The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

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country’s tourism industry is vulnerable when local problems, such as terrorist activities and crimes, are reported by the global media and instant news networks (Sharpley, 1999). Therefore, globalisation is viewed as more of a threat than an opportunity, and this has significant implications for tourism marketing (Swarbrooke, 2001). Increased competition under the conditions of globalisation will cause production of tourism and their marketing strategies to take a new direction (Wahab & Cooper, 2001).They warn that: Globalisation would undoubtedly lead to unwarranted decline for destinations and also for companies that are not sufficiently competitive on the international market, or have ceased to become competitive either because of deteriorating attractions, facilities or lack of service quality or high prices. (p. 13). 2.2 Mass tourism and homogenisation of products and services Worldwide communication has spread and popularized Western and other cultures across the globe so that now tastes and consumption patterns are converging (Mooij, 2004). This trend was assisted by the deregulation of travel, transportation and trade which enabled wider and more flexible opportunities for investment, partnerships and the movement of labour (Buhalis, 2001). As a result, differences in ways of dress, food, music and life style are becoming increasingly similar throughout the world: Globalisation has made the world a global market place, where the impacts of globalisation have impacted upon communications, culture, international trade and travel to create homogenization and standardization in all spheres including products, lifestyles, architecture, food, eating habits and entertainment. (Ritchie, 1991, in Vanhove, 2001, p.321). Producers of goods and services responded to (and shaped) this consumer culture with the supply of standardized and homogenized products and services (Clegg, 2005). Assisted by the activities of multinational corporations (MNCs), tourism has contributed to this homogenization of culture because uniformity of tourism products and services was required to maintain standard and quality and to keep abreast in the global market (Hall & Page, 2006). The standardization of products and services also increased consumer expectations of quality. Therefore, if destinations are unable to raise the 12
quality of their services and products to compete with similar destinations, their survival will be threatened (Grew, 2004). Grew points out that the positive aspect of this for tourism could be that the familiarity of tourism products and services could provide a sense of safety for consumers and lead to increased tourism. Globalisation has given MNCs a dominant role in all types of businesses. This includes international tourism (Wilkinson, 2004), where MNCs are increasingly taking control of a destination’s whole tourism industry by vertical and horizontal integration through franchises and management agreements. In vertical integration, the various stages of production, delivery and marketing of products are controlled by a single firm (Burns & Holden, 1995). Horizontal integration occurs when MNCs reproduce similar processes of production across countries to avoid costs of international trade (Yeaple, 2003). It is often the case in many SIDS and LDCs that the survival of their tourism industry is dependent on foreign airline companies, tour operators and hotel companies (Weibing & Xingqun, 2006). The growth of MNCs through foreign direct investment (FDI), and vertical and horizontal integration (Radice, 2004) added to the standardization and homogenization of products and services throughout the world (Dehesa, 2006). Price now becomes the only way that products can be differentiated. Swarbrooke (2001) cautioned that differentiating on lower prices alone runs the risk of limiting economic gains from tourism. Particularly, the entrance of a low-cost destination will cause loss to all destinations in the market (ibid). Conversely, Hall and Mitchell (2000b) suggest that, “In the global market long-term competitive advantage will be gained by differentiation on the basis of what is unique to a place, not on the production of low-value undifferentiated product” (p. 204). Swarbrooke (2001) explains that when tourism corporations expand into other countries, they are inclined to build upon the skills and experience achieved in their home country. As a result, irrespective of the location, tourism products or experiences offered to tourists are increasingly similar in physical appearance, operating procedures, and hospitality and service attitudes (Honey & Stewart, 2002). Moreover, when the interests of the businesses are put ahead of those of the destinations, the businesses’ commitment to local destinations becomes weak. Honey and Stewart (2002) point out that when MNCs operate in LDCs, standardization is an inevitable consequence because limitations in resources and knowledge compel LDCs to rely on the established standards of MNCs to develop their businesses. 13
Page 1 and 2: The Role of Local Food in Maldives
Page 3 and 4: CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF F
Page 5 and 6: Figure 5.26 Buffet dinner .........
