LOCAL FORCES IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE CASTILLOS COASTAL
ZONE, URUGUAY:
THE ROLE OF LOCAL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY GROUPS
A thesis presented to
the faculty of
the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University
In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Master of Arts
Maria Andrea Schunk
March 2003 This thesis entitled
LOCAL FORCES IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE CASTILLOS COASTAL
ZONE, URUGUAY:
THE ROLE OF LOCAL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY GROUPS
BY
MARIA ANDREA SCHUNK
has been approved for
the Department of Geography by
Yeong-Hyun Kim
Assistant Professor of Geography
Leslie A. Flemming Dean, College of Arts and Sciences SCHUNK, MARIA ANDREA. March 2003. Geography
Local Forces in Tourism Development in the Castillos Coastal Zone, Uruguay: the Role of Local Businesses and Community Groups (136pp.)
Director of Thesis: Yeong-Hyun Kim
Whether tourism promotes local economic development remains debatable. The distribution of tourism benefits is affected by local, national, and international actors involved in the tourist industry. This research examines how the Castillos coastal zone, a protected area in southeastern Uruguay, has developed as a major tourist destination focusing on the role played by local forces in the area’s development process.
The study is based on interviews with government officials at national, municipal, and local levels, the biosphere reserve management body, business associations, and local residents. The spontaneous development of tourism and lack of government planning led to a prominent role of local business associations and community groups, which became the main tourism promoters in the area spurring economic development and protecting local culture. The role of local forces in tourism development needs to be re-evaluated and governments and international actors need to be integrated into local actors’ projects rather than local actors’ being integrated in governments’ and international actors’ projects, as it has been argued in most of the studies on sustainable development and tourism.
Approved:
Yeong-Hyun Kim Assistant Professor of Geography Acknowledgments
I would like to offer my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Yeong-Hyun Kim and the thesis committee, Dr. Christopher Boone and Dr. Brad Jokisch for their advise and support during the process of this thesis. I would also like to thank all my professors and colleagues from the Department of Geography and the Center for International Studies at
Ohio University for two years of intellectual challenge and personal enrichment. I thank the Fulbright Program/IIE for its financial support during my graduate studies at Ohio
University.
I am grateful to all the people that participated in this research for their help and insight during my field work, particularly to the Castillos Local Government and the community of Castillos. I would like to specially thank Danilo Anton and Diego Martino for sharing with me their knowledge and interest for the Castillos region, and for their support and friendship.
I am also thankful to a number of people whose comments, encouragement, and friendship were invaluable to me, Martha, Sandra, Lilian, Ximena, Israel, Jose Luis,
Jesse, and Erkan. I thank Steven Rubenstein for his motivating and challenging feedback.
Finally, I would like to express thanks to my parents, Maria and Carlos and my brothers, Mario and Alejandro, for their unconditional support, encouragement, and love.
I extend this gratitude to all my relatives and friends. 5 Table of Contents
Page Abstract ...... 3
Acknowledgments...... 4
List of Tables ...... 7
List of Figures...... 10
List of Abbreviations ...... 11
Chapter 1 – Introduction ...... 12 1.1 Statement of problem...... 14 1.2 Objectives of the study...... 16 1.3 Organization of the study...... 18
Chapter 2 – Study area – The Castillos coastal zone...... 20 2.1 The Castillos coastal zone...... 20 2.2 Biosphere Reserves...... 22 2.3 The Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve...... 24 2.4 Origins of tourism in the Castillos coastal zone ...... 26
Chapter 3 – Tourism, economic development, and sustainable development...... 30 3.1 Tourism and economic development...... 31 3.2 Sustainable tourism and ecotourism ...... 32 3.2.1 Defining ecotourism...... 34 3.2.2 Principles and guidelines for ecotourism...... 38 3.3 Major institutions involved in tourism development...... 40 3.3.1 Conservation organizations...... 41 3.3.2 Multilateral aid institutions...... 42 3.3.3 Developing countries’ governments ...... 44 3.3.4 Travel agencies ...... 44 3.3.5 Local forces: local business associations and community groups...... 45
Chapter 4 – Research methods...... 50 4.1 Interviews with four major forces in tourism development...... 50 4.2 Interviews with residents in Aguas Dulces...... 53
Chapter 5 – Tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone: the government and PROBIDES ...... 56 5.1 Introduction...... 56 5.2 Early initiatives for tourism promotion by the government...... 56 6 5.3 Development into an international tourist destination...... 60 5.4 Present conditions of tourism in the study area ...... 63 5.5 PROBIDES ...... 66 5.5.1 The Program’s objectives ...... 66 5.5.2 PROBIDES work on tourism...... 67 5.5.3 Introducing ecotourism in the region...... 70 5.5.4 Local views on PROBIDES actions in the region ...... 73
Chapter 6 – Local businesses and community groups in the Castillos coastal zone ...... 77 6.1 Introduction...... 77 6.2 The emergence of local entrepreneurship...... 78 6.3 Local business associations...... 79 6.4 Local community groups ...... 85 6.5 Local public-private partnerships ...... 89 6.6 Local actors resisting national and municipal views ...... 90 6.6.1 Environmental concerns in the region’s development...... 92
Chapter 7 – Local residents’ views of tourism development...... 99 7.1 Introduction...... 99 7.2 Respondents’ profile...... 99 7.3 Importance of tourism in the local economy ...... 101 7.4 Views of further tourism development ...... 105 7.5 Views of PROBIDES and the government in tourism...... 111 7.6 Local residents’ involvement in tourism...... 114
Chapter 8 – Conclusion...... 120
References...... 126
Appendix A – Interview guide for major actors involved in tourism...... 133
Appendix B – Interview guide for Aguas Dulces local residents...... 134 7 List of Tables
Table Page
2.1 The Castillos coastal zone population...... 20
2.2 Conservation priorities of the Castillos coastal zone...... 26
3.1 Principles of ecotourism ...... 39
3.2 Issues that may not be considered by ecotourism practitioners globally...... 39
3.3 Institutions involved in ecotourism...... 41
4.1 Interviews with governments’ officers ...... 51
4.2 Interviews with consultants in PROBIDES –Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainble Development Program for the Eastern Wetlands...... 51
4.3 Interviews with business associations’ members...... 52
4.4 Interviews with community groups ...... 53
5.1 Timeline of the government’s and PROBIDES’s involvement in tourism in the Castillos coastal zone...... 58
5.2 International and domestic arrivals at the Castillos coastal zone ...... 62
5.3 General tourist activities in the Castillos coastal zone...... 63
5.4 Specific characteristics of Castillos city and its coastal villages ...... 64
5.5 Rocha’s tourist attractions in Lopez Sancho’s report ...... 68
5.6 Tourist elements in Rocha ...... 69
5.7 PROBIDES institutional collaborative efforts...... 70
6.1 Local businesses involved in tourism in the Castillos coastal zone...... 80
6.2 Business associations operating in the Castillos coastal zone ...... 83
6.3 Community groups in Aguas Dulces ...... 86
6.4 Community groups in Barra de Valizas...... 88 8
6.5 Suggested topics names for Aguas Dulces streets and open spaces ...... 97
7.1 Age...... 100
7.2 Gender...... 100
7.3 Occupation ...... 101
7.4 Years respondents have been living in the Castillos coastal zone...... 101
7.5 Responses to the question, “How do you define tourism as an economic activity in the Castillos coastal zone?” ...... 102
7.6 Responses to the question, “How do you consider tourism in the Castillos coastal zone?” ...... 102
7.7 Responses to the question, “In which sense do you think tourism is positive or negative for the region?”...... 103
7.8 Responses to the question, “Do you agree with the way tourism developed in the region?”...... 103
7.9 Responses to the question, “Why do you agree or disagree with the way tourism developed in the region?” ...... 104
7.10 Responses to the question, “Do you think tourism affect the community lifestyle in the Castillos coastal zone?” ...... 104
7.11 Responses to the question, “How do you envision tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone?” ...... 105
