The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...
The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...
The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...
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1.1 Background to the study<br />
CHAPTER ONE:<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
<strong>Tourism</strong> has existed <strong>in</strong> one form or other s<strong>in</strong>ce societies have been <strong>in</strong> existence and its<br />
roots can be traced back to ancient times (Sharpley, 1999). <strong>The</strong> latter half <strong>of</strong> the<br />
twentieth century saw a spectacular development and expansion <strong>of</strong> modern tourism to<br />
all corners <strong>of</strong> the globe (Ayers, 2000). Facilitated by remarkable technological<br />
advances, especially <strong>in</strong> transport, as well as <strong>in</strong>creases <strong>in</strong> leisure time and disposable<br />
wealth (Sharpley, 1999), tourism has become one <strong>of</strong> the largest and most important<br />
<strong>in</strong>dustries <strong>of</strong> the world (Bojanic, 1991; Trunfio, Petruzzellis, & Nigro, 2006). <strong>The</strong><br />
growth <strong>in</strong> leisure travel has matched the number <strong>of</strong> countries, regions and dest<strong>in</strong>ations<br />
open<strong>in</strong>g up for tourism. As a result, today there is hardly any part <strong>of</strong> the globe that is not<br />
‘<strong>in</strong>vaded’ by tourism (Sharpley, 1999).<br />
<strong>The</strong> ma<strong>in</strong> reason that grow<strong>in</strong>g numbers <strong>of</strong> countries are gett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> tourism<br />
activities is the economic ga<strong>in</strong>s promised by the <strong>in</strong>dustry (Burns & Holden, 1995;<br />
Gretzel, Yuan, & Fesenmaier, 2000; Heath & Wall, 1992; Kim, Chen, & Jang, 2006;<br />
Lee & Chang, 2007). Due to the <strong>in</strong>dustry’s vast opportunities for employment and<br />
<strong>in</strong>come generation, less-developed countries (LDCs) see tourism as their “passport” to<br />
development (Ayers, 2000, p. 114; de Kadt, 1979). Indeed, <strong>The</strong> Manila Declaration on<br />
World <strong>Tourism</strong> (United Nations World <strong>Tourism</strong> Organisation, 1980) recommended<br />
tourism as a gateway for “a steady acceleration <strong>of</strong> economic and social development”<br />
particularly for develop<strong>in</strong>g countries (p.1).<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g number <strong>of</strong> dest<strong>in</strong>ations compet<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the global tourism arena has<br />
created a fiercely competitive <strong>in</strong>dustry where nations, regions and communities have to<br />
vie with each other to lure the ‘elusive’ tourist (Ark & Richards, 2006; Ashworth &<br />
Voogd, 1990). Consequently, competitive advantages, <strong>in</strong>novative product<br />
differentiation and effective market<strong>in</strong>g have become essential to susta<strong>in</strong> the tourism<br />
<strong>in</strong>dustry (Pike, 2004). Strong competition <strong>in</strong> the tourism <strong>in</strong>dustry makes it extremely<br />
difficult for dest<strong>in</strong>ations to survive without differentiation (Ritchie & Crouch, 2003).<br />
Add<strong>in</strong>g to these concerns is <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g evidence <strong>of</strong> the adverse effects <strong>of</strong> tourism<br />
development (Costa & Buhalis, 2006). <strong>The</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> tourism has had dist<strong>in</strong>ct negative<br />
social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts (Jackson, 2006; Li, 2006). As a<br />
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