Vice-Chair: C. Michael Hall
Tourism and Services Management
Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600
Wellington, New Zealand
FAX: +64 +4 471 2200; E-MAIL: MICHAEL.HALL@VUW.AC.NZ
At the end of its first two years of existence, the I.G.U. Study Group on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism has been granted an additional four years to complete its tasks. At the 28th International Geographical Congress in The Hague, which is written up elsewhere in this newsletter, it was decided that the Study Group should exist until the year 2000, subject to a review in 1998. This review, by the I.G.U. Executive Committee, will take into account the progress that the Study Group has made towards its goals, as well as its proposed program of activity for the remainder of its term.
At a recent business meeting of the Study Group, invitations were extended and accepted to hold meetings of the Study Group in Davis, California in October, 1997, in Trier, Germany in September/October of 1997, in Wellington, New Zealand in December of 1997, and in Lyon/Chamonix, France in April of 1998. Each of these meetings will be focused on some specific aspect of the work of the Study Group, and will aim at producing a publication related to that aspect. For example, the meeting in California, which is being organized by the I.G.U. Commission on Gender, will deal exclusively with Tourism and Gender. In addition, the Study Group plans to meet in Lisbon, Portugal in August/September of 1998 in conjunction with the I.G.U. Regional Conference. There are as yet no plans for a meeting in 1999, but an invitation is being considered and others would be welcome. Please contact the Study Group Chair.
The task of determining the future focus of the Study Group has been placed in the hands of a steering committee of six persons, three full members and three corresponding members, chaired by me. Within the broad scope of "the geography of sustainable tourism," it will have to determine particular themes to which members of the Study Group can devote their research attention in their respective parts of the world, themes which will also provide a focus for the forthcoming meetings and publications. The work of the committee has been progressing well, despite the difficulties of long-distance communication.
As of September, 1998, Professor Michael Hall will take over as Chair of the Study Group. Professor Hall, the current Vice-Chair of the Study Group, has recently assumed the professorship in the Department of Tourism and Services Management at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. He drafted the proposal which led to the establishment of the Study Group and has been an energetic contributor to the work of the Study Group ever since. Among many other things, he organized and chaired a meeting of the Study Group in Canberra in 1995. He has many ideas, based on extensive research and consulting experience, for developing an active program for the Group.
Translation of this issue into French has again been kindly provided by Professor Jean-Michel Dewailly, assisted by Miss Lydia Amara.
Professor Michael Hall and his Department are gratefully thanked for printing and distributing this issue of TOURISTinfo. Any volunteers for future issues?
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP FOR PROFESSOR BARBIER
The years of dedicated service and the inspired leadership which Professor Bernard Barbier of Marseille, France gave to the Commission which pre-dated this Study Group have been recognized by his appointment as an Honorary Member of the Study Group. In accepting this honour, he writes:
"Merci d'avoir su trouver le geste, qui rappelle les quelque douze ansà la tête de la Commission; exprime aussi ma gratitude aux full members de ta Study Group. Je t'avais dit que, émérite, je ne souhaitais pas devenir membre, mais j'accepte très volontiers cette marque affectueuse que vous me donnez et je m'en sens honoré."
All of us in the Study Group who know Professor Barbier wish him well in his retirement.
28TH INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS
During the International Geographical Congress which took place in The Hague in August, the Study Group on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism sponsored a state-of-the-art lecture by Professor Richard Butler on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism and arranged sessions on the following five themes: Theoretical Advances in the Field of Sustainable Tourism; Coastal Tourism; Eco-tourism; Urban Tourism; and Methodological Issues in Sustainable Tourism. Twenty-four oral paper presentations and two poster presentations were made. A committee consisting of Professors Myriam Jansen-Verbeke, Jean-Michel Dewailly, and Alan Lew is working on a plan to publish a selection of those papers in a book whose working title is "A Geographers' Discourse on Sustainable Tourism." In the meantime, abstracts of most of them were published for the Congress by the organizers, under ISBN number 90-9009690-6. Sixty persons attended Professor Butler's state-of-the-art lecture, in which he raised a number of interesting ideas and challenges for geographers to pursue, including a need for more carrying capacity research, the development of a tourism sustainability index, the need for controls on tourism, and how to raise the sustainability of existing (mass) tourism developments instead of looking for new forms of tourism, i.e., how to operationalize the concept of sustainable tourism. Though not sponsored by the Study Group, a well-attended illustrated general lecture on "The Impact of Tourism on Coastal Areas" was delivered by Professor Erdmann Gormsen, a full member of the Study Group.