Page 7 and 8: Attestation of authorship “I here
Page 9 and 10: Abstract In the fiercely competitiv
Page 11 and 12: 1.1 Background to the study CHAPTER
Page 13 and 14: attractiveness and promoting sustai
Page 15 and 16: Figure 1. 1 Map of the Republic of
Page 17 and 18: CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW The
Page 19 and 20: and nationalities are broadened (Sh
Page 21: focus on creating “meaningful tou
Page 25 and 26: waiting list for future Guggenheim
Page 27 and 28: Natural and cultural attractions ar
Page 29 and 30: local culture, built heritage, and
Page 31 and 32: Although the above inherent charact
Page 33 and 34: ituals and leisure (Tannahill, 2002
Page 35 and 36: and participation in the experience
Page 37 and 38: Cultural exploration is an integral
Page 39 and 40: 2002). As Jones and Jenkins (2002)
Page 41 and 42: Figure 2. 2 Isle of Arran food trai
Page 43 and 44: globalisation strong local food ide
Page 45 and 46: vegetarian pizza outlets are run by
Page 47 and 48: tradition are made sustainable in t
Page 49 and 50: tourism” (p. 115). As their examp
Page 51 and 52: Slow Food Award in 2000 which recog
Page 53 and 54: eing researched. Although the small
Page 55 and 56: On the other hand, the focus of the
Page 57 and 58: A disadvantage of case sstudies is
Page 59 and 60: 1. data triangulation: uses a range
Page 61 and 62: A number of international organisat
Page 63 and 64: Content analysis has been a valuabl
Page 65 and 66: 3.6.2 Surveys “A survey is a good
Page 67 and 68: Table 3. 2 Advantages vantages and
Page 69 and 70: 3.7 Data validity and reliability I
Page 71 and 72: 3.8 Survey characteristics Out of t
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were doing doctoral research that w
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was a British protectorate from 188
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Figure 4. 2 Population growth rate
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4.3 Economy The Republic of Maldive
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4.4 Agriculture Agriculture plays o
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population was badly affected by th
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enefits of tourism among all the at
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As tourism became established in th
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prospect repeatedly proclaimed by e
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Table 4. 1 Maldives tourist arrival
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Figure 4. 8 Market share of top ten
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provided a slow burning barbecue to
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Figure 4. 13 Rukuraa and raabadhi S
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CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF F
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possible” (Sarantakos, 1998, p. 2
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Table 5. 3 Frequency of images in p
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(Figure 5.3). As Figure 5.4 illustr
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Figure 5. 6 Dining experience Sourc
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Figure 5. 9 Website with no informa
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The description indicates that food
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Figure 5. 11 Screw pine Source: Mal
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Figure 5. 14 Local ‘tea’ ceremo
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Hence, the kind of analysis needed
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Figure 5. 18 Barbecue menus Source:
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Figure 5. 19 Seafood display Source
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Figure 5. 22 Unloading fish to the
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chefs in our booming tourist indust
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Figure 5. 25 Activities featured as
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Table 5. 5 Importance of using loca
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CHAPTER SIX: DEVELOPING LINKS BETWE
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Table 6. 3 Number of respondents th
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ight quality of products from these
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experts, “It is of great potentia
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have failed to utilise”. One of t
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Figure 6. 1 Number of local and for
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local cuisine. This warning echoes
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• Since tourism operators and exp
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to authentic local foods. In additi
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products. This would pave the way f
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• Promote Maldives as an environm
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Figure 6. 4 Garudhiya bai meal Sour
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Figure 6. 7 Canned curries, garudhi
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Figure 6. 11 Screw pine fruit and n
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Figure 6. 14 Short eats Source: Mal
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Figure 6. 16 Smooth loofah, Thoraa
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Figure 6. 19 Malaafaiy Source: Leis
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Figure 6. 21 Drinks made with local
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CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS In an in
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list ‘local’ food items were of
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apparent from tourism marketing mat
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operator” (Omidi, 2009b). Those r
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Bibliography ADB. (2005). Country s
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Buhalis, D. (2001). The tourism phe
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Everett, S., & Aitchison, C. (2008)
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Heath, E., & Wall, G. (1992). Marke
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Lutfy, M. I. (1995). Dhivehiraajjeg
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MTCA. (2007b). Tourism Yearbook. Ma
Page 187 and 188:
Ravenscroft, N., & Westering, J. V.
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Sheehan, K. (2001). E-mail survey r
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Veal, A. J. (1997). Research method
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Appendix 1 - Operators’ Questionn
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185
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187
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189
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191
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193
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Appendix 3 - Participant Informatio
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Appendix 4 - Ethics Approval 197
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Committee. Until full approval has
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