with other people. Big city means in this connection that visitors primarily come from big cities around Kühlungsborn. These big city people apparently find some of the same elements that can be found in the big city in this maritime atmosphere.
The hybrid experience space As mentioned earlier, Andersson & Kiib (2006) have published an article about three cases in which they use their notion of the hybrid experience space. This hybrid experience space is constructed by four elements: 1. Commerce and economy, 2. Culture and creative competences, 3. The space itself, 4. The story. In the eyes of Andersson & Kiib the hybrid experience space is centred on the story and the story is an essential ingredient for designing experiences. At the same time the story must be identical with the space in which the story is told (this is not the case with Disney for instance but that is another matter). If one takes a closer look at Kühlungsborn and uses the notion of the hybrid experience space then the first element is the blooming tourism and leisure industry closely connected to and to a certain degree directed by the local authorities and their initiatives. The second element is the history of Kühlungsborn as a spa- and seaside resort with all the activities that are symptomatic thereof. The third element is the space itself with the brilliant social infrastructure. Apparently, closely connected to the German culture of ‘Wein, Weib und Gesang’ to put it in a popular manner. The fourth element is the weakest element, namely the story. Kühlungsborn has not yet found the great story that can bind the space together and create the differentiated and differentiating experience so that visitors may differentiate between Rerik and Heiligendamm. The open and shut story is obviously the maritime story as spa- and seaside resort, but this story is very difficult to use as a differentiation device, as first of all Heiligendamm is situated quite close to Kühlungsborn and it was in Heiligendamm that the spa- and seaside resort tradition started in 1793 and second all the other spa- and seaside resorts along the coast would be able to tell the same story. TRUnews©- ISSN: 1603-5844 Aalborg University
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So what is it then that people want to see and do and experience in Kühlungsborn if the story is not that clear? What is it that attracts them in such big numbers if the story is not interesting, relevant and enriching? Perhaps something is missing.
What might social experience infrastructure be? Much in line with Andersson & Kiib, the present author claims that the story must be in line with the identity of the area in which the story is told. However, social experience infrastructure is much more focused on creating spaces in which people can meet, mingle, do, experience and just be. The social element is very important in this line of thought. Economy is of a secondary interest but of course linked to designing experiences. So perhaps a fifth element – the social element – could be added to the above notion of the hybrid experience space. Social experience infrastructure may be defined 1) as those spaces and corridors that enable inhabitants and tourists to move unrestricted in and out of a series of designated areas and 2) as those spaces and corridors that enable inhabitants and tourists to socialise and 3) as the clearly defined, integrative, interesting, relevant and Evening stroll on the beach promenade enjoying the sunset. enriching story that enable inhabitants and Photo: Peter Kvistgaard tourists to experience visited space in a pleasurable way.
Social experience infrastructure in the experience design of recreational spaces In the case of Kühlungsborn a lot of experience spaces have been created: in the two town areas (East and West), in the two forests, on the promenade, on the beach (divided into different purposes – normal bathing activities, animation beaches, dog beaches and nude beaches), on the landing stage, in and around the marina, in the different stop-and-take-a-deep-breath-and-look-atthe-others-passing-by areas with benches and cafes, in the concert areas in the forest or in the corridors on the way to something else. These areas have not been designed with experiences in mind. There are no signs of an integrated story that is omnipresent, Typical new old architecture – an apartment interesting, relevant and enriching. Of course, there complex with restaurant and café 50 meters from the is the maritime history and identity of the town, but beach. Photo: Peter Kvistgaard this is not a story that gives surprising and aesthetic insights for the individual or even supports the individual in its own construction of a story. This can be seen from surveys that the local tourism development agency, Touristik-ServiceKühlungsborn GmbH, carries out every now and then. For instance in 2000, there was a surprisingly low number of visitors that were capable of differentiating Kühlungsborn from other similar seaside resorts in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It would rather seem as if the abovementioned areas have been created as a sort of automatic continuation of the seaside architecture from around 1900 with a close link to the German culture. The town and the whole area with its TRUnews©- ISSN: 1603-5844 Aalborg University
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Bäderarchitektur obviously have a potential for telling a good story, but what that story is, is at present difficult to say.
