Find an article (electronic) on sustainability and politics in the Hospitality industry.? From the article, you will write a very particular type of m

lable at ScienceDirect

Tourism Management 47 (2015) 178e190

Contents lists avai

Tourism Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate/ tourman

Politics and sustainable tourism: The case of Cyprus

Anna Farmaki a, *, Levent Altinay b, 1, David Botterill b, Sarina Hilke b

a School of Business and Management, University of Central Lancashire Cyprus, 12-14 University Avenue, Pyla, 7080, Larnaka, Cyprus b Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Campus, Headington, Oxford OX3 OBP, UK

h i g h l i g h t s

� Sustainable tourism implementation in complex political contexts is problematic. � Strong influence of politics on sustainable tourism development and implementation. � External axes of power shape the political milieu of tourism. � Interface between the political system and social environment is influential. � Sustainability discourse requires a sophisticated approach regarding ‘power’.

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history: Received 10 June 2014 Accepted 22 September 2014 Available online 11 October 2014

Keywords: Politics Power Sustainable tourism Planning Development Cyprus

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ357 24812121; fax: E-mail addresses: [email protected], anna

[email protected] (L. Altinay), p0076943@b [email protected] (S. Hilke).

1 Tel.: þ44 (0)1865 483832; fax: þ44 (0)1865 4838

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.09.019 0261-5177/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

a b s t r a c t

Cyprus' volatile political environment lends an interesting case for enhancing knowledge on the politics of tourism. The importance of tourism for the island's economy makes the study of the political in- fluences on the new-found goal of sustainable tourism development imperative. This paper investigates the political factors influencing sustainable tourism implementation in Cyprus. Analysis is informed by Lukes' conceptualisation of power relations. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with key stake- holders, the findings suggest that sustainable tourism implementation continues to be problematic, given Cyprus' complex political context, which is highly susceptible to external axes of power. The strong influence of the socio-cultural environment on the politics driving sustainable tourism inhibits its effective implementation. This paper proposes a theoretical framework and a methodology for studying the politics of sustainable tourism development.

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

There are few messier political environments worldwide from which to advance knowledge on the politics of tourism than Cyprus. Centuries of contested national identity and occupations by political dynasties and colonial powers, form a staggeringly com- plex political milieu on the island. Cyprus is a full member of the European Union (EU) but in practice only the south of the island, with its strong economic and cultural ties to Greece, is active within the EU. Since 1974, the island has been divided by a UN buffer zone. The north of the island forms the Turkish Cypriot State, recognised only by Turkey and highly dependent on Ankara. Recent economic activity in southern Cyprus has been significantly bolstered by

þ357 24812120. @farmaki.net (A. Farmaki), rookes.ac.uk (D. Botterill),

78.

capital investments from Russia, but in 2012 Cyprus' economy was badly hit by its extensive exposure to the recession-hit economy of Greece, forcing the country to seek emergency help from interna- tional lenders. Additionally, the island's proximity to the Middle East makes it a vital NATO base from which to monitor de- velopments in the region. Thus, the political influences felt on this island are distilled from several axes of power including the multi- national NATO Western alliance, supra-national states in the form of the EU and the Russian Federation and the neighbouring nation states of Greece and Turkey. Given this political context, it is hardly surprising that tourism on the island has also passed through tur- bulent times. In this volatile economic and political environment, the spectre of the stable influence of sustainable development increased in credence on both sides of the island, albeit for quite different reasons. The specific conditions we refer to are laid out below in a rationale for the focus of this article on the politics of the implementation of sustainable tourism on Cyprus.

As southern Cyprus relied on mass tourism for its recovery, it experienced steady growth with reaching 2,700,000 arrivals in

A. Farmaki et al. / Tourism Management 47 (2015) 178e190 179

2001. In the subsequent decade, fluctuating and steadily declining tourist arrivals and revenues have marked the performance of the industry, with numbers dropping below 2.0 million in 2009 (Country Profiler, 2011). However, in 2011 the first significant in- crease since 2011 occurred (9.2% in comparison to 2010), sparking optimism in the industry. This positive trend continued in 2012 with an increase of 3%, despite the economic crisis and political uncertainty (CYSTAT, 2013).