7.12 Responses to the question, “Would you like to replicate the case of Punta del Este in the Castillos coastal zone, why?” ...... 106
7.13 Cross-tabulation of variables: gender with willingness to replicate the case of Punta del Este in the region ...... 107
7.14 Cross-tabulation of variables: age with willingness to replicate the case of Punta del Este in the region...... 107
7.15 Responses to the question, “Would you like to have foreign investment in the Castillos coastal zone, why?” ...... 108
9 7.16 Cross-tabulation of variables: gender with willingness to have foreign investment in the region ...... 109
7.17 Cross-tabulation of variables: age with willingness to have foreign investment in the region ...... 109
7.18 Responses to the question, “Do you think tourism should be promoted and developed in the Castillos coastal zone as the main economic activity?” ...... 111
7.19 Responses to the question, “Why tourism should or should not be developed in the region as the main economic activity?” ...... 111
7.20 Responses to the question, “Are you familiar with PROBIDES activities in the Castillos coastal zone?” ...... 112
7.21 Responses to the question, “How do you consider PROBIDES activities in the Castillos coastal zone?” ...... 113
7.22 Responses to the question, “How do you consider the Castillos Local Government’s role in tourism?”...... 113
7.23 Responses to the question, “Do you think that coordination takes place among the government, PROBIDES, the private sector, and community groups?” ...... 114
7.24 Responses to the question, “Have you worked in tourism-related activities in the region?”...... 115
7.25 Cross-tabulation of variables: occupation with work in tourism-related activities ...... 116
7.26 Cross-tabulation of variables: gender with work in tourism-related activities....116
7.27 Cross-tabulation of variables: gender and occupation...... 117
7.28 Cross-tabulation of variables: age with work in tourism-related activities ...... 117 10 List of Figures
Figure Page
1.1 The Castillos coastal zone, Department of Rocha, and the Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve ...... 15
2.1 Study area – the Castillos coastal zone...... 21
2.2 The three functions of Biosphere Reserves ...... 23
2.3 Nature of Biosphere Reserve Management ...... 24
2.4 Palafitos, the Aguas Dulces landscape in 1975...... 28
3.1 Ecotourism as a sustainable development concept ...... 37
3.2 Ecotourism as a market segment...... 37
4.1 Urban Plan of Aguas Dulces...... 54
5.1 Aguas Dulces in 1966 ...... 60
5.2 Ombu tree forest...... 65
5.3 Butia palm landscape ...... 66
6.1 Open Mural Museum ...... 95
6.2 Open Mural Museum ...... 95
6.3 Open Mural Museum ...... 96 11 List of Abbreviations
ADEATUR: Agro and Ecotourism Association of Rocha
GEF: Global Environmental Facility
IDB: Inter-American Development Bank
IFC: International Finance Corporation
IMF: International Monetary Fund
IUCN: World Conservation Union
PROBIDES: Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Program for the Eastern Wetlands
OAS: Organization of American States
TIES: The International Ecotourism Society
UN: United Nations
UNDP: United Nations Development Program
UNEP: United Nations Environmental Program
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
UNESCO MAB: UNESCO Man and Biosphere
USAID: United States Agency for International Development
WB: World Bank
WTTC: World Travel & Tourism Council
WTO: World Tourism Organization 12 Chapter 1
Introduction
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The number of tourist arrivals worldwide jumped from 25 million to 699 million between 1950 and
2000, corresponding to an average annual growth rate of 7 percent (World Tourism
Organization 2002). Tourism has not only gained significance as an emerging economic sector worldwide, but it is also strongly linked to the concepts of conservation and sustainable development1. Tourism’s relation to these prevailing forces justifies its
further analysis, which accounts for the increasing attention from major institutions, such
as World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations (UN), and
others.
Globalization has recently created a new scenario where the rapid growth of
international flows of tourists, international travel agencies, and the inclusion of new
remote destinations have provided both opportunities and challenges for tourism
development. Tourism brings economic benefits for host countries and therefore it is
being considered as a path to development for many poor countries.
There exists however ambiguity regarding the distribution of these benefits at the
local, national, and international level. In addition, tourism has often been considered a
cultural threat for host communities. The encounter between guests and hosts might
1 Sustainable development comprises a process that ensures meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environmental and Development 1987). 13 foster cultural exchange and world heritage, but it might also threaten host places’ local values, and place unsustainable pressures on their environment.
The tension between tourism’s positive and negative impacts has become more critical in developing countries where lack of opportunities for conventional economic sectors justifies a more aggressive promotion of tourism. Tourism as a significant vehicle for economic progress generates employment, foreign exchange, and tax revenues contributing to poverty alleviation (International Finance Corporation 2002). But if left to expand in an unbridled fashion, it can develop beyond sustainable economic, social, ecological, and political levels (Williams and Gill 1998). These risks reinforce the importance of strategic planning and well-coordinated management in tourism development, particularly in areas where rich natural and cultural values are at stake.
The inclusion of tourism management in conservation programs shows efforts towards integrating conservation and sustainable development into tourism development.
In addition, current approaches to tourism include the notion of sustainability taking into account tourism’s reliance on natural and cultural endowments. This research examines tourism in the Castillos coastal zone2, a UNESCO-designated protected area3 in
southeastern Uruguay where issues of tourism, economic development, and sustainable
development have been heatedly debated among various institutions involved in its
development process. This study seeks to examine how the region has developed into a
major tourist destination and what roles local business associations and community
2 Coastal zones are areas where terrigenous and marine processes interact to produce a range of dynamic geomorphological and ecological conditions (Bird 1984). Coastal zones refer to a broad space of interactions between the sea, the land, the fresh water drainage, and the atmosphere (Yanez-Arancibia 1999). 3 Protected areas are identified as areas of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means (World Conservation Union 1994). 14 groups have played in its tourism development. This study also looks at how this development process has influenced local residents’ views of tourism development in their community.
1. 1 Statement of Problem
Uruguay has long been a vacation and business destination in South America.
During the past ten years, it has been among the most visited destinations on the
continent, surpassed only by Argentina and Brazil (World Tourism Organization 2000).
While the country has a mere 3 million population Uruguay receives approximately 2
million tourists a year (World Tourism Organization 2000, National Statistics Institute of
Uruguay 2001). The number of tourist arrivals to Uruguay increased from 185,653 to
1,227,000 between 1950 and 1980, and from that figure to 2,136,446 from 1980 to 2001
(Ministry of Touirsm of Uruguay 2001). The number of international arrivals, mainly of
Argentinean tourists, fluctuates according to prevailing regional economic conditions.
One of the main attractions is the coastline along the Río de la Plata and the
Atlantic Ocean (Figure 1.1). On the west coast, the city of Colonia del Sacramento is the
main point of attraction, but the majority of seaside resorts are located towards the east.
Punta del Este, a prestigious resort that has gained the status of a regional jet-set
playground, is the most important tourist center, particularly for Argentine tourism. 15 Figure 1.1 – Study area: the Castillos coastal zone, Department of Rocha and the Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve
Further to the east lies Rocha, where Castillos is located. The striking contrast between Punta del Este and Rocha’s resorts exists in the composition of tourists visiting these areas. In 2001, while Punta del Este received almost 25 percent of all international tourist arrivals in Uruguay, Colonia received 6 percent, and the entire coast of Rocha accounted for only 3 percent of the total (National Statistics Institute of Uruguay 2001).