The way ahead The notions of the hybrid experience space and social experience infrastructure could perhaps prove to be useful tools in the present attempts to redefine and perhaps reconstruct the concept of the Danish recreational space as they are carried out by the Danish tourism board, VisitDenmark, on behalf of the Danish government. These attempts try to define the word resort in a Danish context and they try to develop new ideas in order to define what an all-year-tourism-cluster may be in a Danish context. Seven pilot projects have received financial support in order to carry out (very) different projects, and a consultant has been given the task to try to draw some cross-project conclusions that may be helpful in the further development of Danish tourism. This work together with a more concentrated focus on tourism in the experience society together with the use of the abovementioned notions of the hybrid experience space and social experience infrastructure and with an hitherto not detected openness and readiness by planners to discuss the structures and appropriateness of most Danish recreational spaces to fit the demands of modern experience craving tourists – and for that matter Danish inhabitants – may be more important and necessary than many in the tourism industries think. The number of overnight stays from the beginning of the 1990s to the present day clearly indicates an urgency that is perhaps not yet fully understood. What may be more important is the qualitative assessment by tourists of many Danish seaside resorts. Maybe Danish tourism needs to focus on notions like the hybrid experience space and social experience infrastructure in order to develop the Danish seaside resorts. The two notions discussed in this article are not so far apart. In fact it would seem that there would be more to gain from making a symbiosis of them than to think of them as two separate and different notions. For instance, the harbour of Barcelona is not interesting without people – without people mingling, arriving and departing, walking, running, biking, talking, eating, gazing etc. The harbour of Barcelona is one big social experience space with a very good social experience infrastructure and with a very good story (that by the way could be told even better). The notion of social experience infrastructure accepts that people are the sole producers of experiences – in line with the social constructivist approach by Schulze. However, the notion also acknowledges the fact that places like Barcelona and Kühlingsborn need to and want to create spaces in order to make money, create jobs etc. So there is a need to combine the social constructivist approach with the more hardcore experience design approach of for instance Pine & Gilmore in which it is believed that experiences can be constructed in a way that will make people experience precisely what the producers would have them experience. It would seem appropriate to try to construct spaces in a way that appreciates both approaches. Research must be carried out to show precisely how this can be done and with what results. Perhaps the notions of the hybrid experience space and social experience infrastructure could point in the right direction.
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Methodological considerations This case is written on the basis of interviews and informal conversations with inhabitants and tourists in Kühlungsborn in July 2006. Participatory observations play an important role in the understanding of the apparently ongoing success of Kühlungsborn as a seaside resort. A lot of written material has also been collected and analysed. Obviously, this kind of stand-alone case study is problematic in connection with generalisation, and it is difficult to claim that Kühlungsborn is representative of all other seaside resorts of this size. Hence the case study is unique, but the thoughts and ideas may be of a more general nature and may perhaps lead to other ideas and thoughts.
References Andersson L. & Kiib, H. (2006:47-60), Byens hybride oplevelsesrum, in Jantzen C. & Jensen, J.F. (2006) Oplevelser: Koblinger og transformationer, Aalborg Universitetsforlag. der reporter – Ihr Ratgeber im Urlaub (2006) Die Mecklenburger Radtour, Routen-Beschreibungen dwif (2006) Landestourismuskonzeption Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2010 – Kurzfassung. Wirtschaftsministerium Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwerin dwif (2006) Landestourismuskonzeption Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2010. Wirtschaftsministerium Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwerin CULTURPLAN Unternehmensberatung AG (2000) Memorandum – Kulturentwicklingskonzept Ostseebad Kühlungsborn. Gunn, C. A. (1997) Vacationscape – Developing Tourist Areas. Taylor & Francis. Kvistgaard, P. (2006) Problemer og magt i regional turismepolicy. Aalborg Universitetsforlag. Kvistgaard, P. & Smed K. (2005) Oplevelsesprofil for feriedestination Møn. Tourism Research Unit, Aalborg University (http://turisme.aau.dk) Jantzen C. & Vetner M. (2006:239-260) Oplevelse – Et videnskabeligt glossar, in Jantzen C. & Jensen, J.F. (2006) Oplevelser: Koblinger og transformationer. Aalborg Universitetsforlag. Ostseeküsten-Radweg (2006), Bielefelder Verlag Pine, J. B. & Gilmore J. (1999) The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press Reppel+Partner (1998) Kurortentwicklungskonzeption Ostseebad Kühlungsborn. Schulze, G. (1992) Die Erlebnis-Gesellschaft. Kultursoziologie der Gegenwart. Frankfurt: Campus. Stadt Ostseebad Kühlungsborn/GSOM mbH (2003) Ostseebad Kühlungsborn – Stadterneuerung und Stadtentwicklung im Wandel der Zeit. Touristik-Service-Kühlungsborn GmbH (2006) Kühlungsborn – Seebad mit Flair: Veranstaltungen Juli 2006. Touristik-Service-Kühlungsborn GmbH (2006) Stadtplan. Kurverwaltung Kühlungsborn (2001) Tourismusbericht 2000. Touristik-Service-Kühlungsborn GmbH (2006) Ostseebad Kühlungsborn – Seaside Resort with Flair.
