Calvin Jones

Exploring the Environmental Consequences of Tourism: A Satellite Account Approach

This article demonstrates how selected environmental consequences of tourism consumption relating to carbon emissions and waste can be quantified using a tourism satellite account (TSA), and an environmental module associated with an input-output framework. We move beyond the basic identification of the environmental effects of tourism consumption and seek to measure them. We show the types of information that can be derived from the framework, the applicative difficulties of reconciling tourism consumption to environmental outcomes, and explore the practical usage of the framework adopted. We believe that steps taken in the case to examine selected environmental effects of tourism consumption have a universal relevance for tourism policy makers.

A Level Playing Field? Sports Stadium Infrastructure and Urban Development in the United Kingdom

A number of cities in the United Kingdom have recently placed a policy focus on the ability of sports events and stadia to stimulate economic and physical regeneration. Such development is most often justified from a development and regeneration perspective. Under this paradigm, the urban redevelopment which occurs consequent on stadium construction creates benefits which ‘trickle down’ from property developers, sports teams, and stadium operators to the wider community—largely in the form of employment growth. However, the attraction of the hallmark events which are (in the United Kingdom) the major revenue stream of the stadium can be reread in the context of the constant competition evidenced between cities and between regions to draw in mobile capital resources via a programme of public subsidy for private business. Under such a paradigm, the potential for the stadium to contribute to uneven development, both within and between cities, is problematic. The author examines the arguments for and against stadium development in terms of the likely effects on the economic and social fabric of the city, and identifies likely winners and losers. The role of mobile capital, political elites, and growth coalitions in driving changes in the structure and use of common space in the urban core is examined with the aid of a case study of Cardiff and the Millennium Stadium.

Regional tourism satellite accounts: a useful policy tool?

Tourism increasingly features in strategic regional policy documents, being considered important to regional economic prospects. Consequently many regions, notably those less prosperous, have expended significant resources in developing tourism attractions, promoting tourism events and supporting tourism-based operations. In this resource context, the difficulties in assessing the economic contribution of this diverse (and often atomised) set of activities are of concern. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and others have suggested Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSAs) as a suitable method of providing consistent economic evaluation of tourism-based activity. Yet the provision of an accurate and reliable set of accounts, which informs policy decisions and resource directions, is far from easy. This paper examines some of the methodological difficulties in constructing a TSA at the regional level and implications for deriving an effective tourism policy.

Evaluating the Economic Benefits from Tourism Spending through Input-Output Frameworks: Issues and Cases:

The paper examines the economic effects of tourism spending within the framework of a regional Input-Output table augmented with a tourism satellite account. Two case studies from the Welsh economy illustrate the use of Input-Output tables to analyse the effects of tourism spending. The cases examined are the 2000 Brecon Jazz Festival, and the 1999 Rugby World Cup. In each case the effects of tourism spending are analysed in the context of varying regional economic conditions and constraints. Conclusions highlight the value of tourism satellite accounts as an aid to economic and policy planning at a time when tourism-led initiatives gain importance in regional economic development strategies.

Public cost for private gain? Recent and proposed ‘national’ stadium developments in the UK, and commonalities with North America

A number of recent and proposed stadium developments in the UK have filled a perceived ‘national’ need. Subsidies for such developments have been obtained from public sources, although in most cases the facilities are privately owned. This paper examines the debate over stadium subsidy extant in North America, and considers whether the American experience can illuminate the issue of subsidy and public good in the UK.

Blaenavon and United Nations World Heritage Site Status: Is Conservation of Industrial Heritage a Road to Local Economic Development?

This article examines the policy issues connected with a programme of economic redevelopment centred upon the conservation and renewal of industrial heritage. The article examines the case of Blaenavon Industrial Landscape in South Wales which has recently been successful in gaining status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tourism-led economic development focusing on industrial heritage is shown to present some unique trade-offs between promoting the needs of visitors over local communities, and between the maintenance of cultural value and site commodification.

Major events, networks and regional development

Jones, C. (2005) Major events, networks and regional development, Regional Studies 39 , 185–195. There is currently a wave of interest in how social, political and economic institutions embedded within a region can encourage an improved economic performance, with their actions and interactions thought to be a key facet of competitiveness. These analytical developments have coincided with the appreciation by regional agencies that the hosting of high‐profile events can bring significant economic benefits through levering additional regional demand and exposure. However, only when the evaluation of major events is undertaken within a paradigm that emphasizes the importance of complex interactions can an estimate of genuine economic contribution be made. The contribution of two major, or ‘hallmark’, events towards the development of sustainable regional partnerships and relationships is assessed, and the results were found to be mixed.

Assessing the Impact of a Major Sporting Event: The Role of Environmental Accounting

Government support for major sporting events is usually predicated on their assumed economic benefits. Yet there has been little parallel consideration of their potential environmental costs, at a time when the same governments are citing the importance of sustainable development. Environmental performance of major sporting events has hitherto been judged, if at all, on qualitative, activity and procedural criteria, rather than by attempting to estimate the overall impact of an event on measurable externalities. This paper examines the UK round of the 2004 World Rally Championship, using environmental accounting techniques to estimate its economic and environmental impacts on its host region.

Scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions reduction from tourism: an extended tourism satellite account approach in a regional setting

Tourism results in the emission of climate-changing greenhouse gases. There has been limited destination-focused quantitative analysis of how tourism might be reshaped to reduce these emissions. This paper uses an extended tourism environmental satellite account methodology to examine the case of tourism in Wales, a United Kingdom region. It shows how an estimate of the emissions associated with trips to, and in, the region – internally, from the rest of the UK and from abroad – can contribute to regional aspirations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis suggests that substantial emissions cuts are dependent upon technical developments outside of tourism itself. Four potential scenarios are devised and analysed. Scenario 1 shows the value of low carbon electricity production in cutting tourism-related emissions. Scenario 2 analyses a possible 50% fall in international arrivals and 10% increase in UK domestic arrivals – maintaining employment but reducing emissions. Scenario 3 shows the effects of switch from private to public transport modes for 50% of UK resident arrivals. Scenario 4 examines the outcomes of reducing ground transport emissions by using electric, biofuel and hybrid technologies. All scenarios cut emissions, none are highly effective and most are dependent on changes in society and governance.

Tourism satellite accounts and impact assessments: some considerations.

The agreement between international agencies that Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) are the most appropriate way to measure the economic contribution of tourism has led to an explosion in the number of countries (and regions) developing such accounts. In reliably reconciling visitor supply and demand, TSAs offer improved information for tourism policy development and economic impact assessments, both of which are important in guiding resources and support for new tourism infrastructure and individual events. There are, however, a number of conceptual and structural issues that limit the usefulness of the TSA for economic modeling purposes. This article suggests that while the collection and manipulation of information that supports the TSA will aid impact and policy assessment, a further reengineering of the TSA framework is necessary to lever the full benefits for such studies. The TSA is found to be ideally used as a basis for complementary modeling techniques, including that of Computable General Equilibrium and Social Accounting Matrices.