Despite the fact that Rocha accounts for a relatively small percentage of international arrivals in Uruguay, the region is considered a major tourist attraction, and 16 more importantly, it is the most promising ecotourist destination based on the region’s rich biodiversity that has justified its designation as a biosphere reserve. The city of
Castillos and its coastal zone receives an estimate of 8,000 visitors per year, accounting for approximately 12 percent of Rocha’s total international tourists. The size of the tourist population has reached that of the total population of the Castillos’ area. This figure does not include domestic tourism, which is much larger than international tourism.
1.2 Objectives of the study
The previously mentioned numbers illustrate the significance of tourism in the
local economy of Castillos and justify a closer look at the industry conditions with the
following objectives:
1. To analyze the origins of tourism in the Castillos coastal zone, and how the
development process relates to present tourism conditions and potential for the
industry in the region.
2. To examine the role of local businesses and community groups in tourism
development in the area.
3. To assess how local residents perceive the tourism development process of their
areas.
It has not been easy to achieve both economic development and resource
conservation at the same time. Although sustainable tourism, particularly ecotourism, has
been promoted as a panacea for local economic development in many places around the
world, it has been rare to see any perfect cases that have achieved sustainable tourism in a
true sense. Many tourist places, often praised as success stories, have suffered from
directly or indirectly negative side effects of tourism development (Honey 1999). 17 According to Epler Wood (2002), a wide variety of stakeholders must be involved in ecotourism implementation -including business, government, non-governmental organizations, and local communities. Honey (1999) has distinguished four main actors who originally promoted ecotourism development:
1) Conservation organizations,
2) Multilateral aid institutions,
3) Developing countries’ government, and
4) Travel agencies.
Local forces, including community groups, business associations, and non- governmental organizations have struggled several times against those four actors, regarding fundamentally, control over land and resources (Honey 1999). This research seeks a better understanding of the interactions among all these key players in tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone, Uruguay, focusing on the role of local business associations and community groups, and contrasting them with actions pursued by the government and PROBIDES, the reserve conservation program (as pertaining to the conservation circle and representing multilateral aid institutions as well).
Although Uruguay has been a traditional tourism destination in South America, and tourism has been a major sector of the country’s national economy, the country’s government initiatives to promote specific tourist products have been taking shape only in recent years. Ecotourism and nature-based tourism have been the latest types of tourism receiving attention from national and local authorities. In February 2000, the
Uruguayan Senate passed Act No. 17.234 creating the National System of Natural
Protected Areas. In April 2002, the First National Ecotourism Congress was held in 18 Rocha, Uruguay, as a preparation for the May 2002 World Ecotourism Summit held in
Canada.
1.3 Organization of the study
This work is organized into eight chapters, following the structure described
below:
Chapter 1 provides the introduction of the research including statement of
problem and objectives, followed by Chapter 2 that describes the study area, which
comprises the Castillos coastal zone within Bañados del Este, the only UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve in Uruguay. Chapter 3 reviews the existing literature, paying
particular attention to four main topics: tourism as an economic activity; tourism and
development; sustainable tourism and ecotourism; and finally, institutions involved in
tourism development.
Chapter 4 explains the research methods detailing procedures followed by the
researcher in relation to interviews and data analysis, and analysis of documents as well.
Then, Chapter 5 briefly reviews the history of tourism in the Castillos coastal zone,
examining the roles played by the reserve conservation program, PROBIDES and
governments at national, municipal, and local levels in tourism development. This
Chapter responds to the first objective of the research.
Chapter 6 analyzes the role of local business associations and community groups
in the process of tourism development in the study area, addressing the second objective
of the research. Chapter 7 concentrates on the third objective examining the effects of the
tourism development process and of the role of local businesses and community groups 19 on local residents’ views of tourism in the region. Lastly, Chapter 8 concludes with the findings of this work and suggests some areas for future research. 20 Chapter 2
Study area– The Castillos coastal zone
2.1 The Castillos coastal zone
This chapter introduces the study area’s main features and urbanization and tourism development processes in it. Conservation priorities of the region, which account for its designation as a biosphere reserve by the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere
Program, are detailed as well.
The study area consists of the city of Castillos, and the villages of Cabo Polonio,
Barra de Valizas, Aguas Dulces, and La Esmeralda, all located in the surroundings of
Laguna de Castillos. In this thesis, this setting is referred to as the Castillos coastal zone
(Figure 2.1). The area’s combined population amounted to 8,454 inhabitants in 1996
(Table 2.1) (National Statistics Institute of Uruguay 1996).
Table 2.1 – The Castillos coastal zone population4
Locality 1996 Census
Castillos City 7,850 Cabo Polonio 103 Aguas Dulces 247 Barra de Valizas 254 La Esmeralda5 n/a Total 8,454
Source: National Statistics Institute of Uruguay 1996
4 The demographic data included in this work refer to the 1996 National Census by the National Statistics Institute of Uruguay, which was the only official statistical information available at the time of research. However, local authorities estimate the population of the area to have grown considerably since 1996. 5 Data on La Esmeralda were not available due to the village recent establishment. 21 Figure 2.1 – Study area – the Castillos coastal zone
Castillos is located in southeastern Uruguay, close to the border with Brazil, and
belongs to the department of Rocha6, which is part of an enlarged area of Bañados del
Este, the only UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve in the country (Figure 1.1). The
Bañados del Este (Eastern Wetlands) Biosphere Reserve includes the entire departments
of Rocha and Treinta y Tres, and parts of three other departments -Maldonado, Lavalleja
and Cerro Largo- covering a total area of 3,850,000 hectares. The area was designated a
Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program in 1976.
6 Uruguay is politically organized in 19 departments, which work as municipalities, and they are also divided in local governments. For the purposes of this research, the Municipality of Rocha and Castillos Local Government are the relevant authorities. 22 In addition, the Bañados del Este area has been designated, in 1984, Weltand of
International Importance by the Ramsar Agreement7.
2.2 Biosphere Reserves
Biosphere Reserves are defined as areas of terrestrial and coastal/marine
ecosystems, which are internationally recognized within the framework of UNESCO’s
Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program (UNESCO MAB 2002). The MAB Program
was launched in 1968 during the UNESCO Conference on the Conservation and Rational
Use of the Biosphere with the objective of striking a balance between the goals of
conserving biodiversity8, promoting economic and social development, and maintaining
cultural values (UNESCO MAB 2002).
Each Biosphere Reserve is intended to fulfill three functions: conservation,
development, and logistics (Figure 2.2). The conservation function seeks to contribute to
the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation. The
development function aims to foster economic and human development in a socio-
culturally and ecologically sustainable way. Finally, the logistic function provides
support for research, monitoring, education and information exchange related to local,
national, and global issues of conservation and development (UNESCO MAB 2002).