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Map of Kühlungsborn
Source: http://www.kuehlungsborn.de
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News in brief Defence by Professor Henrik Halkier On 19th May, Professor Henrik Halkier successfully defended his disputats: “Institutions, Discourse and Regional Development”. The book is published by P.I.E.-Peter Lang. See video/slides of the lecture, oppositions and discussion at http://www.ihis.aau.dk/inst/halkierforsvar.htm The new international Tourism Studies Programme In September we welcome 18 students at the new international Tourism Studies Programme. The majority of students are (still) Danish; however we also have the pleasure of welcoming students from China, Lithuania and Germany. Prize to Tourism Student Maria Christensen has been awarded a prize by Pengeinstitutsamarbejdet (bank cooperation in Aalborg) for her excellent performance during her Tourism and Communication studies at Aalborg University. See her article on her M.A. thesis below. Experience profile for Rebild Municipality Peter Kvistgaard is going to undertake a research project on developing an experience profile for Rebild Municipality during the autumn 2006/spring 2007. Innovation project on destination Blokhus The innovation project on destination Blokhus has been concluded and well-received by the external partner, the local steering committee. Please see the report at http://www.pandruperhverv.dk
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Peter Pan in a Tourism Context – on the lack of growth of small tourism businesses and the beauty of this. By Maria Christensen, M.A. in Communication and Tourism, AAU Tourism is – both on a national level and especially in Northern Jutland – considered an important lifeline, which contributes to economic stability, maybe even economic growth. In this light tourism is business, where it is decisive to think strategically, attract more customers, innovate, and develop experiences with the purpose of creating competitive advantage and economic gains. The question is, however, whether all players in the tourism industry are prepared for and interested in a strategic way of thinking, product development and in creating economic growth? In my master thesis ”How Tourism Net-Works – on Small Tourism Businesses and Network Collaboration”, I have studied a special type of tourism players, who do not seem to be prepared for and interested in that. More specifically the focus is on very small tourism businesses, whose motivation reflects to a far higher degree a wish to lead a certain lifestyle than a goal of having positive figures on the bottom-line. What is the role of such businesses in Danish tourism? This article gives some answers and perspectives.
The potential of being small On the Danish islands Lolland and Falster a network was founded in 1999, named “The Small Tourism”, which deliberately is aimed at participation by small tourism businesses. The members of the network represent different types of businesses, ranging from galleries and crafts to stores, farm stores and amusements to restaurants and accommodations. The businesses are small in the sense that they typically keep less than ten employees occupied. Related to the empirical work of my thesis, I performed interviews with owners of five businesses, all participating in the network. Here it was evident, how small tourism businesses may prioritize a certain lifestyle rather than economic growth and expansion of the business. As an example one of the respondents told that the purpose of running a bed and breakfast on his farm was to ensure lesser stressful week days and more time with the family. For others running a business reflected realized dreams, e.g. running a ceramics workshop. To the question, if the business owners could see a potential in growth and in that way create a basis for a better economy, the typical answer was: But it has to be fun as well. And: As a small business we have the opportunity of having the direct contact to the individual tourist. Growth is definitely not pursued by these small tourism businesses. Consequently, the question is what the significance is of the businesses which are barely contributing economically to Danish tourism? On the face of it, the effect seems to be negative, but my study of the small businesses shows that they are actually capable of contributing to Danish tourism. They actually create different conditions for experiences than the large players in the tourism industry. More specifically, the small lodge or farmhouse inn have the opportunity of practicing more personal hospitality toward the individual tourist – more or less in contrast to the large hotel chain, where the individual guest is one in a crowd of (anonymous) guests, and the larger amusement park, where thousands of visitors every day are guided through. The mixture of small and large tourism businesses ensures a diverse range of experiences at a destination, which, in the light of a more individualized and diversified tourist demand, may be seen as a force1. Also perceived from a societal point of view, the small tourism businesses are of value in the sense that they contribute with safe jobs in peripheral areas. 1
This consideration is based on E. Smeral: ”The impact of globalization on small and medium enterprises: new challenges for tourism policies in European countries”, in Tourism Management 19, 4, 1998.
