1. Introduction: Why is Tourism not an Evolutionary Science? Understanding the Past, Present, and Future of Destination Evolution
Authors: Patrick Brouder, Salvador Anton Clavé, Alison Gill, & Dimitri Ioannides
In this first chapter we seek to provide an introduction to the theoretical framework of evolutionary economic geography (EEG) that informs the approach of the various contributors to this volume. Following an evolutionary trajectory, we trace the path of inquiry into destination evolution from its early stages to the present day, culminating in a summary of the new perspectives introduced in this book that employ emerging EEG approaches.
2. Destination Dynamics, Path Dependency and Resilience: Regaining Momentum in Danish Coastal Tourism Destinations?
Authors: Henrik Halkier & Laura James
This chapter begins with a critical review of the evolutionary concepts of path dependency and resilience in the context of tourism destination development. The second part of the chapter is based around an analysis of two coastal leisure tourism destinations in North Jutland, Denmark and how they have developed in response to slow burn and more sudden economic shocks. It argues that a resilience perspective is useful in highlighting changes over different time periods and the interplay between destination strategies based on adaptation/renewal and adaptability/reorientation.
3. Contested Pathways Towards Tourism Destination Sustainability in Whistler, British Columbia: An Evolutionary Governance Model
Authors: Alison M. Gill & Peter W. Williams
Using an evolutionary economic geography lens, a model of the contested forces of path dependence and path creation is presented as a conceptual framework for understanding the complex forces that influence governance decisions concerning resort destination sustainability. The model is employed to examine the evolution of innovative governance practices in the mountain resort of Whistler, Canada. It offers a useful conceptual tool for examining forces of change in other destination contexts.
4. Tourism Area Research and Economic Geography Theories: Investigating the Notions of Co-evolution and Regional Innovation Systems
Authors: Robert Hassink & Mulan Ma
In this chapter we argue that two key notions from economic geography, namely co-evolution and regional innovation systems, can play a key role in understanding and explaining the development of tourist destinations through time. The notion of co-evolution can be used to strengthen the concept of tourism regional innovation systems. With the help of the co-evolutionary perspective it becomes clear that the evolution of tourism areas is a complicated multi-level co-evolution rather than a simple curve with different stages.
5. Moments as Catalysts for Change in Tourism Destinations' Evolutionary Paths
Authors: Cinta Sanz-Ibáñez, Julie Wilson, & Salvador Anton Clavé
This chapter explores the 'moments' conceptual framework as a means of understanding how destinations evolve in accordance with specific inflection points that might force destinations’ development paths to shift in direction. A well-documented case study of a major Mediterranean coastal destination on Catalonia's Costa Daurada is used to illustrate and discuss the scope and potential of the framework. Findings show that a moments approach is pertinent for understanding how destination (or indeed other) development processes can evolve, at any scale and at any point in time.
6. Path Dependence in Remote Area Tourism Development: Why Institutional Legacies Matter
Authors: Doris A. Carson & Dean B. Carson
This chapter discusses tourism path dependence in resource peripheries through a case study of Central Australia. The theoretical framework draws on concepts from evolutionary, institutional and relational economic geography and the ‘staples thesis’ of resource dependence. The chapter illustrates how the political and institutional environment inherited from a staples development paradigm has constrained endogenous entrepreneurship, leadership and connection-seeking within the tourism system, thus limiting its capacity for rejuvenation. The discussion emphasises the importance of integrating historic, political and institutional perspectives from the macro-scale into the analysis of tourism pathways on the micro-scale to understand tourism path dependence in resource peripheries.
7. Knowledge Transfer in the Hotel Industry and the ‘De-locking’ of Central and Eastern Europe
Author: Piotr Niewiadomski
The chapter explores the role which the knowledge transfer (KT) initiated by expanding hotel groups plays in fostering economic upgrading in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1989. It is shown that the expertise which hotel groups import into CEE serves as a distinct mechanism of de-locking the CEE economies from the post-communist path-dependence. The scale of this impact depends on the hotel group’s business model and the features of the host economy. In theoretical terms, the chapter illustrates how key concepts of evolutionary economic geography (EEG) can prove useful in exploring the developmental impacts of KT in tourism.
8. Co-evolution and Sustainable Tourism Development: From Old Institutional Inertia to New Institutional Imperatives in Niagara
Authors: Patrick Brouder & Chris Fullerton
This paper contributes to tourism studies by developing the concept of co-evolution and showing its importance to sustainable tourism development. By investigating the many distinct tourism paths that exist in Canada’s Niagara region, we find that all are an important part of the local tourism development mix. We conclude that only by actively supporting all viable paths can the region avoid the danger of lock-in to one or two larger, potentially unsustainable paths.
9. Regional Development and Leisure in Fryslân: A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective through Evolutionary Economic Geography
Authors: Jasper F. Meekes, Constanza Parra, & Gert de Roo
Planning for leisure is a complex and non-linear process. We acknowledge this by exploring leisure development through an approach based on complex adaptive systems (CAS) in an evolutionary economic geography (EEG) perspective. We illustrate our approach with the Dutch village of Appelscha in the province of Fryslân, where moving an amusement park led to unforeseen and drastic consequences. We argue that focusing on adaptivity – a balance between robustness, flexibility, unity and diversity – provides the opportunity to explain these consequences and understand changes to the regional system. This contributes to the field of planning for regional development and leisure.
10. Conclusion: Tourism and Economic Geography Redux: EEG’s Role in Scholarship Bridge Construction
Authors: Dimitri Ioannides & Patrick Brouder
In the conclusion we discuss the importance of bridging the gap between economic geography and tourism research. We stress that the synergies of EEG and the study of tourism provide an important lens for future research especially when utilizing this approach in a manner that accounts for matters of uneven development, social inequities, and capital accumulation within destinations. An agenda for future research trajectories is also provided.