The Study Group business meeting on August 6 was attended by seven of the full members and a good number of corresponding members. Three of the full members had sent their regrets at being unable to attend. At the meeting, the Chair of the Study Group reported on finances, the members' questionnaire, membership, communication initiatives, the status of the Study Group, past meetings of the Study Group, and activities of the sub-groups; some of this information is reported elsewhere in this issue. A good deal of discussion revolved around the future research program of the Study Group, and the ideas that were generated were turned over to the steering committee mentioned elsewhere in this issue for its consideration. Professor Wigand Ritter generously undertook to respond on behalf of the Study Group to a request for input to a draft document entitled Agenda 21 for Ocean Geography, which had been sent to the Study Group for consideration and which was receiving considerable attention elsewhere at the Congress. (Professor Ritter's thoughtful response identifies various forms of existing and potential coastal tourism and ocean tourism and their relevance for consideration by the I.G.U. Copies of it are available on request from the Chair of the Study Group.) Other matters dealt with at the meeting were the acclamation of Professor C. Michael J. Hall as Chair of the Study Group, beginning in 1998, and the acceptance of an invitation from the I.G.U. Commission on Gender and Geography to co-sponsor a conference on Tourism and Gender in 1997.
PEOPLE AND PROJECTS
ALAN A. LEW, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A., will be moving to Singapore in May, 1997 for at least one year in the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore.
JAN LUNDGREN, Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, is spending the academic year 1996-1997 as guest professor at the Mid-Sweden University's Department of Tourism Studies in the City of Ostersund. The department is a multi-disciplinary unit that offers the full range of academic degrees to students specialising on the tourism phenomenon. Over the past couple of years the department has invited foreign guest professors. Among them, Jafar Jafari, D. Mazdcanec and D. Pearce are perhaps the most well-known academics that have trekked north for a combined teaching and research stay. Anyone interested in more information about the Mid-Sweden University's tourism department can reach Prof. Lundgren at the following address: Mid-Sweden University, Radhusgatan 15-17, S83125 Ostersund, Sweden; FAX: +46 63 16 54 88.
M. LEON HUGO, Centre for Ecotourism, Department of Geography, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa; FAX: +27 12 420 3284; e-mail: lhugo@scientia.up.ac.za.
I am looking for colleagues interested in the field of Ecotourism - and specifically trail planning. Although, we are planning all types of eco-destinations, we tend to specialize in trails. I have been in charge of workshops and practical courses on topics such as trail planning, building of hiking trails, ecotourism development strategies for local rural communities, etc. I have recently completed a practical manual on trail development.
We at the Centre for Ecotourism have been commissioned to evaluate and upgrade most of the major long distance hiking trails in South Africa. The number of trails successfully planned amounts to approximately 80 - including trails for handicapped, day walks, weekend trails, educational trails, and mountain bike and 4x4 trails. (We emphasize that all trails need to be true ecotourism destinations in the sense that they need to be sustainable, an enlightening experience to the tourist, and of benefit to the host community). We were recently asked by the Peru government to evaluate and re-design the famous Inca trail in the Andes. I have also been involved in trailwork in Israel and Scotland.
Our study group is now on the WWW. Visit us at: www.geog.nau.edu/igust. The site includes a directory of members and past issues of the TOURISTinfo newsletter. Space is also available for member information and information on study-group related meetings and activities. If you would like to add your information to the website, please contact Alan Lew at ALAN.LEW@NAU.EDU.