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Insurance of a sustainable business culture The above considerations point out that awareness of the small tourist businesses is strategically suitable. But how is this group of players ensured survival in an industry, where the road ahead often is pointed out as innovation of products and increased marketing in international markets? I have in my thesis investigated, how network cooperation may contribute to ensure sustainable small tourism businesses. The network “The Small Tourism” on Lolland-Falster, which currently has 75 members, has been used as case study. The foundation of the network cooperation is the small tourism businesses, which is why “importance is attached to the values, connected to being small and to contributing with something down-to-earth”2 for the tourists. This also means that generating growth for the businesses in the network is not prioritized. Instead activities, which contribute to stabilizing the members’ businesses and possibly generating a basis for a moderate economic growth, take place. The members are offered to enter into joint marketing brochures, and a number of theme evenings are arranged (e.g. on VAT and tax rules) plus competence courses (where they among other topics may learn to build homepages). Basically, the network members get access to visibility and competences, which may be difficult to mobilize on their own, but nonetheless are essential for survival as a business. But why is the mobilization difficult on their own? Lack of time on work days and economic resources may here be seen as hurdles for the small tourism business to launch initiatives, which exceed the daily activities. The existence of these hurdles could mean that the marketing is limited to the yearly advertisement in the brochure from the local tourist agency, and that other channels of distribution might not be considered. Partly because e.g. online marketing would add to the expenses. And partly because this type of marketing would consume time to organize. “The Small Tourism” is constructed in such a way that the members only need to pay a moderate economic contribution, just as the members themselves decide whether they want to participate in the different activities, which in consideration of the busy summer season take place outside peak season. Moreover, “The Small Tourism” contributes positively to the members’ businesses in the sense that the network functions as a forum, where the members, who ordinarily manage their businesses alone, can meet colleagues and exchange experiences. More specifically “experience-exchange meetings” are arranged, which make it possible for the members to learn from each other. Altogether the network offers tools, which to a certain degree professionalize the members’ businesses, but at the same time it is accepted to run a small and lifestyle oriented business.
Perspectives – what can be seen in the horizon? The contention that Danish tourism is also able to profit from small tourism businesses raises some strategic questions: First of all, the question how to ensure the survival of the small tourism businesses? I have in my master thesis focused on network as a way to ensure their survival, but other methods can be chosen and are in use, e.g. entrepreneurial advising. Another question is, whether tourism destinations can do more to profile the small tourism businesses (and with that experiences on a small scale)? Presumably, provided that a balance is created, where the small businesses are able to remain small, so to speak. A parallel might be drawn to the fairytale about Peter Pan – a fantastic and exciting fairytale, which can be read again and again, but forever would be spoiled, if Peter Pan one day was forced to grow up.
2
Quoted from the webpage of the network (www.den-lille-turisme.dk), my translation.
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Immoral Tourism Theory. By Peter Berg Schmidt, M.A. student at Tourism Studies, AAU In academic tourism literature and within tourism organizations, it is not uncommon to see a divide between ecotourism on the one hand and conventional mass tourism on the other. The concept of ecotourism can be seen as a reaction against some of the negative consequences related to conventional tourism. The area around the Mediterranean Sea provides a classic example of these consequences where a number of destinations have experienced overuse of natural resources, unhappy local citizens, economic leakage, and social inequality as a result of an uncontrolled tourism industry. Ecotourism is seen as a possible solution to these problems, and as such, it is often considered as a direct opposite of mass tourism regarding organization, visions and consequences of tourism. Whereas mass tourism affects a particular destination in one way, ecotourism is believed to have the opposite effects. In line with the thought of presenting two tourism approaches as binary oppositions, the following model describes some of the differences which can be pointed out when comparing mass tourism and ecotourism.
