Tourism Spaces

Environments, Locations, and Movements

Alan A. Lew, Alan A. Lew

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000425246
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Geographic space is a fundamental and essential construct of the physical reality within which we live, move, and construct our world. Through space we create 'others' (anything that is any distance from 'us') and we experience time (by moving from one place point to another). Because it is so fundamental to our experience, we often take geographic space for granted.

Tourism Spaces: Environments, Locations, and Movements shows some of the ways that geographers and other social scientists bring spatial considerations to the forefront of our research and understanding of tourism. This is seen through the spatial arrangements and distributions of tourism phenomena, such as attractions, destinations, and in the spatial behaviour of tourists themselves. Today, these spatial arrangements and patterns are increasingly being captured, analysed, and understood through various forms of formal and informal digital data.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Tourism Geographies.

Spatial arrangements of tourist villages: implications for the integration of residents and tourists

Dawid Soszyński

, Barbara Sowińska-Świerkosz

, Patricia A. Stokowski and Andrzej Tucki

ABSTRACT

In assessing the sustainability of tourism development and tourism impacts on rural communities, researchers have analyzed a variety of personal, social, and economic factors. Rarely, however, have they devoted attention to the spatial characteristics of rural tourism places. Yet spatial factors may be important for quality of life and positive relationships among local residents and tourists, as suggested by the theoretical perspectives of the ‘New Urbanism.’ This concept proposes that the arrangement of the built environment influences residents’ level and quality of social interactions and their overall sense of community - an idea also relevant for communities wishing to initiate tourism development projects. Thus, the research described here asks: How do different spatial arrangements in tourist villages affect the quality of public spaces and the level of integration between locals and tourists? To address these questions, we used cartographic spatial analysis and semi-structured interviews with community residents to study 17 tourist villages in the Łęczna-Włodawa Lake District of eastern Poland. Results show that the spatial integration of residents and second home users is generally beneficial for both locals and tourists. The greatest benefit is received by residents of the smallest villages, where levels of spatial integration are the highest under moderate levels of tourism development. Spatial isolation of tourist and residential zones, as well as excessive dominance of tourism development, however, negatively impact community social relationships and reduce quality-of-life benefits. This research suggests that spatial arrangements should be considered to a greater extent in planning and managing rural tourism development.

摘要

在评估旅游发展的可持续性和旅游业对乡村社区的影响时, 研究 人员分析了个人、社会与经济各个方面的因素, 但是他们对乡村 旅游地方的空间特征现有鲜有关注。正如新城市主义理论观点所 示, 空间因素对当地居民与旅游者的生活质量和积极关系可能很 重要。新城市主义这个概念主张人造环境的空间安排影响居民社 会互动的水平与质量以及他们总体的社区感。这个思想对于那些 希望启动旅游发展项目的社区也很有参考价值。所以, 我们的研 究问题是旅游村落的不同空间安排是如何影响公共空间质量和主 客互动水平的?为解决该问题, 我们采用了地图空间分析和对社区 居民半结构访谈的方法研究了波兰东部拉孜娜-沃达瓦

(Łęczyńsko-Włodawskie) 湖区17个旅游村落。结果显示, 居民与第 二住宅用户的空间融合总体上对双方都有益。在中等旅游发展水 平下, 空间互动水平最高、规模最小的村落, 居民获益最大。但是, 旅游者与住宅区的空间隔离, 以及旅游开发过分的主导地位会负 面影响社区的社会关系, 减低双方的生活质量。本研究建议, 在乡 村旅游发展规划与管理中应当最大程度上考虑主客双方的空间布 局因素。

Introduction

Current approaches to tourism development emphasize sustainability, i.e. management and protection of the long-term viability and quality of both natural and human resources (Hardy, Beeton, & Pearson, 2002) associated with tourism development projects. Within sustainability agendas, the concept of community-based tourism (CBT) specifically directs attention to local residents’ involvement in tourism ventures that aim to enhance a community, conserve its resources, and develop the industry itself (Ghasemia & Hamzah, 2014; Johnson, 2010; Murphy, 1985). One central goal of CBT is to enable opportunities for personalized contacts between hosts and guests (Kastenholz & Sparrer, 2009; Suansri, 2003; Tucker, 2003) within tourism development and implementation processes.

