Alison M. Gill

Emerging Trends in Japanese Package Tourism

Using large-scale market survey data from 1989 and 1995, the authors examine the distinguishing characteristics of Japanese package tourists in comparison to nonpackage tourists. While there is a decline in package tourism for Japanese overseas tourists, there are many attributes of the package tourist that suggest the continuing demand for this form of travel.

Rethinking resort growth: understanding evolving governance strategies in Whistler, British Columbia

This paper examines shifts in governance and management strategies that have occurred in response to endogenous and exogenous pressures on the mountain resort of Whistler, British Columbia. Since its inception in the mid-1970s, Whistler has pursued successive innovative management approaches that have emphasized growth. The most recent approach, integrated comprehensive sustainability planning, reflects a response to reaching the planned limits of resort development and suggests the emergence of a new “corporatist” governance model based on principles of sustainability. However, the complex effects associated with exogenous factors, such as the global economic crisis, hosting the Winter Olympic Games and the increasing political necessity of collaboration with local First Nations (indigenous peoples), raise questions concerning the degree to which Whistler is “locked-in” to the pro-growth model of governance. A path dependency framework is employed to explore and explain Whistlers evolving forms of governance. While briefly reviewing the earlier pro-growth path of Whistlers development, particular attention is paid to factors underlying the implementation and continuing challenges of the comprehensive sustainability governance model. Other issues explored include the viability of no-growth governance, the issues surrounding growth limits and the role of “The Natural Step” framework in tourism governance.

Managing growth in mountain tourism communities.

Abstract Growth management is an approach to planning which seeks to capture the benefits of growth while mitigating the consequences. In this paper, the application of growth management techniques to mountain tourism communities is examined. Many mountain environments have experienced escalating demand from tourists in recent decades which has threatened not only the environmental quality of such places but also the social fabric of communities. An examination of two mountain resort communities, Aspen, CO, USA and Whistler, Canada, both of which have employed growth management practices, serves to highlight techniques used in such settings to address problems associated with rapid growth. The paper concludes by identifying information that mountain resort communities must acquire if they are to be successful in applying growth management strategies.

From growth machine to growth management: the dynamics of resort development in Whistler, British Columbia

In North America, competition for land has often been conceptualized as being driven by growth machines whereby those with common stakes in development form coalitions of local elites to influence government in pursuit of their goals. The inequitable benefits of growth have been challenged more recently by the introduction of growth-management practices that heighten the role of local residents in land-use decisions. In this paper, the concepts of the ‘growth machine’ and ‘growth management’ are applied to an examination of the resort community of Whistler, British Columbia. This approach transforms previous theorizations of resort formation which draw upon Butlers (1980) life-cycle model, by focusing on the social and political dynamics of growth. Whistler is seen to progress through a phase of uncontested growth-machine dominance, to a phase of local contestation that is then moderated by the introduction of growth-management practices. The evolutionary process is seen as a cumulative one in which, over time, social and environmental imperatives are imposed upon the economic imperatives of the growth machine.

Tourism, recreational, and amenity values in land allocation: an analysis of institutional arrangements in the postproductivist era

In this paper, we examine the influence of institutional arrangements on the implementation of local land-use allocations which incorporate tourism, recreational, and amenity (TRA) values, using a case study from British Columbia, Canada. We frame this paper within a conceptualization of postproductivism and pose the question to what extent, and under what conditions, are new local stakeholders, new local agencies, and new local processes effective in allocating land uses which reflect TRA values? Three new land-use proposals which incorporate TRA values are examined to determine where key catalysts for implementation lie. We found that, unlike other research in rural areas of Britain, institutions in British Columbia that have conventionally regulated land use continue to exercise their considerable regulatory and discretionary powers. Though new stakeholders, agencies and processes at the local level have had an impact on planning, they have not been effective in reconfiguring the power structures for actual implementation of land reallocation. This lack of efficacy is attributed in part to the common property character of lands that support TRA values, the associated complexity of property rights regimes, and the large number of stakeholders involved. Furthermore, there is a lack of understanding by regulatory agencies of land resources as community resources, and these agencies continue to grant higher priority to the strategic considerations of higher levels of government rather than to local concerns.