On the other hand, northern Cyprus had to cope with the con- sequences of being a non-recognised state and was forced into acute financial and political dependency on Turkey (Alipour& Kilic, 2005). This affected not only the promotion of northern Cyprus, but also its attractiveness for foreign investment and employment (Altinay, Altinay, & Bicak, 2002; Altinay & Bowen, 2006). Declining tourist arrivals, continuing economic decline and a shrinking market were the damaging consequences (Alipour & Kilic, 2005). Despite these challenging circumstances, the tourist industry in northern Cyprus succeeded in developing and is today one of its major economic engines. In 2012, the tourism industry reached a net income of $459.4 million, created 12,053 jobs and 1,166,186 tourist arrivals were registered. In comparison to 2003, net income achieved an increase of 157% from $178.8 million to $459.4 million (TCRN Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, 2012). Although tourism development has not been as successful as in southern Cyprus in terms of volume, it is argued that tourism development in northern Cyprus holds enormous potential as the area remains one of the few unspoiled corners in the Mediterra- nean (Altinay et al., 2002; Yasarata, Altinay, Burns, & Okumus, 2010).

The underlying circumstances of tourism development on both sides of the island have resulted in a shared imperative to progress sustainable tourism, shaped however by very different sets of is- sues in each side of the island. In southern Cyprus, the pursuit of sustainable tourism has entered official government policy as a response to market volatility, increasing environmental con- sciousness in consumer markets and previously damaging devel- opment regimes. The story in northern Cyprus is markedly different, as the drive for sustainable tourism emerges from private sector players seeking to capitalise on perceived environmental quality gains, unintended consequences of its political isolation. Thus, in both parts of the island there are equally compelling, but quite different, justifications for the implementation of sustainable tourism. The extent of success or failure in implementing sustain- able tourism on the island of Cyprus is, as yet, unreported in the literature.

Reports of research into the political factors influencing the development and implementation of sustainable tourism are rare, an exception being Yasarata et al. (2010) who argue that an important challenge to the research community in seeking to un- derstand the trajectory of sustainable development is to document the political ideologies and power structures of destinations. As a response to this challenge and the general goal of promoting rigorous, context specific analysis of the politics of tourism, this article aims to make two distinct contributions to the under- standing of the politics of tourism. First, in the complex political context of Cyprus we will show how the implementation of sus- tainable tourism continues to be highly problematic. In our analysis we draw on Lukes' (2005) conceptualisation of power relations and exemplify its application to the politics of sustainable tourism. From our study, we propose a general set of mechanisms that act to enable and constrain the implementation of sustainable tourism. These are offered as a theoretical frame for further studies of sus- tainable tourism in complex political contexts. Second, we will make explicit amethodology for studying the politics of sustainable tourism at the destination level that incorporates key concepts

from the extant literature with empirical fieldwork in a novel data analysis framework.

The article begins with a brief overview of tourism development in Cyprus. Two relevant areas of the literature are then reviewed. First, the literature on the role of politics in tourism policymaking is discussed. Second, the inhibiting factors and challenges identified in the literature in relation to sustainable tourism implementation are reported. The methodology adopted in the study is then described, followed by the study findings. In our findings, the particular political challenges inhibiting sustainable tourism development and implementation in Cyprus are exposed by comparing and contrasting the views of informants from northern and southern Cyprus.

2. Tourism development in Cyprus

Prior to its independence from Great Britain in 1960, tourism development in Cyprus was minimal and mainly concentrated in the Troodos mountains. Acknowledging the potential benefits of tourism, the newly-founded Cyprus government initiated a tourism development plan by concentrating facilities in the northern coastal towns of Kyrenia and Famagusta. Tourist arrivals grew rapidly and by 1973 the island was accepting approximately 240000 tourists (Ayres, 2000). However, tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the island escalated when Turkish troops intervened in response to a military coup that was backed by Greece, leading to the partition of the island in 1974. As a result two administrations developed: the Republic of Cyprus e an internationally recognised state and member of the EU e in the south and the Turkish Cypriot administration in the north, which remains a non-recognised ‘de facto’ state, economically and politi- cally highly dependent on Turkey.

2.1. Southern Cyprus

From the perspective of the south the 1974 war had a crippling effect on the Cyprus tourism industry, as the majority of tourism development was concentrated in the northern part of the island (Sharpley, 2003). The need to relocate tourism development to the south of the Green Line became imperative and so investment in- centives, targeted economic policies, institutional restructuring and policy reformations were deployed (Ioannides, 1992). The southern part of Cyprus became a well-known sea and sun destination, accepting by the end of the 1990s more than 2 million tourists annually and almostV1927.7 million in tourism revenue. Attracting tourists mainly from European countries, southern Cyprus' target markets are the UK, Germany, Greece, Sweden and Norway with 80% of all tourists arriving between April and October. In recent years, Russia has become an important new market.