Although sustainable development offers a basis on which many community tourism projects are founded, there is nevertheless an extensive literature documenting the negative impacts of tourism - not only on natural and cultural resources but also on the local community itself, as well as on relations between residents and tourists (Jokinen & Sippola, 2007; Ko & Stewart, 2002; Stokowski, 1996; Tosun, 2002; Weaver & Lawton, 2001; Tsartas, 2003). One approach to mitigating negative impacts is to consciously shape the spatial structure of tourist destinations to meet the needs of both residents and visitors, while also enhancing social interactions between these groups. With this in mind, the concept of the ‘New Urbanism,’ drawn from urban planning, can inform discussions about the spatial structure of tourism destinations (Katz, Scully, & Bressi, 1994).

One of the key ideas of New Urbanism is the assertion that the quality and arrangement of the built environment may influence residents’ level and intensity of use of public spaces, the quality of their social interactions, and their overall sense of community. Because public places are considered to be central to community design, these are theorized to play significant roles in shaping social relationships and interactions among residents (Szeszuła, 2010; Talen, 1999). Despite numerous critics, the New Urbanism remains a resilient, practical and well-founded alternative to conventional land development practices (Ellis, 2002) - and it offers lessons for communities wishing to initiate tourism development programs.

New Urbanism also raises many questions about spatial planning in amenity areas. Should tourists and residents be integrated, or isolated? Should planners create compact or scattered villages? If compact villages are desired, then what type of spatial structure is preferable, and how strong should the spatial link be between tourists and residents? To some extent, the answers to these questions depend on local conditions. But, efforts to identify positive and negative consequences associated with varying spatial patterns may allow community planners to choose appropriate designs for different types of tourist villages - and can help researchers better understand tourism planning processes.

Thus, the purpose of the research reported here is to address the question of how different kinds of tourist community spatial arrangements may affect the quality and functions of public spaces and the level of integration between local residents and tourists. The research was conducted in 17 rural villages situated in the Łęczyósko-Włodawskie Lake District in eastern Poland (Lublin Province) - raising further important issues about tourism spatial planning in Polish villages and the consequences of these development processes.

Literature review

Spatial issues and community social functions

In analyzing the impacts of tourism development on village social life and relationships between residents, many researchers emphasize the significance of tourism intensity. Doxey (1975) suggested that resident attitudes shift from euphoria, to apathy, annoyance and finally antagonism as tourism growth and number of visitors increase. Thus, communities have a ‘social carrying capacity’ above which irritation occurs, a pattern confirmed by Wall (1996) in eight villages in Bali, Indonesia. Other researchers also describe increasing stress on residents, and negative changes in a destination’s physical, economic, and sociocultural characteristics, as a consequence of excessive tourism development (Jokinen & Sippola, 2007; Puczkó & Ratz, 2000; Vargas-Sánchez, Porras-Bueno, & Plaza-Mejía, 2011). Counter to this, studies conducted in small villages with low tourism intensity indicate that inhabitants described almost entirely positive tourism impacts for their village Kastenholz, João Carneiro, Peixeira Marques, & Lima, 2012, including attitudes of ‘euphoria’ suggested in Doxey’s theory. Yet, the intensity of tourism development is not the only (or the main) factor determining the impacts of tourism on residents, as shown by numerous studies describing residents’ positive attitudes to tourism, even in destinations with high degrees of tourism development (e.g. Horn & Simons, 2002; Lawson, Williams, Young, & Cossens, 1998.

The intensity of tourism is also strongly linked to its type. There is growing evidence of the negative consequences of mass tourism and the promotion of alternative, sustainable types of tourism that have significantly lower social and environmental costs (Bramwell, 2004). Milne and Ateljevic (2001) use the term ‘new tourism’ to refer to flexibility and variety in development projects that are appropriately scaled to community size (e.g. rural areas rejecting big hotels and ho...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction
• 1 Spatial arrangements of tourist villages: implications for the integration of residents and tourists
• 2 Selecting the best route in a theme park through multi-objective programming
• 3 Pattern of Chinese tourist flows in Japan: a Social Network Analysis perspective
• 4 Understanding visitors’ spatial behavior: a review of spatial applications in parks
• 5 Leveraging physical and digital liminoidal spaces: the case of the #EATCambridge festival
• 6 Proximate tourists and major sport events in everyday leisure spaces
• 7 Big data and tourism geographies - an emerging paradigm for future study?
• 8 The impact of distance on tourism: a tourism geography law
• 9 Sensing tourists: geoinformatics and the future of tourism geography research
• 10 The more-than-visual experiences of tourism
• 11 The end of tourism? A Gibson-Graham inspired reflection on the tourism economy
• Index