The Immoral Model Economic growth Positive effect on national trade balance Employment growth Economic sustainability Exploitation of new natural areas Culture clashes Accessibility
Mass tourism High Significant High High Low Few High
Ecotourism Low Insignificant Low Low High Many Low
No, there are not 14 typing errors in the model. The explanation will follow, but first let us take a look at a more conventional comparison between mass tourism and ecotourism. There are many examples of this other type of comparison, and I am sure some readers will know a few as well, and maybe even use it in their daily work? I have chosen to present a model by an Australian tourism researcher Dr. William Ross (Ross 2003: 9).3
3
Ross, William (2003): Sustainable Tourism in Thailand: Can Ecotourism Protect the Natural and Cultural Environments?, paper from International Sustainability Conference, 17-19 September 2003, Fremantle, Western Australia, p. 1-16.
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Simple comparison between ecotourism and mass tourism Ecotourism Small Local resources
Scale Use of resources Run by Purpose Educatory of local ecosystem, culture, customs etc.
Sustainable Nature conservation Cultural conservation
Local people Alternative source of income for local people Aims at being
Aims at being Very important Very important
Mass tourism Large Exploitative Business (often foreign to the site or company) Profit Not a major concern, or only as a source of income, a fake show for tourists Not a major concern Not a major concern Not a major concern
Now we are back on track again. The Immoral Model was a gross mistake. But so is Ross’ model and those of a considerable number of other researchers and practitioners. Not because they are immoral, but rather because they are misleading. Looking at Ross’ comparison we will see that the characteristics of ecotourism represent well-known visions and goals for this tourism approach. The characteristics of mass tourism, however, represent what is considered some of the causes behind a number of problems connected to mass tourism. Thus the comparison is between the ideals of ecotourism on the one hand, and the problems which conventional tourism can cause on the other. In this way, Ross has chosen to focus the comparison on issues, where ecotourism is believed to hold a great advantage compared to mass tourism, and the question is, whether this is a fair foundation for such comparison? The Immoral Model is based on the same principles, only with the reverse perspective. This model deals with issues where mass tourism, at least speculatively, holds advantages compared to ecotourism. Looking at the Immoral Model leaves no doubt about which form of tourism is the most appropriate for a given tourism destination. According to the model, mass tourism is the obvious and only reasonable option. In the same manner, Ross’ model leaves no question that ecotourism is the preferred form of tourism development. The two models reveal that it is fairly easy to manipulate people’s views. But why the instant disapproval when looking at the Immoral Model, when Ross’ model is likely to receive acknowledgement? The answer to this question is a complex one, but part of it lies in the fact that the discourse regarding ecotourism has a tradition of being glorifying, while the term ‘mass tourism’ inherently sounds negative and is associated with problematic issues. Ecotourism is being considered as a problem-solver and as a reaction to the very problems caused by conventional mass tourism. Thus the two forms of tourism are believed to be completely different from the outset, which has led to a common discourse where ecotourism holds the key to ecological, economical, and social sustainability, coupled with regional development. Mass tourism, on the other hand, represents the cynical and profit-oriented industry that exploits innocent and defenceless hill tribes and the like. The Immoral Model is immoral and provocative because it challenges everything we have learned about right and wrong. These beliefs are fundamental to such an extent that the Immoral Model seems almost absurd, and the manipulation of facts is TRUnews©- ISSN: 1603-5844 Aalborg University
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obvious. But isn’t the manipulation in Ross’ model of the same character? – only with the vital difference that we tend to accept the content of these types of models because they are within the framework of the dominating discourse. It is not only the biased comparisons that should be avoided in presentations of ecotourism and mass tourism. The comparison itself ought to be avoided because of the stereotypical separation into a binary opposition. Each of the two types of tourism cannot be said to have specific characteristics and effects on the social and natural surroundings without rough generalisations that ignore the rich and complex context within which a given tourism destination operates. Thus the consequences of any tourism development are highly dependent on a multifaceted reality of opinions, power relationships, priorities, history, natural surroundings, tourism products, infrastructure etc. etc. And this is the case in all instances, independent of whether you use the term ecotourism or mass tourism. The separation into two distinct types of tourism is misleading and inadequate as a theoretical and practical foundation for tourism development. Perhaps models similar to that of Ross reveal more about the researchers themselves and their perception of the world, than they reveal about the reality of tourism development.
TRUnews no.13 /January 2007 The next issue of TRUnews will, among other things, include the subsequent articles: • ”Towards an Understanding of Tourist Motivation”. By Karina Smed • ”Transition phases in Holiday Consumption”. By Malene Gram & Anette Therkelsen • ”Analyses of Tourism and Experience Economy”. By Susanne Jensen
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