The rapid growth and reliance on mass tourism yielded several negative effects including environmental degradation, unskilled foreign labour, perishing cultural identity and a persistent sea and sun image that are considered counter-productive to product diversification and initiatives to extend out-of-season visitation (Clerides & Pashourtidou, 2007). By the early 2000s, it was clear that the tourism product of southern Cyprus had reached stag- nation and was further being threatened by emerging competition and changing tourist needs. With tourist arrivals fluctuating throughout the last decade, tourism authorities in southern Cyprus highlighted the need to adopt a more sustainable devel- opment strategy to distribute economic benefits to local commu- nities, extend seasonality, minimise environmental pressures on the coastline and preserve traditional culture (CTO, 2010). Following the euro debt crisis and the exposure of the frailty of south Cyprus banks, the need to further boost the economy has

A. Farmaki et al. / Tourism Management 47 (2015) 178e190180

been highlighted (BBC, 2013). As a result, economic development focus shifted back onto mass tourism growth and several scholars have questioned the role that sustainable tourism will play in the near future in the attempt of the government to grow its economy through tourism.

2.2. Northern Cyprus

Whilst southern Cyprus is struggling to counteract the problems of mass tourism development, northern Cyprus is faced with the practicality of overcoming its political isolation and forging a distinct Cypriot destination offering. With a small internal market and an inability to attract foreign investment due to the economic and political isolation (Ioannides & Apostolopoulos, 1999), tourism development in northern Cyprus has been less intensive. Table 1outlines the comparison between Southern and Northern Tourism Industries.

Whilst southern Cyprus attracted approximately 2.4 million tourists in 2012 and an estimated V1927.7 million contribution to the economy, the northern part of the island had barely 257,000 international tourist arrivals (primarily from Britain and Germany), earning US$459.4 million in tourism revenue. Although tourist demand has doubled since 1995, the tourism industry in northern Cyprus is faced with severe challenges. Northern Cyprus' airports are only accessible through Turkey, significantly increasing journey times. Consequently, there is heavy reliance on the Turkish market with 904,505 arrivals originating from Turkey. Sustainable Tourism Development is high on the agenda of Northern Cyprus Tourism Industry, tourism master plan advocating that tourism should be developed in an economically, environmentally and socially sus- tainable way (Altinay et al., 2002). However, with 23 casinos based in northern Cyprus, gambling has become an important sub-sector of tourism that has the effect of shortening the length of stay, generally considered detrimental to a healthy tourism sector (Altinay et al., 2002). Other challenges include a shortage of qual- ified staff, a lack of a distinctive brand (as northern Cyprus is often promoted alongside Turkey), and unplanned development along the coast (Yasarata et al., 2010). Moreover, the lack of formal in- stitutions and the absence of clear tourism policies give rise to fears that political elites and the close cooperative relations with Turkey are directing tourism development towards an unsustainable pathway (Altinay & Hussain, 2005).

3. Literature review

In the following section the relationship of politics to tourism, and in particular the role of power in tourism politics, is examined.

3.1. The role of politics in tourism policy making

The study of tourism and politics has been championed for around 30 years. Richter's (1989) pioneering research in tourism and political science encouraged scholars in the social sciences to investigate the politics of tourism. Hall's (1994) application of

Table 1 Tourism Figures (2012): Comparison between Southern and Northern Cyprus.

Tourism policy

Southern Cyprus Sustainable development to distribute economic benefits to local communities, extend seasonality, minimise environmental pressures on the coastline and preserve traditional culture

Northern Cyprus Sustainable tourism development that is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable

Sources: CTO (2013); TCRN, 2013.

political theory in tourism demonstrated the political dimensions of tourism, and, in the last decade scholarship has increased vol- ume. A review of the literature reveals three distinct categories of research on tourism and politics: a) public policy and planning analyses (Burns, 2004; Hall & Rusher, 2004; Krutwaysho & Bramwell, 2010; Pechlaner & Tschurtschenthaler, 2003; Stevenson, Airey,&Miller, 2008; Zhang, Chong,& Jenkins, 2002), b) political economy and development studies (Bianchi, 2002; Bramwell, 2011; Nelson, 2012; Nunkoo & Smith, 2013; Williams, 2004) and c) research on political stability and tourism (Causevic & Lynch, 2013; Hall, Timothy, & Duval, 2004; Issa & Altinay, 2006; O'Brien, 2012).