Our Study Group Meetings are in BOLD
January 22-24, 1997 - Travel and Tourism - The Challenge of the Digital Economy: 4th International Congress on Information and Communications Technologies in Tourism, Edinburgh, Scotland. Information available from: Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board, 4 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh EH3 7RY, Scotland, United Kingdom. Telephone: +44 (0) 131 226 6800; FAX: +44 (0) 131 226 6805; e-mail: enter@edinburgh.org; web-site: http://www.tis.co.at/enter.
January 29-31, 1997 - Travel Technology Conference and Trade Show - Seizing the Advantage: Managing Technology in the Changing Travel Marketplace, Toronto, Canada. Registration to be sent to: Dina Derenzis, The Conference Board of Canada, 255 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8M7; FAX: (613) 521-0661; telephone: 1-800-267-0666; e-mail: registrar@conferenceboard.ca; web-site: www.conferenceboard.ca/ctri.
April 1-5, 1997 - Association of American Geographers 93rd Annual Meeting. Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. Information available from: AAG, 1710 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20009-3198, U.S.A.; voice: 202-234-1450; FAX: 202-234-2744; Internet: gaia@aag.org.
April 6-8, 1997 - Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Lake George, New York, U.S.A. Information available from: Dr. Robert A. Robertson, Chair, NERR'97, Department of Resource Economics and Development, 310 James Hall, 56 College Rd., Durham, NH 03824-3589, U.S.A.; FAX: (603) 862-0208; telephone: (603) 862-4456; e-mail: robertr@christa.unh.edu.
September 29-October 1, 1997 - I.G.U. Study Group on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism. Trier, Germany, Information available from: Prof. Dr. Christoph Becker, Universität Trier, D-54286 Trier, Germany.
October, 1997 - I.G.U. Study Group on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism and I.G.U. Commission on Gender and Geography: Conference on Tourism and Gender. Davis, California, U.S.A. Information available from: Professor Janet Momsen, Dept. of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, California 95616, U.S.A.; FAX: (916) 752-9592; telephone: (916) 752-0790.
December 8-12, 1997 - I.G.U. Study Group on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism and Regional Science Association International and Pacific Regional Science Conference and Australia New Zealand Regional Science Association: "Regional and Urban Development in the Pacific Rim: Analysis, Policy and Practice." Wellington, New Zealand. Information available from Professor C. Michael Hall, Tourism and Services Management, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand; FAX: +64 +4 471 2200; telephone: +64 +4 4955233 #8998; e-mail: michael.hall@vuw.ac.nz.
Spring, 1998 - Meeting and excursion of the I.G.U. Study Group on the Geography of Sustainable Tourism. Lyon, France. Information available from: Prof. Henri Rougier, "Les Dames Anglaises," 383, Chemin de Champraz, 74400, Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France.
September, 1998 - I.G.U. Regional Conference - The Atlantic, Past, Present and Future. Lisbon, Portugal. Information available from: Professor Doctor Carminda Cavaco, Portuguese National Committee for IGU, Department of Geography, Centro de Estudos Geográficos, Faculdade de Letras, 1699 Lisboa Codex, Portugal. Telephone: (351) (01) 79 65469/7940218; FAX: (351) (01) 7938690.
August 13-18, 2000 - 29th International Geographical Congress. Seoul, Korea. Information available from: Organizing Committee of the 29th International Geographical Congress: Seoul 2000, Department of Geography, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea. Telephone: +82-2-876-0400; FAX: +82-2-876-0401; e-mail: igcseoul@krsnucc1.bitnet.
Cazes, G. and Potier, F. 1996, Le tourisme urbain, P.U.F., coll. Que sais-je?
Beteille, R. 1996, Le tourisme vert, P.U.F. coll. Que sais-je?
Dewailly, J.M. and Sobry, C. 1997, Recreation, re-creation. Tourisme et sport dans le Nord-Pas-de-Calais, ed. l'Harmattan (forthcoming)
Hall, C.M., Jenkins, J.M., and Kearsley, G. (Eds.) 1997, Tourism Planning and Policy in Australia and New Zealand: Cases, Issues and Practice, Irwin Publishers (a division of McGraw-Hill), Sydney.