7 The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was adopted in 1971 and it comprises the only global environmental treaty dealing with a particular ecosystem. Its mission is the conservation and wise use of wetlands by national action and international cooperation (RAMSAR 2002). 8 Biodiversity or biological diversity: term given to the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. It means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems (Convention on Biological Diversity 2002). 23 Figure 2.2 – The three functions of Biosphere Reserves
COCONNSSERVERVAATITIOONN DEDEVVEELLOOPPMENMENTT CConseonserrvvaattiioonn AAssssoociciatatiioonn ofof bbiiododiveiverrssiittyy ofof eennvviriroonnmmeenntt aanndd eecocosyssystteemmss wwiitthh dedevveelloopmpmeenntt
BIBIOOSSPHPHEERREE RERESSEERRVVEE
LOLOGGIISSTTIICCSS IInntteerrnnaattioionanall nenettwwororkk foforr rreesseeaarrcchh aanndd mmonionittoorriingng
Source: UNESCO MAB 2002
Biosphere Reserves consist of a core area, a buffer zone, and a transition area
(Figure 2.3) (UNESCO MAB 2002). The core area needs to be legally established and
given long-term protection to landscape, ecosystems and species. In this area, human
activities are limited to research and monitoring, and in some cases, to traditional
extractive uses by local communities.
The buffer zone surrounds the core area, and its purpose is to protect the core
through shielding it from people. Activities are limited to experimental research,
education and training, and tourism and recreation. The transition area is the one that
concentrates on more human activities such as agriculture, settlements, and tourism. It is
of great economic and social significance for regional development since it gathers local 24 communities, conservation agencies, scientists, civil associations, cultural groups, and private enterprises (UNESCO MAB 2002).
Figure 2.3 – Nature of Biosphere Reserves Management
MMaananagemgemeenntt SCIENTIFIC SCIENTIFIC autauthohorriittiieses LELEGISGISLLATATIONION INSINSTTIITTUUTTIONSIONS
CONSERVATION
RESEARCH LOCAL & DEVELOPMENT MONITORING
CORE BUFFER TRANSITION AREA ZONE AREA
Source: UNESCO MAB 2002
2.3 The Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve
The Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve stands out for its high level of
biodiversity and constitutes a large genetic reservoir of reptiles, amphibians, mammals,
and birds. More than 300 bird species have been registered in the Reserve, representing
more than 75 percent of the total for the whole of Uruguay. The world’s largest
population of butia palms (Butia Capitata), covering about 70,000 hectares, is found in
the area, as well as the only ombu tree forest in the world (PROBIDES 2002). Important 25 archeological remains of primitive indigenous populations, in the form of small mounds, also exist in the Reserve.
Bañados del Este has been managed by PROBIDES -the Conservation of
Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Program for the Eastern Wetlands-which started its activities within the department of Rocha in 1993. In 1999, PROBIDES published a Management Master Plan for the Reserve as an instrument to guide land planning and development in the area. It aimed at creating the formal setting for development of research, monitoring, conservation, and educational activities, as well as serving as a guideline for the economic and social agents in the region.
The Master Plan adopted the MAB Concept of core, buffer and transition areas, and also introduced five Management Categories for Protected Areas, in accordance with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) guidelines. The five categories of protected areas include: National Parks, Wilderness Areas, Natural Monuments, Protected
Landscapes/Seascapes, and Managed Resource Protected Areas. Within this zoning system, the Castillos coastal zone, the study area, has been recognized as a National Park comprising the conservation priorities of the area oceanic beaches, coastal lagoons, wetlands, hills, an endangered species of butia palm tree (Butia Capitata), and a native ombu tree forest (Table 2.2). 26 Table 2.2 – Conservation priorities of the Castillos coastal zone
System of coastal mobile sand dunes, beaches, and oceanic islands.
Lagoon and surrounding wetlands, prairies, coastal native forests, particularly the ombu tree forest, the ceibal tree, and the butia palm tree.
Remarkable landscape values: coastal mobile dunes, lagoons, beach formations and oceanic islands.
Oceanic islands and its marine mammals populations.
Fauna associated with temporary and permanent wetlands, amongst them seasonable fishes.
Amphibians under conservation pressures.
Aquatic birds of importance in the region and coastal migrating aquatic birds
Historic and archeological heritage: important archeological remains of primitive indigenous populations, in the shape of small mounds.
Source: PROBIDES 2002.
2.4 Origins of tourism in the Castillos coastal zone
Tourism in the Castillos coastal zone is closely linked to the origin of the city of
Castillos and its neighboring villages, including Aguas Dulces, Cabo Polonio, and Barra
de Valizas. In these villages, tourism development has led urbanization that took place
spontaneously without much governmental planning. La Esmeralda, the most recently
established coastal village, in contrast, has been developed by a governmental urban plan,
and therefore its settling process has been completely different from other villages in the
area. A brief chronology is provided below in order to illustrate the pace and style of the
region’s development and its relation to tourism.
The city of Castillos was founded in 1866, but it was since the beginning of the
sixteenth century when various ships from many different parts of the world started 27 showing up on its coast (Ochoa and Varese 1999). Many of them ended in shipwrecks, which became part of the area’s historical heritage. In 1881, the lighthouse in Cabo
Polonio was built. By 1890, a few local residents started spending the summer seasons on the coast, camping in the mouth of the Valizas Stream and later on, more in Aguas
Dulces coast (Ochoa and Varese 1999).
In 1901, according to the Minutes Book of the Auxiliary Commission of Castillos
(former Local Government), some residents resisted a landowner’s intention to charge a toll fee to cross his property to access the coast. In 1904, according to oral testimonies, there were two thatched huts in Aguas Dulces coast, and in 1905, in a writ of the
Commission Aguas Dulces was officially recognized as a “summer resort” (Ochoa and
Varese 1999).
In 1911, the government started the sea lions’ exploitation in Cabo Polonio and
Isla de Lobos, just in front of the coast. By 1917, a hotel and a dancing place were opened in Aguas Dulces. By that time, there were approximately fifty thatched huts, and owners were mainly from Castillos and the surrounding areas. In the same year, the
Municipality of Rocha passed a regulation regarding health care and waste management that was designed to charge residents fees for these services provided by the government.
In 1920, artisanal fishing started taking place on the coasts of Barra de Valizas and Cabo Polonio, where tourism developed afterward. By 1930, the first thatched huts over wooded-piles (palafitos) were built on Aguas Dulces beach sands, which became later, the main feature of the coastal landscape (Figure 2.4). 28 Figure 2.4 – Palafitos, the Aguas Dulces landscape in 1975
Source: Guía Turística del Departamento de Rocha 1977
In 1933, the first restaurant was opened in Aguas Dulces and, in 1935 taxi services began to operate between the village and Castillos (Ochoa and Varese 1999). In
1939, the government promoted the forestation of pine trees near Aguas Dulces and Cabo
Polonio in pursuit of stopping the beach sands’ movement into productive lands. In 1944, a local road linking Castillos, Aguas Dulces, and Barra de Valizas was built.
By 1950, an ever-increasing number of visitors in the area justified the inauguration of a bus line between Castillos and Aguas Dulces. In 1959, the Aguas
Dulces Club was created for social and sports purposes. In 1978, a direct bus line from
Aguas Dulces to Montevideo –Uruguay’s capital- was established (Ochoa and Varesse
1999). In 1980, the government provided electricity to Aguas Dulces for the first time in history. In 1992, the slaughtering of sea lions was forbidden to protect the resource, making it one of the first conservation initiatives in the region. 29 Spontaneity has essentially characterized the way in which urbanization and tourism development took place in the coastal villages of Castillos. The coast started to be settled by residents of Castillos city and the surrounding areas, without much governmental planning. In those early stages of the region’s development, the government action was minimum and responded mainly to local residents’ claims.