According to Sofield (2003) the relationship between the state, government and politics has been subsumed under economic or sociological constructions rather than being considered in relation to the political dimension. Yet, the important contribution of tourism to economic development and its hegemonic value implies that tourism is inextricably linked to politics (Hall, 2010; Henderson, 2002). Studies linking tourism and politics have fore- grounded specific perspectives such as environmental politics (Backstrand, Khan, Kronsell, & Lovbrand, 2010; Bulkeley & Betsill, 2005; Duffy, 2006; Erkus-Ozturk & Eraydin, 2010; Paterson, Humphreys, & Pettiford, 2003) and heritage politics (Dahles, 2002; Harrison & Hitchcock, 2005; Reinfeld, 2003; Rkhter, 2004; Wang & Bramwell, 2012) providing case studies of the varying contexts in which tourism development occurs. The political intervention of tourism as an agent of change at the global, regional and local scale has also attracted considerable literature (Burns & Novelli, 2006; Chang & Huang, 2004; Duffy & Moore, 2011; Teo & Li, 2003; Woods, 2011; Zhu, 2012). Moreover, an expanding area of prac- tical research on tourism politics has offered interesting insights into specific destination contexts (Altinay & Bowen, 2006; Chheang, 2008; Hazbun, 2008; Henderson, 2008; Kim, Timothy, & Han, 2007; McLeod & Airey, 2007; Su & Teo, 2009; Yasarata et al., 2010).

A recurrent theme in studies of the politics of tourism is the concept of governance, with researchers giving increasing attention to paradigms of power as they investigate relations among tourism actors (Beritelli & Laesser, 2011; Bianchi, 2003; Bramwell & Lane, 2011; Bramwell & Meyer, 2007; Church & Coles, 2007; Dredge & Pforr, 2008; Hall, 2007; 2010; 2011; Healey, 2006; Nyaupane & Timothy, 2010; Menkhaus, 2007; Ruhanen, 2013). According to Henderson (2003, p.98) “tourism is a highly political phenomenon which extends beyond the sphere of formal government structures and processes, if politics is conceived as being essentially about power relations, and it is thus an underlying and indirect theme in tourism research”. Indeed, tourism politics are argued to be about a struggle of power, rules and authority over decision-making, resource distribution and policymaking (Sofield, 2003) with various interests at the local, regional and national level attempting to influence the position of tourism in political agendas. Given the multiplicity of actors involved in tourism development and the fragmented nature of the tourism sector, the concept of power in tourism needs to be further explored.

Intern. Tourist arrivals

Tourism revenue Accommodation units

Annual occupancy rate

2.4 million V1927.7 million 824 62.5%

257,000 V342.9 million 159 44.1%

A. Farmaki et al. / Tourism Management 47 (2015) 178e190 181

“Power is clearly a key element in understanding how decisions are made and why certain values are excluded from tourism policy… in the absence of such acknowledgement,much tourism research will continue to be blind to the critical role of argument in the policy process and maintain its supposedly value-neutral appraisal of tourism policy” (Hall & Jenkins; 1995, p.93).

Thus, the concept of power and stakeholder relations demands particular attention in our study of Cyprus.

3.2. Power and stakeholder relations

Numerous researchers have attempted to conceptualise power (Foucault,1982; Kaplan,1964; Lukes,1974, 2005; Parsons,1963), yet as Doorne (1998) argues its definition is often anchored in specific environments in which it is contextualised. Researchers have related power to the concepts of authority, influence, manipulation, coercion and force (Bachrach & Baratz, 1970; Lukes, 1974). Indeed, the concept of power lies within the notions of domination, sub- mission and subordination of governors and governed (Key, 1958) in what Lasswell (1958), cited in Elliot (1983, p.378), called a determination of “who gets what, when and how”. Arendt (1970) claimed that power is based on consensus and is a collective ca- pacity. Similarly, Haugaard (2002) stated that power can contribute positively to social order as power is a product of social interaction. The view that power is a relational effect, which is constantly changing, is shared among several researchers (Beritelli & Laesser, 2011; Cheong & Miller, 2000; Foucault, 1978, 1980). Whilst power has been considered one of the major concepts in social sciences, in tourism it has been selectively investigated (Cheong&Miller, 2000; Coles & Church, 2007; Hall, 2010; Sofield, 2003).

Sitting beneath the attempts of tourism researchers to engage with power relations is the contest over the conceptualisation of power (Hall, 2010). In this debate, the contribution of Lukes (2005) is considered particularly influential. Hall (2010) provides the broad antecedents to the formulation of Lukes' dimensions, or faces, of power inmaking the case for tourism researchers to consider issues such as; who is controlling the legitimacy of the agenda, what is happening behind decision making processes, the mobilisation of bias and interests, and, however challenging it might seem, to study non-action in decision making. These concerns, captured by Hall (2010:203) in his discussion of the “second face of power”, are important analytical devices that we adopt in this article in order to better understand the situation faced by our respondents.

