Ana Isabel Muñoz Mazón

Tourism for Development

A broad agreement exists that tourism is an effective instrument for social and economic development. However, there is no specific theoretical or practical framework of tourism for development to be found. Even the key issues have remained unformulated: concept of development, tourisms contributions to development, and tourism policy and governance for development. This chapter first summarizes the development paradigms held in the last decades (modernization, neoliberalism, dependency, and sustainability) vis-a-vis tourism, and then goes on to consider proposals emanating from New Institutional Economics and the Theory of Social Capital. It concludes with the results of a 2011 enquiry, involving some 60 international experts.

The FAS Model

Abstract Destination management is in urgent need of analytical and policy tools, and even more so in the context of tourism for development programs. Understanding both structural elements and dynamic processes are essential. This chapter describes a model of destinations which considers three types of structural components: factors/resources, attractors (of tourism demand), and support systems. It analyzes as well the optimizing behavior of destination stakeholders, both endogenous and exogenous, as a way to understand destination dynamics. The model can be applied in the strategic positioning of destinations as well as in achieving competitiveness and sustainability—ultimately contributing to development—through tourism policy plans and governance processes. The model was born in the context of a European Eureka–ComTur research project, and has been tested in a variety of destinations.

Key Factors for Development

Abstract Previously disregarded factors are now included in development theory and practice. A narrow understanding of capital has had profound effects on development as well as on tourism policy and governance. In this framework, purpose-designed tourism for development has been the exception. Contemporary ideas of other forms of capital playing a key role in a broader concept of development are examined, specifically the central function of human and social-institutional capital. Human capital is seen in the light of capabilities, attributes, and knowledge possessed by individuals. Social-institutional capital may empower individuals as it refers to the value of trust and cooperation deriving from formal and informal sets of behavioral rules. This chapter clarifies the foundations of tourism as an instrument for development if tourism policy and governance are designed and implemented within an adequate framework.

The Political Economy of Development

Abstract There is no clear understanding on the terms and concepts of development, both in the academic literature of tourism and in general. What constitutes “growth”, and what is “development”? The emphasis on mathematical modeling has favored the use of simplifying hypothesis, with dubious practical results for the real problems of development. This chapter discusses the most relevant aspects of theories of development, enunciated at different times in the course of the last two centuries, with the purpose of illuminating different theoretical approaches to analysis and policy formulation that may support actual strategy and practice in tourism.