Tourism further developed becoming a major economic activity for the region, process that is explained in Chapter 5. Finally, the 1976 UNESCO designation of the area as a biosphere reserve highlighted its natural wealth and introduced issues of conservation, an important factor linked to tourism, which is also analyzed later on this work. 30 Chapter 3
Tourism, economic development, and sustainable development
The tourist industry has benefited from improvements in communications and transportation technology and consequent increases in flows of information, capital, and people around the world. There has been a rapid increase in international tourism in recent years, which accounts for the attention that this sector has received from government agencies, international organizations, and academics.
The tourist industry is multifaceted, comprising the aggregate of goods and services produced by different economic sectors, such as lodging, transportation, retailing, and recreation facilities. It is therefore hard to estimate with any degree of accuracy the sector’s magnitude or significance in terms of generated revenues or employment (Ioannides and Debbage 1998).
Ioannides and Debbage (1998) recognize that considering tourism an industry remains a hotly debated issue when compared to more “conventional” sectors such as manufacturing, producer services, or retailing. However, they call for the need to approach tourism in the same way, due to the enormous tourism production system, and especially due to its large and rapidly growing employment base.
Nash (1981) considers the generation of tourists the most important aspect of the tourism industry. Without leisured travelers there can be no tourism. For him, societies create travel by producing mobility and the means to accomplish it. When travel options and leisure time intersect, tourists and tourism are produced. The quality and quantity of these depend on the character of the society that produces them (Nash 1981). 31 The fact that tourism can be created justifies studies on the conditions under which a massive number of tourists are attracted. Gartner and Lime (2000) argue that tourism growth has a close relationship with the level of host countries’ development.
Developed countries are more likely to be the ones to generate and benefit from tourism.
They identify inadequate distribution channels as the major reason for retarded tourism growth in developing countries (Gartner and Lime 2000).
This study rather focuses on how the activity takes place in developing countries than on whether tourism grows more in developed countries. In particular, who produces tourism and what is the role of local actors in the way the tourist industry develops in developing economies.
3.1 Tourism and Economic Development
Whether tourism promotes local economic development remains debatable.
Positive consequences of tourism relate mainly to the creation of jobs and opportunities
for increased income and consequently improved standards of living (De Kadt 1979).
Tourism’s negative impacts refer to foreign domination and dependency, polarization,
environmental destruction, cultural alienation, and the loss of social control and identity
among host communities (Ramer McLaren 1999).
Burns (2001) identifies the need of understanding the relationship between the
global and the local contexts in order to understand how global tourism might impact
upon local cultures. Work at the local level is then required for an equitable distribution
of tourism benefits, but local action undergoes increasing pressure from global forces. De
Kadt (1979) stresses that the distribution of tourism benefits depends to a great extent on
existing power and social structures. In some cases, lack of local control responds to 32 national governments and elites’ interests in a sort of “internal neocolonialism”9 (De Kadt
1979, Smith 1997).
Many case studies have proved that transnational corporations and tour operators,
as well as local elites, are the ones that generate and benefit from tourism, where local
communities in general, lack control over it (Turner 1976, Nash 1981, Britton 1982,
Johnston 1990, Brohman 1996). Brenner and Aguilar (2002) have studied the economic
role of tourism in Mexico where government promotion of luxury resorts in coastal areas
has led to concentrated enclaves of mainly foreign investment. This strategy has failed to
contribute to integrated regional development and to stimulate productive links between
tourist centers and their hinterlands (Brenner and Aguilar 2002).
Few proposals for tourism and related community development projects have
been generated at the local level. It is vital to strengthen indigenous decisionmaking,
innovation, and management capacity, to assess the reasons why communities have
difficulties accessing the existing channels for funding and technical support (Johnston
1999). More detail on the institutions promoting tourism, in particular ecotourism, and on
communities’ role in the process is given later in this chapter.
3.2 Sustainable tourism and ecotourism
De Kadt (1979) in his often-cited work on tourism in developing countries
provided a more balanced view of positive and negative consequences of tourism, with
9 Gonzalez Casanova introduced the term internal colonialism when pointing out that colonialism is not only an international but also an intranational phenomenon, one that might provide a sociological explanation of problems of underdevelopment. The notion has its roots in the independence movement of the old colonies, when the disappearance of the direct domination of foreigners over natives led to the emergence of an oppression of some natives over others. Internal colonialism provides mainly a structural analysis and it has a political and economic value in enhancing development processes (Gonzalez Casanova 1969).
33 further policy implications. Many of his ideas are included today in the concept of sustainable tourism.
The concept of sustainability has spread to a wide scope of human activities, and tourism is not an exception to this. Terms such as “green tourism” began to be used in the late 1980s, when academics and practitioners began to consider the implications of the
Brundtland Report10 for their own industry (Swarbrooke 1999). In the 1990s the term
became more commonly used, evolving into the concept of sustainable tourism.
Sustainable tourism encompasses an approach that recognizes the importance of
the host community, the way indigenous staff are treated, and the desire to maximize the
economic benefits of tourism for the host community. This concept was recognized in the
Green Paper on Tourism published in 1995 by the European Union (Swarbrooke 1999).
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) identifies four major principles in
sustainable tourism. First, ecological sustainability, or understanding that development is
compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity,
and biological resources. Second, cultural sustainability, or increasing people’s control
over their lives, compatible with the culture and values of those affected, and maintaining
and strengthening community identity. Third, economic sustainability, defined as
development that is economically efficient, where resources are managed so they can
support future generations. And fourth, local sustainability, meaning development
designed to benefit local communities and sustain profits for local businesses (OAS
1997).
10 Report also known as Our Common Future, prepared in 1987 by the United Nations-convened World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by the former primer minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission was established in 1983 to look at environmental and development issues, proposing means for the global community to address them. 34 Sustainable tourism is tourism that protects nature and culture while it also provides economic benefits to local communities. Much of the debate about the sustainability of tourism centers precisely on the opportunities presented by the tourist industry to the local people of tourism destinations in order to reach sustainable development (Ramer McLaren 1999).
3.2.1 Defining ecotourism
Ecotourism is a sub-component of the field of sustainable development (Epler
Wood 2002). The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), provided in 1991 one of the earliest and clearest definitions: “ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local people” (Epler Wood
2002, 9). However, there has been confusion in interpreting what ecotourism really
means.
Ecotourism has been hailed as a panacea: a way to fund conservation and
scientific research, protect fragile and pristine ecosystems, benefit rural communities,
promote development in poor countries, enhance ecological and cultural sensitivity,
instill environmental awareness and a social conscience in the travel industry, satisfy and
educate the discriminating tourist, and some claim, build world peace (Honey 1999). This
impressive amount of elements associated with ecotourism have brought about some
confusion, and in many cases, misuse of the term. Some clarification is required to
understand what ecotourism really means, and under which circumstances this specific
kind of sustainable tourism takes place.
For HaySmith and Hunt (1995), nature tourism and ecotourism are interrelated
and may be used interchangeably. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) and United 35 Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in their publication Guidelines for
Development of National Parks and Protected Areas for Tourism, stated that nature tourism is also known as ecotourism, without making a clear distinction between the two terms. They took Ceballos-Lascurain definition of ecotourism as:
Tourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects (both of the past or the present) found in these areas (WTO and UNEP 1992, 2).
In January 2002, Megan Epler Wood, in a UNEP and TIES joint publication, clarified the concept. Her work looked at the progress made in ecotourism in the last decade, and at what it lacks to make it sustainable in the future (Epler Wood 2002).
Epler Wood (2002) recognizes that ecotourism is primarily advertised as being equivalent to nature tourism in the marketplace, and also that many travel and tourism businesses, as well as governments, have used the term extensively to promote their destinations, without trying to implement any of the most basics principles involved in ecotourism.
