文档介绍：petitiveness Critical ess factors for tourism development
Rhodri Thomas and Jonathan Long
ABSTRACT
For a variety of reasons an increasing number of local authorities and other agencies have turned to tourism as a means of economic development. To date, however, the level of activity among policy makers has not been matched by research that might inform their deliberations. Although the importance of demand-related issues - such as the promotion of particular destinations - is recognised, this paper sht/Is the focus to the neglected issue of sector supply. It argues that if tourism is to contribute to economic development that is sustainable, private- and public-sector facilities (such as attractions or hotels) must be nationally - and often internationally - competitive. The paper proposes a model for understanding petitiveness of otganisations in the sector and reports the findings of its application in a case study of east and south-east London.
INTRODUCTION
Local authorities and other agencies in the UK have turned increasingly to tourism as a means of generating e and creating employment (Charlton and Essex, 1996). Such activity is not new nor the sole preserve of obvious tourist destinations (Buckley and Win, 1985; 1989; Long and Walke, 1990). Indeed, it is interesting that between 1994 and 1996, 12 of the 13 areas of the UK eligible for Objective 2 funding (defined then as regions of industrial decline) included aspects of tourism development in their regeneration strategies (Thomas, 1996).
Yet there has been relatively little research into the efficacy of promoting tourism as a form of economic development or regeneration, Thus, mentators argue that there has been a “somewhat uncritical bandwagon of interest”(Hudson and Townsend, 1993, 50) in tourism development and that local authorities have taken decisions without adequate information on its probable economic or employment impacts. Further, concern has been expressed about the quality of the jo