Value conflicts in mountain park settings

Abstract In North America, the frequent juxtaposition of mountain resorts to areas managed as wildlands may lead to conflict among differing user groups. This article examines differences in attitude among participants involved in a mountain park planning process. A survey revealed that resort-area residents from Whistler British Columbia exhibit less support for preservation than those living in Greater Vancouver. This difference is attributed to differing utility values whereby resort area residents place a higher value on recreational access for their own needs and as part of the tourism economic base on which they depend. For city residents, the area represents high value wilderness land.

Corporate social responsibility at tourism destinations: toward a social license to operate.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term increasingly employed to denote ethical behavior with respect to various shareholder, employee, consumer, supplier, and competitor stakeholder groups. It is often shaped and expressed through community engagement strategies in which firms reach out to these groups to address societal concerns as well as corporate objectives. Little research probes how CSR relationships are initiated and evolve in tourism destinations. This article outlines the key theoretical foundations of CSR and illustrates how these concepts may be translated into stakeholder engagement strategies in mountain resort destinations. It uses empirical research findings from case studies of CSR relationships between Intrawest, a large North American resort corporation, and stakeholders in two Canadian mountain tourism destinations. It is argued that the extent to which these CSR strategies are employed is a function of both in situ stakeholder saliency and the ability of community stakeholders to provide what has been referred to as a �social license to operate.�

Mindful deviation in creating a governance path towards sustainability in resort destinations

Drawing on recent work in evolutionary economic geography, we focus on path creation as the framework for understanding how, in a resort destination context, the shift from growth models to ones based on principles of sustainability are evolving. Path creation emphasizes the power of human agency by recognizing the influence of entrepreneurs in shaping their environments. In the case study of the mountain resort of Whistler, British Columbia, we focus on one key aspect of the discourse surrounding the transition in governance from growth towards sustainability – that of affordable housing. The data are drawn from key informant interviews, participant observation and community document sources. The findings demonstrate how, through ‘mindful deviation’ from a growth model approach, Whistler entrepreneurs were able to utilize the collective agency of the community, generated in support of a new governance model based on principles of sustainability, to address the pressing need for affordable employee housing. This resulted from the opportunity to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Through the efforts of both individual and collective human agency Whistler entrepreneurs were able to persuade the local Olympic organizing committee to conform to the resorts sustainability mandate in the development of athletes’ accommodation that would later serve as permanent resident-restricted housing. Overall, the study demonstrates the utility of employing a path creation lens as an analytical tool for understanding evolutionary change.

Issues of Globalization and Reflexivity in the Japanese Tourism Production System: The Case of Whistler, British Columbia

This article examines contemporary Japanese overseas tourism from a supplier-side perspective using the concept of production systems. We first outline characteristics of the evolving structure of Japanese overseas tourism, with an emphasis on the global spread of Japanese travel companies. This provides a frame for presenting an empirical account of the transactional relationships in the Japanese package tour production system in Whistler, British Columbia, where Japanese tour operators play a pivotal role. We conclude that the recent expansion of Japanese travel companies is fostering the functional integration of the global tourism production system and exhibits increasing reflexivity.

Rooms with a view: Informal settings for public dialogue

In communities where the lives of residents are significantly affected by tourism development, adequate involvement of residents in planning decisions is critical. Tourist communities have distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics including, for example, such resident stakeholder groups as seasonal workers and second‐home owners. Finding appropriate mechanisms for ongoing involvement that affords adequate dialogue among disparate stakeholder groups is a desirable objective for the public involvement process. In this paper, the experience in the resort of Whistler, British Columbia, of conducting small group “living room meetings”; is described and evaluated. These meetings offered an alternative procedure for establishing dialogue in a nonintimidating setting. The multimethod procedure employed in the meetings offered diverse opportunities for individual expression and provided both qualitative and quantitative data for planners.