The evolution of coastal tourism destinations: a path plasticity perspective on tourism urbanisation

ABSTRACT

Evolutionary and relational approaches to economic development are gaining ground in geography as a discipline, although in the subfield of tourism geography, their potential is only just becoming recognised. This article focuses on the evolution of mature tourism destinations, taking the path dependency concept forward from the notion of path creation into the new domain of path plasticity. Drawing on the notion of cultural political economy, we examine how tourism destinations can break with path dependency routines incrementally and move steadily towards different future paths, which may recast tourism in a different light in the overall “urban” context of the destination. Using a case study of a Mediterranean coastal destination on Catalonia's Costa Daurada, we explore the inter-tangled tourism and urban development processes in relation to the socio-spatial dimensions of urban change. The article argues for a wider range of social and cultural criteria in the analysis of tourism evolution – advocating the use of path plasticity and a cultural political economy approach – to offer an alternative perspective on shifting tourism situations, reflecting the inherently “urbanising” nature of tourism development in the traditional coastal resort context. It adds to the growing literature on governance and strategy-making in sustainable tourism.

海岸旅游目的地的演变：旅游城市化的路径可塑性视角

本文聚焦于成熟旅游目的地的演变，推进研究路径依赖理论，借鉴经济概念检验目的地如何能递增地破除路径依赖及稳步走向不同的未来路径；以地中海加泰罗尼亚黄金海岸为例，探索有关社会空间城市变化维度复杂的旅游和城市发展历程；主张用更广泛的社会文化标准分析演变，拥护路径可塑性和文化政治经济方法以提供改变旅游状况，反射在传统海滨度假区旅游发展固有城市化本质的替代观点，补充了在可持续旅游管理和战略制定方面的研究。

KEYWORDS:

• Coastal resorts
• tourism urbanisation
• evolutionary economic geography
• path plasticity
• cultural political economy
• tourism policy

关键词:

• 海滨度假区
• 旅游城市化
• 演化经济地理学
• 路径可塑性
• 文化政治经济
• 旅游政策。

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Salvador Anton Clavé

Salvador Anton Clavé PhD is a full professor of regional geographical analysis at the Rovira i Virgili University in Catalonia, Spain, where he is Director of the Doctoral Program in Tourism and Leisure and leads the Research Group on Territorial Analysis and Tourism Studies (GRATET). Currently he is visiting research scholar at the George Washington University. His research concentrates on the evolution of destinations, urban and regional tourism planning, the globalisation of leisure and issues concerning tourism policies and local development. Major publications include 10 Lessons on Tourism: the challenge of reinventing destinations (Planeta, 2012, ed.) and Tourism Destination Evolution (Routledge, 2016, co-ed).

Julie Wilson

Julie Wilson PhD is an associate professor in tourism studies at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and a member of the Research Group on Territorial Analysis and Tourism Studies (GRATET) at the Rovira i Virgili University, Catalonia, Spain. Recent research focuses on tourism, culture and urban spatial transformations, taking an evolutionary approach to shifting tourism policy domains, with a focus on inner-city waterfront neighbourhoods and urbanised coastal zones. Recent publications include Geographies of Tourism: European Research Perspectives (Emerald, 2013, co-ed.) and The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Geographies (Routledge, 2012, ed.).