Sustainable tourism: development, decline and de-growth. Management issues from the Isle of Man

Managing tourism decline: insights from the Isle of Man

“…Both of these appear to undermine civic identity. Findings extend current literature by demonstrating that the benefits of tourism remain persistent, relevant, and significant, despite decline and shifts to other economic sectors (Canavan, 2013b(Canavan, , 2014.…”

“…In such places the cultural interactions, stimulation and mutual learning brought by tourism, are highlighted as important to community identity, vibrancy and overall well-being (Pennington-Gray et al, 2005, Simpson, 1993, Stronza and Gordillo, 2008. The reduction in tourism thus threatens loss of this valued cultural interconnectedness (Canavan, 2014). Moreover, natural and cultural landscapes are likely to have evolved alongside, and shaped by tourism, over long time periods (Sindiga, 1996).…”

“…Yet resorts suffering long-term stagnation (in the broad terms outlined by Butler (1980) in the ubiquitous tourism area lifecycle model) are little covered by past tourism literature (Agarwal and Brunt, 2006). Focus tends instead to be upon nascent, growing or mature destinations, as it does on primary destinations and those orientated towards warm water, sun, sea and sand pursuits (Baldacchino, 2006, Canavan, 2014, Ritchie and Inkari, 2006. Moreover, there is a lack of research investigating attitudes of stakeholders in such places.…”

“…Likewise, flawed policy and planning may result. For example, a tendency to underappreciate the negative consequences of decline and hence inadequately plan and compensate for its impacts (Canavan, 2014). More generally, limited representation or understanding of residents' experiences in such locations does them a disservice, undervalues their potential contribution to wider debates, and further isolates what are frequently already marginalised communities (Lewis, 2008).…”

“…Tourism downturn poses an existential threat to tourism enterprises, as indeed it may do to the wider stakeholder communities built around, evolved alongside, and dependent upon tourism as a whole (Canavan, 2014;Cooper, 1995;Hampton and Christensen, 2007;Latimer, 1985). Decline is linked to interrelated economic, social, and environmental (referring to both natural and cultural environments throughout this paper) problems.…”