Travel and Tourism Research Association (the International Association of Travel Research and Marketing Professionals) has a 1996 Publications List, which is available from TTRA, 546 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40508, U.S.A.; FAX: (606) 226-4404.
Indicators for the Sustainable Management of Tourism, Report of the International Working Group on Indicators of Sustainable Tourism to the Environment Committee, World Tourism Organization, co-published with the World Tourism Organization and Industry, Science and Technology Canada. This report describes 17 national and 15 local indicators for the sustainable management of tourism. ISBN 1-895536-08-1. Available from: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 161 Portage Avenue East - 6th Floor, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4; FAX: (204) 958-7710; telephone: (204) 958-7700.
Responses: 25 (about 12%), by July 7, 1996.
1. What is your status as a member of the Study Group?
full member: 6 corresponding member: 15 neither: 4
Some inaccuracies are known to have occurred in these responses. At least
one (probably more) indicated being a full member who is in fact a
corresponding member. Several who indicated that they did not know their
status were arbitrarily assigned to corresponding member status, since all
ten full members probably do know their status.
2. Did you attend the founding meeting of the Study Group in Lillehammer,
Norway in 1994?
yes: 5 no: 20
3. Did you attend the 1995 Symposium of the Study Group in Canberra,
Australia?
yes: 0 no: 25
4. How did you first hear about the 1996 meeting of the Study Group in The
Hague, Netherlands?
TOURISTinfo: 12 other: 12 no answer: 1
5. Do you plan to attend the 1996 meeting of the Study Group in The Hague,
Netherlands?
yes: 9 no: 14 unsure: 2
6. In what language did you receive this issue of TOURISTinfo?
English: 21 French 4
7. How much of the information in this issue of TOURISTinfo was new to you?
0-25%: 0 26-50%: 1 51-75%: 14 76-100%: 10
8. How much of the information in this issue of TOURISTinfo was useful to
you?
0-25%: 2 26-50%: 8 51-75%: 11 76-100%: 4
9. Please rate the usefulness to you of each of the following sections of this issue:
People and Projects
very useful: 12 somewhat useful: 11 not very useful: 1 useless:
0 no answer: 1
Report on Study Group Symposium (Canberra)
very useful: 12 somewhat useful: 9
not very useful: 4 useless: 0
Essay Contest and International Internet Diaglogue
very useful: 3 somewhat useful: 11
not very useful: 7 useless: 3 no answer: 1
1996 I.G.U. Congress: Comments Please
very useful: 9 somewhat useful: 13
not very useful: 3 useless: 0
Notes from the Study Group Chair
very useful: 14 somewhat useful: 11
not very useful: 0 useless: 0
Conference Announcements
very useful: 14 somewhat useful: 9
not very useful: 2 useless: 0
10. How can TOURISTinfo be made more useful/effective?
Sixteen suggestions offered, including
(1) greater frequency (suggested 4
times), even if it is necessary to pay;
(2) how to acquire papers
presented at conferences (suggested twice);
(3) list of members and
addresses;
(4) more information or news;
(5) more complete list of recent
publications;
(6) electronic media;
(7) section describing tourism
research, by country;
(8) "Rejoinder" column for better interaction;
(9)
more visibility in what "we" are doing within the Study Group and outside;
(10) section on interesting Internet sites;
(11) broaden scope of interest
beyond economic/development;
(12) more comprehensive on future meetings;
(13) if it comes earlier;
(14) increase conference announcements;
(15)
information far enough in advance;
(16) short items on basic questions.