Before exploring those principles, it is important to appreciate the difference between ecotourism and nature tourism, as well as other types of nature-based tourism.
For Martha Honey (1999), ecotourism should be viewed as distinct from nature, wildlife, and adventure tourism. Nature tourism involves travel to unspoiled places to experience and enjoy nature, where moderate and safe forms of exercise such as hiking, biking, sailing, and camping take place. Wildlife tourism involves travel to observe animals, birds, and fish in their native habitats. Adventure tourism is nature tourism that requires physical skill and endurance, and involves a degree of risk taking, often in little- 36 charted terrain. Whereas nature, wildlife, and adventure tourism are defined solely by the recreational activities of the tourist, ecotourism is defined as well by its benefits to both conservation and people in the host country (Honey 1999).
Epler Wood (2002) provides two figures that illustrate the place of ecotourism within sustainable forms of tourism. Figure 3.1 demonstrates how ecotourism comes to be a sustainable version of nature tourism, while including rural and cultural elements
(Epler Wood 2002). In contrast, Figure 3.2 shows both ecotourism and adventure tourism as subcomponents of nature tourism, while ecotourism has stronger links to rural and cultural tourism than adventure tourism (Epler Wood 2002).
Benefits to conservation and local community are required issues to be included in planning and management processes for countries that decide to implement ecotourism. Horochowski and Moisey adopted this approach, identifying ecotourism as
“tourism development that protects the ecological and cultural resources of a tourism site while providing local economic opportunity” (Horochowski and Moisey 2001, 163).
For these authors, through local participation and control in the decisionmaking process of tourism planning and development, long-term economic and ecological sustainability can be achieved while reinforcing cultural integrity. 37 Figure 3.1 – Ecotourism as a sustainable development concept
Business Travel
Beach Tourism
Rural Tourism EC
O
T
O
Nature Tourism U
R
I
SM
Cultural Tourism
Source: Epler Wood 2002, 10.
Figure 3.2 – Ecotourism as a market segment
Tourism Market
Cultural Rural Nature Sun-and-beach Business Fitness-wellness Tourism Tourism Tourism Tourism Travel & health Tourism
Ecotourism Adventure Tourism
Source: Epler Wood 2002, 11. 38 Martha Honey (1999) recognizes the complexity of ecotourism, and its potential as a tool for economic development and environmental protection in developing countries. After pursuing research in many of these countries, she calls for the need to examine the growth of ecotourism within each country’s tourism strategy, its political system, and its changing economic policies:
At its worst, when not practiced with the utmost care, ecotourism threatens the very ecosystems on which it depends. At its best, ecotourism offers a set of principles and practices that have potential to fundamentally transform the way the tourism industry operates (Honey 1999, 5).
A closer look at the way in which ecotourism has been implemented and the conditions in countries that have adopted it is necessary for a better understanding of ecotourism. It will be particularly useful if specific conditions and practices, which have enabled ecotourism to develop in a positive and sustainable way, can be identified.
3.2.2 Principles and guidelines for ecotourism
The process of establishing internationally and nationally accepted principles,
guidelines, and certification approaches of ecotourism proceeded throughout the 1990s at
a modest pace due to the involvement of stakeholders from many regions, disciplines,
and backgrounds (Epler Wood 2002). However, Epler Wood (2002) provides a list of
principles of ecotourism (Table 3.1), and also identifies some issues that may not be fully
addressed by practitioners globally (Table 3.2). 39 Table 3.1 – Principles of Ecotourism
Minimize the negative impacts on nature and culture that can damage a destination.
Educate the traveler on the importance of conservation.
Stress the importance of responsible business, which works cooperatively with local authorities and people to meet local needs and deliver conservation benefits.
Direct revenues to the conservation and management of natural and protected areas.
Emphasize the need for regional tourism zoning and for visitor management plans designed for either regions or natural areas that are slated to become eco-destinations.
Emphasize use of the environment and social base-line studies, as well as long-term monitoring programs, to assess and minimize impacts.
Strive to maximize economic benefit for the host country, local business and communities, particularly peoples living in and adjacent to natural and protected areas.
Seek to ensure that tourism development does not exceed the social and environmental limits of acceptable change as determined by researchers in cooperation with local residents.
Rely on infrastructure that has been developed in harmony with the environment, minimizing use of fossil fuels, conserving local plants and wildlife, and blending with the natural and cultural environment.
Source: Epler Wood 2002, 14.
Table 3.2 – Issues that may not be considered by ecotourism practitioners globally
The amount of control that traditional/indigenous communities retain when ecotourism is developed in natural areas that they manage or inhabit.
The efficiency and social fairness of current concepts of protected areas (which are central to ecotourism) for long-term conservation of biological and cultural diversity.
The risk that unregulated tourists contribute to lowering genetic capital and traditional knowledge belonging to traditional communities; i.e. biopiracy.
How to balance the needs of medium –and large- scale investors, often outsiders to local communities, with local expectations in participation with small-scale efforts for community- based tourism.
Source: Epler Wood 2002, 14. 40 Efforts to certify ecotourism are still in their infancy (Epler Wood 2002). Some initiatives in this direction have been the Nature Tour Operator Guidelines (published by
TIES), Proposed Guidelines for Successful Ecotourism Certification (by Epler Wood and
Halpenny), and some country-based experiments. Efforts to certify ecotourism businesses have been led by Australia, which established a research program in 1994 and launched a federally funded initiative in 1996, that is the only ecotourism-specific certification program in the world (Epler Wood 2002).
3.3 Major institutions involved in tourism development
Many governments as well as international institutions have been promoting
tourism, particularly ecotourism, as a way to achieve economic development and
conservation as well. Martha Honey (1999) distinguished four main actors that have
originally promoted ecotourism development (Table 3.3). This provides a good starting
point to analyze which institutions have been involved in ecotourism, what were their
interests, and what kind of actions they pursued. 41 Table 3.3 – Institutions involved in ecotourism
Institutions Interests on ecotourism
Conservation organizations Protection of the environment while promoting economic development and strengthening local communities
Multilateral aid institutions Economic development (and debt repayment strategies): attraction of foreign investment and earning foreign exchange, while promoting sustainable development and environmental protection
Developing countries’ governments Foreign exchange and sustainable development together with minimizing negative effects of other industries on the environment
Travel agencies Attraction of environmental travelers and opening up of new unexploited destinations, as well as protection of environment in which their activity depends
Based on Honey 1999.
3.3.1 Conservation organizations
Ecotourism is strongly linked to areas that are under some form of environmental protection. Around the world, many protected areas have been modeled after the U.S.
National Park System, and by 1989 nearly 4,500 sites, totaling about 1.85 million square miles (3.2 percent of the earth’s surface) had been placed under some type of protection
(Honey 1999). The concept of park and protected area evolved over time, shifting from conservation methods of separating (often forcibly) people and parks, to integrating them as the only way to assure survival of protected areas. Kenton Miller argued that 42 development must integrate biological considerations with economic, social, and political factors to meet both environmental and human needs (Honey 1999).
The IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, the UNEP, and the WTO have advised and guided governments at all levels, local communities, and tourism enterprises and organizations on management of tourism in protected areas. For the
IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, nature-based tourism is not, by definition, sustainable. Therefore, tourism operations within protected areas need to be carefully planned, managed, and monitored in order to ensure their long-term sustainability (World Commission on Protected Areas 2002).
3.3.2 Multilateral aid institutions
The United Nations, through many of its programs and organizations (such as
UNEP, UNDP, and the WTO), has been promoting ecotourism as a development and
conservation strategy. The United Nations declaration of 2002 as the International Year
of Ecotourism, along with the World Ecotourism Summit held in Canada as the main
activity of the initiative, provide a testimony to the growing importance of ecotourism.