As Hall (2010) also reminds us, a focus on non-decision making has invoked the Gramscian notion of hegemony that, in turn, proved influential in shaping Lukes' third dimension of power. The idea that power might shape human processes in an unconscious way to the point that it conceals people's real interest is a central tenet of Lukes' third dimension, “A may exercise power over shape B by getting him to do what he does not want to do, but he also exercises power over him by influencing, shaping or determining his very wants” (Lukes, 2005:27). In our introduction we described the continuing dependency that characterises politics on Cyprus and we will return to the influences of both state and supra-state political entities later in our analysis of sustainable tourism implementation, invoking Lukes' third dimension of power.

Researchers investigated the asymmetry of power between residents and tourists (Butler,1980; Shaw&Williams, 2004), power relations at the local and global level (Bianchi, 2002; Judd & Simpson, 2003) and power within a public sector policy context (Elliot, 1983; Hall, 1994, 2000). Overall, two main threads from literature on power and tourism can be drawn: firstly, social network analyses investigating power relations (Beritelli & Laesser,

2011; Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2012; Scott, Baggio, & Cooper, 2008; Wang & Fesenmaier, 2007; Wang & Krakover, 2008) and secondly, research viewing power within a tourism policy domain (Airey & Chong, 2010; Gunn & Var, 2002; Hall, 2008; Pforr, 2006). Dowding (1996) suggested that discussion on the use of power can be narrowed down to two prevailing concepts: ‘power over’ and ‘power to’. In tourism, power of interest groups 'over' local and regional governments (Mowforth & Munt, 1998) and power 'to' shape aspects of tourist activities (Coleman & Crang, 2002; Crouch, 2004) has been investigated. Hence, Church & Coles' (2007) defi- nition of power as the interplay of individuals, organisations and agencies influencing or trying to influence the direction of policy reflects the relations among stakeholders.

The notion of sustainable tourism implies that social groups and host communities need to participate in decision-making on a relatively level playing field. Yet, “in tourism planning and policy- making it is inequality rather than equality that is the order of the day” (Hall& Jenkins, 2004, p.77). While governments are presumed to be the most powerful stakeholder, this may not always be the case. The success of sustainable tourism implementation depends greatly on the government's ability to coordinate and balance roles and interests of stakeholder groups and to protect resources through appropriate developmental strategies, yet even govern- ments play many roles: investor, regulator, planner and coordi- nator, thus opening the possibility of a complex web of over- lapping interests.

As sustainable tourism policies are often made in non-tourism governmental departments, the network of actors involved in its implementation is further expanded. Richter, Butler and Pearce (1995) argues that the scale, issues and number of participants in tourism politics has changed, leading to fiercer power struggles. Tourism is a complex sector by nature, consisting of multiple actors with diverse interests, thus, policymaking and implementation is bound to face challenges. Research has shown that within western democracy power is also exerted on governments by strong in- dustrial associations, lobbies or private sector elites including external investors (Bramwell & Meyer, 2007; O' Brien, 2012). Several studies have indicated that failed sustainable tourism implementation derives from the dominance of an economic imperative directing tourism development (Bianchi, 2004; Bramwell, 2011; Daphnet, Scott, & Ruhanen, 2012; Hall, 2011; Logar, 2010; Twining-Ward & Butler, 2002; Wesley & Pforr, 2010). Other inhibiting factors include political misdirection, volatility and conflict (Church & Coles, 2007; Novelli, Morgan & Nigibira, 2012; Ruhanen, 2013; Yasarata et al., 2010).

What the existing literature tells us is that the influence of hu- man relations on political environments, the social context in which policymaking takes place and institutional arrangements pertaining to tourism planning are influential in shaping tourism development. Sharpley and Knight (2009, p.242) argue that “the nature of state involvement and policies for tourism is dependent on both the political economic structures and the prevailing po- litical ideology in the destination state”. Burns (2004) agrees that ideological beliefs directly shape tourism policies. Although Mowforth and Munt (2009) argue that mutually beneficial re- lationships are essential for effective tourism planning, the devel- opment of tourism becomes largely a political practice, with power struggles among public and private sector stakeholders as well as the host community being more evident than ever at the global, national and sub-national levels.

3.3. Implementing sustainable tourism

According to Dredge and Jenkins (2007) policies denote the formal positions of governments; hence, planning is related to the

A. Farmaki et al. / Tourism Management 47 (2015) 178e190182

political background of a destination.

Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers

Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.

Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS

Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?

Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.

We write plagiarism Free Content

Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.

Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.