11. How effective has the Study Group been in pursuing each of the following stated goals?
To examine the concept of sustainable tourism development within an
international context with reference to spatial attributes,political systems,
culture, society, economic development and the environment.
very effective: 4 somewhat effective: 12
not very effective: 2 ineffective: 0 no answer: 7
To analyse the development of heritage tourism and the impacts of tourist
visitation on heritage
very effective: 4 somewhat effective: 12
not very effective: 2 ineffective: 0
no answer: 7
To identify the mechanisms by which the concept of sustainable tourism can
contribute to the maintenance and positive development of heritage
very effective: 0 somewhat effective: 12
not very effective: 4 ineffective: 1 no answer: 8
To study the implications of changing political frameworks on the
sustainability of tourism
very effective: 3 somewhat effective: 6
not very effective: 6 ineffective: 0
no answer: 10
12. How can the Study Group be made more effective in pursuing its stated goals?
Eleven suggestions offered, includin:
(1) more meetings (suggested twice);
(2) bibliographic notes on new publications;
(3) publish a review at least
twice a year, with essays on tourism research;
(4) one (or two?) major
collaborative efforts, to help bring unity and focus;
(5) exchange of
reports/research notes (2000 words) from different regions;
(6) need a
core group that is interested and able to do the work;
(7) more effective
work by committee members to engage their regional constituents;
(8)
publication plans;
(9) plan coherent set of meetings for next 2-3 years;
(10) promoting meetings and projects sponsored by the Study Group, focused
on specific topics, with a convenor and exact project guidelines;
(11)
function as a sort of "Secretariat" of TOURISTinfo; members of Group don't
identify clearly with the Group's problematique, its works and on-going
debates, its results: more important exchanges among members, involving
TOURISTinfo.
13. What should be the future activities of the Study Group?
Thirteen detailed suggestions:
- tourism in small villages and periphery
- claim Commission on Tourism status
- use working groups to deal with themes like:
-- what are the strategies of those who produce tourism?
-- what do these people do with the time they don't have to work?
-- who sets the norms for touristic behaviour?
-- what areas is tourism allowed to exploit?
-- concern itself individually with:
(a) the Euro-American point of view
(b) the Afro-Asian point of view
(c) the Austral/N.Z. point of view
-- state of discussion in each?
-- what part does tourism play economically or socially in each?
-- what will future living worlds look like in each? - will there be only a
few working people in Europe and therefore more and more participants in
tourism?
---These are unexplored questions.
- continue present studies and make results more widely known, especially
to policy-makers and those not immediately involved, e.g., biologists
studying human impacts.
- use Internet.
- take theme projects and establish findings (publish their reports);
theme areas should be chosen from Critical Environments; remote mountains,
secluded cultures, heritage coastal zones, unmanageable protected areas.
- highlight success stories in sustainable tourism.
- broaden focus: keep sustainable tourism as a core but expand to other
topics of interest and importance.
- broaden out the theme and try to involve more individuals.
- set up sub-working groups to work more intensively on particular themes.
- organize lecture tours by renowned specialists.
- réaliser inventaire des plus intéressantes
réalisations (Aménagement
dans une perspective écotouristique).
14. Other comments:
Nine detailed suggestions:
-Study Group has been very effective in terms of organizing meetings, and
to a lesser extent publishing results of these amongst geographers and
some other academics interested in tourism and recreation but I have seen
little reference to any of this outside these.
- I think it would be worthwhile to get as many people as possible
connected on the Internet. I hope my present initiative (with only 5 of
us) will be a worthwhile start.
- Directory of "Tourism Geographers" that have contributed to the concept
of sustainability.
- Good effort.
- The IGU has a reason for a narrow focus but compartmentalizing tourism
every 8 years or so to a single theme, is in effect, downsizing. The
Group needs to re-engineer itself into other topical or thematic groups.
Report to the IGU what it wants to hear, but at the same time expand the
scope of the Group.
- National or continental sub-groups might be able to overcome the
geographic distance problem.
- A volunteer association will only go as far as the most enthusiastic and
hard-working members. What is the "pay-off" for participation?
- In order to disseminate certain information, would it not be possible to
supply the Study Group membership list on request directly to members, so
as to permit certain elements of discussion/ information to be diffused in
a decentralized and faster way?
- I know of no activities of the Study Group beyond those reported in
TOURISTinfo. For financial reasons, I can not attend the meetings
(Lillehammer, Canberra, The Hague). However, I would like to be kept
informed of all that is going on and to participate in any possible way.
What should I do?