As a development tool, ecotourism can advance the three basic goals of the
Convention on Biological Diversity: conserve biological and cultural diversity; promote
the sustainable use of biodiversity; and share the benefits of ecotourism equitably with
local communities and indigenous people (UNEP 2002).
According to Honey (1999), international aid and lending institutions began
looking at tourism as a development and conservation tool in response to the rise of both
the environmental movement and Third World debt in the late 1970s. By the mid-1990s,
the UNEP, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of American 43 States (OAS), the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID), among others, were supporting a variety of ecotourism programs and projects
(Honey 1999).
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, recognizes tourism’s contribution as a significant vehicle for economic progress supporting the global tourist industry, primarily through the investment in small projects, large hotel investments, private sector tourism infrastructure, and other tourism activities
(International Finance Corporation 2002).
USAID supports nature-based tourism activities as part of its biodiversity conservation programs in more than a dozen countries worldwide. The Agency’s ecotourism activities include support for developing national park systems, recruiting and training park staff, and encouraging government reforms that promote regulated investments in private lodging, guide service, and other tourism ventures (USAID 1996).
These supporting policies are based on the income-generating potential of ecotourism, as well its emphasis on conservation and local participation.
OAS has been involved in tourism for almost 60 years, since the establishment of the Inter-American Travel Congress in 1939 (OAS 1997). The Organization has promoted Plan of Actions among heads of states, in recognition of the economic importance of tourism for the region. 44 3.3.3 Developing countries’ governments
During the mid-to late 1980s, many Third World countries turned to ecotourism
as a foreign exchange earner, and at the same time, as a less nature destructive economic
activity (Honey 1999). If we consider the enormous attention sustainable tourism receives
from international agencies, it is of no surprise that many developing countries welcome
the activity. In many cases, ecotourism projects come along with neo-liberal reforms as
the World Bank and other international funding agencies consider the sector as well
suited for stimulating private investment, free markets, and free enterprise.
By the early 1990s, nearly every nonindustrialized country was promoting
ecotourism as part of its development strategy. In several cases, nature-based tourism
mushroomed into the largest foreign exchange earner, surpassing bananas in Costa Rica,
coffee in Tanzania and Kenya, and textiles and jewelry in India (Honey 1999).
Ecotourism development has coincided with the aggressive promotion of ideas of free
markets and private sector investment in the past decade. This has led to the issue of
distribution of benefits, and in many cases capital flight from local communities and
often from the host country.
3.3.4 Travel agencies
While continuing to offer traditional beach and ski resort vacations, tour agencies
have responded to the pressure of new consumer groups looking for travel destinations
that offer an ecological experience (Sitnik 1999). According to Sitnik (1999) travel
agencies report that high on their list of “hot spots” are places where endangered or
vanishing species can be found. 45 The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) –the industry’s Business Leaders’
Forum- has taken an active role in embracing the concept of sustainable tourism. It created the Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, as a “common platform” for information exchange among its members, which include travel associations, ministries of tourism, and other tourism-related institutions (WTTC 2002).
3.3.5 Local forces: local businesses associations and community groups
According to Martha Honey (1999), local communities and NGOs have struggled
not only against their own governments, the World Bank, and USAID but also,
frequently, against international conservation organizations regarding fundamentally,
control over land and resources. In addition, Ramer McLaren (1999) stresses the lack of
community participation in consenting on the strategies that many NGOs, governments,
and environmental/scientific groups identify for their development. Local communities’
participation in sustainable tourism stands, therefore, at the core of the discussion on
tourism possibilities to promote development.
Shaw and Williams (2002) argue that within the literature on tourism’s economic
potential, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of entrepreneurial activity
and, in particular, to how tourism enterprises operate in different economies. Beyond
general discussions on the impact of transnational organizations on tourism development,
the existing literature has been remarkably uninformative on the influence of small or
even medium-sized businesses (Shaw and Williams 2002).
These authors state that there has been a general recognition that linkages between
tourism and local business depend on the types of suppliers and producers in operation,
the historical development of tourism within the area, and the type of tourist development 46 under consideration (Shaw and Williams 2002). In addition, tourism entrepreneurs have played an important role, which is to act –either directly or indirectly- as brokers within the host community. This particular role is conditioned by whether they are drawn from the local community or if large transnational hotels are dominant (Shaw and Williams
2002).
For example, tourism in Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological
Preserve has had a substantial positive economic influence on the local community
(Wells 1997). The two neighboring towns contain over 30 well-established hotels and over 90 percent of the visitors stay in these local hotels and patronize local shops and restaurants. They also use local tour agencies, gas stations, outfitters and souvenir shops, and visit the local cheese factory, sugar mill, art gallery and butterfly farm. All these enterprises are locally owned and a community-wide planning process helps to maintain a balance between local development and management of the Preserve (Wells 1997).
Some other cases have been less positive. In Ecuador, many residents of the
Galapagos Islands found it difficult to benefit from ecotourism (Wells 1997). The Islands are becoming known as a premium nature tourism destination, visited mainly by the elite.
Fewer Ecuadorians and foreign backpackers visit the islands, possibly in response to affluent residents of wealthy nations. The earnings of many hotels, shops, and restaurants are diminishing as Ecuadorians and foreign backpackers are being displaced by the gentrification of tourism. Also, less than 15 percent of foreigners’ expenditures are estimated to reach the Islands. Most affluent visitors prefer to cruise on a ship, requiring few local inputs. 47 According to Shaw and Williams (2002), the performance of local entrepreneurs holds the key to strengthening and spreading the tourism benefits in many developed as well as poor areas. However, according to Epler Wood (1999), efforts to manage tourism without intermediaries have been less successful, due to lack of capital and understanding of the international marketplace. These conditions hinder local communities’ possibilities as long as they have to rely on outsiders to develop ecotourism.
Epler Wood’s argument is supported by Honey (1999), who considers that ecotourism promotes locally owned enterprises, but with globalization and free trade, weak national capital often cannot compete with strong foreign companies. As Honey states, “at its core, ecotourism is about power relationships and on-the-ground struggles”
(Honey 1999, 394). For her, it will take much stronger grassroots movements, combined with alliances among activists, experts, and NGOs and carefully planned national ecotourism strategies to curb the power of the conventional tourism industry (Honey
1999).
For Ramer McLaren (1999), indigenous peoples are creating new ideas and programs that protect culture, and continue their role as stewards of nature, demanding recognition as rightful architects of and partners for conservation and development strategies that affect their territories.
This research is based on four main points of the above-mentioned literature.
First, the complexity of understanding tourism as an industry in comparison to traditional sectors, such as manufacturing and producer services together with the difficulties of measuring its significance due to the aggregate of goods and services involved in the tourist industry. This point is relevant due to the ongoing discussion about the distribution 48 of tourism benefits between local communities and foreign tourist operators, which then leads to question who produces tourism and who benefits from it.
Second, the concept of sustainability has been incorporated into tourism approaches in an attempt to consider alternative forms of tourism, such as ecotourism
(but not limited to it) as opposed to conventional mass tourism developments. Sustainable tourism has then been linked to protected areas where nature-based tourism might provide sustainable ways for humans to interact with their environment. An evaluation of a decade of tourism projects has revealed that ecotourism promises of development and conservation have hardly turned into reality.
The institutions involved in tourism development and their interests for doing so provided a third element of analysis clarifying the way in which the tourist industry operates. Conservation organizations, multilateral aid institutions, developing countries’ governments, and travel agencies were the original promoters of sustainable tourism projects. Local community participation was later included in tourism research and practice, the focus of this thesis.
The role of local groups in tourism destinations has started to be broadly recognized as fundamental in achieving development and conservation through tourism.
Local communities’ control over their lands and resources has been considered necessary to obtain economic benefits from tourism projects. The negative impacts of tourism that respond to transnational organizations’ operations on local communities have been extensively studied. On the contrary, there has been little research on locally driven tourism development. A better understanding of that scenario might lead to more positive results in sustainable tourism projects in the future. 49 This research examines the role played by local business associations and community groups in tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone and their interactions with PROBIDES and governments at the national, municipal, and local levels. PROBIDES, the Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve Management Program, is identified as pertaining to the scientific and conservation circle but representing at the same time multilateral aid institutions, which indeed have provided funds and guidelines for the Program’s actions (UNESCO, UNDP, GEF, and the European Union). Although travel agencies have been identified as a major actor promoting tourism in many studies, their role has not yet been visible in this study area. Therefore, that force was not analyzed in this research.
50 Chapter 4
Research Methods
The research draws on data collected through a series of interviews with representatives of major actors involved directly or indirectly in tourism at the national, municipal, and local level, and interviews with a sample of Aguas Dulces local residents.
Another important source of information comprised printed material: national and local newspapers, published and unpublished government’s documents, brochures, and other promotional materials. Some videos of the area were also reviewed. In order to collect these data, the researcher went to the study area in December 2001, and from June 12,
2002 to August 4, 2002.
The study area, the Castillos coastal zone, consists of the city of Castillos and the villages of Cabo Polonio, Barra de Valizas, Aguas Dulces, and La Esmeralda. Interviews with local residents were conducted only in Aguas Dulces since it was the first village to develop as a tourist destination and it also receives the largest number of visitors in the region.
4.1 Interviews with four major forces in tourism development
The interviews aimed at identifying major actors’ views on tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone, in particular, their roles, interests, and level of participation in the development of the tourist industry in the area (Appendix A).
The interviews particularly focused on policies and strategies implemented in relation to tourism, factors influencing the development of the industry, conservation 51 issues, and limitations and opportunities for tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone.
The interviewees were classified in four main groups:
a) Government officers at the national, municipal, and local level (Table 4.1),
b) Consultants in PROBIDES -Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable
Development Program for the Eastern Wetlands- (Table 4.2),
c) Business association members (Table 4.3), and
d) Representatives of community groups (Table 4.4).
Table 4.1 - Interviews with government’s officers
Institution Position
Ministry of Tourism Minister of Tourism Adviser – Historical/Cultural Tourism Adviser – Ecotourism Adviser – Sun and Sea Tourism Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries Ombu Forest Park Ranger
Municipality of Rocha Adviser – Geographer Adviser – Environment and Development
Castillos Local Government Local Representative Local Representative
Table 4.2 – Interviews with consultants in PROBIDES - Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Program for the Eastern Wetlands-
Institution Position
PROBIDES Adviser – Tourism Adviser – Sustainable Development 52 Table 4.3 – Interviews with business associations’ members
Institution Position
ADEATUR (Agro And Ecotourism Association of Rocha) Secretary
Cabo Polonio Transporters Union Member (Cámara de Transportistas de Cabo Polonio)
Castillos Entrepreneurship Center Member (Centro Empresarial de Castillos)
Local Development Council Member (Consejo de Desarrollo Local)
Castillos Tourism Coordinator Member (Coordinadora de Turismo de Castillos)
Castillos Heritage Commission Member (Comisión del Patrimonio de Castillos)
UTU (Castillos Technical School) Director
Tourism Corporation of Rocha President (Corporación Rochense de Turismo)
Association of Rural Women of Uruguay Member (Asociación de Mujeres Rurales del Uruguay) 53 Table 4.4 – Interviews with community groups
Institution Position
Aguas Dulces Civil Association President (Asociación Civil de Aguas Dulces)
GADTA (Aguas Dulces Work and Support Group) Member
Pro-Aguas Dulces Commission Member (Comisión Fomento de Aguas Dulces)
Barra de Valizas Community Commission Member (Comisión Vecinal de Barra de Valizas)
AFOBAVA (Pro-Barra de Valizas Association) Member
4.2 Interviews with residents in Aguas Dulces
In order to have an insight on the community’s views of and reactions to tourism
development, local residents in the study area were interviewed. These interviews were
limited to Aguas Dulces since this was the first village in the Castillos coastal zone to
develop as a tourist destination, and in addition, it has received the largest number of
visitors in the whole area. The purpose was to analyze the way in which local residents
perceive tourism, the significance they place on the tourist activity, and their expectations
for tourism development in the region (Appendix B).
The historical time of this research coincided with an extremely severe economic
crisis both in Argentina and in Uruguay, which deeply affected the tourism sector due to
the strong dependence on Argentinean visitors. This situation might have been reflected
in the interviews. Also, the time of the research coincided with the revival of a
government project to exploit deposits of black sands in the same area where the research 54 was conducted. This might have influenced local residents’ opinions and expectations for economic development as well.
The interviews were conducted with stratified samples of seven neighborhoods of
Aguas Dulces, which allowed covering diverse neighborhoods ranging from the coastline to further inland areas (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1 – Urban Plan of Aguas Dulces
Adapted from the Plan provided by Castillos Local Government
Ten interviews were performed in the neighborhoods of De los Navíos, Del
Recuerdo, De los Pioneros, De los Panoramas, and Del Mar, while seven were performed in De la Flora and De la Fauna. A total of 64 interviews were conducted, and this number 55 accounts for 26 percent of the 247 permanent inhabitants of Aguas Dulces, according to the 1996 National Census (National Statistics Institute of Uruguay 1996).
In addition to these interviews, numerous printed materials and promotional videos were reviewed to examine the study area’s tourism development. The printed materials include national and local newspapers, published and unpublished government’s documents, PROBIDES’ working papers, Uruguayan Military Geographic
Service’s maps, and promotional materials (brochures and flyers). Two videos edited by the Ministry of Tourism and by the Castillos Tourism Coordinator respectively, were analyzed as well. 56 Chapter 5
Tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone:
The government and PROBIDES
5.1 Introduction
In this Chapter, a brief history of tourism development in the Castillos coastal
zone is reviewed focusing on the action of the government at the national, municipal, and
local levels as well as PROBIDES, the management program for the Bañados del Este
Biosphere Reserve. This section refers to the first objective of the research, which
focuses on the origin of tourism in the region, its current conditions, and its potential for
further development. Most of the information is based on the interviews conducted by the
researcher with the four main groups identified in Chapter 4.
The government played an important role in the 1920s mainly as a result of
Arredondo’s leadership, a member of the first national commission on tourism in
Uruguay. Later, the government limited it to a few actions mainly responding to private
sector initiatives. PROBIDES started functioning in 1993 focusing its activities on
research and documentation. For tourism, PROBIDES has worked basically on the
possibilities of the area for ecotourism development collaborating with the Ministry of
Tourism, the Municipality of Rocha, and some local entrepreneurs.
5.2 Early initiatives for tourism promotion by the government
In the 1920s, the Uruguayan government started showing interest in tourism,
recognizing a growing number of Argentinean visitors and their contribution to national
income (Varese 2001). The government then started to promote the tourist industry. It 57 was an impulse that lost pace soon and its actions were basically limited to support private sector’s initiatives and, during the 1990s, PROBIDES activities as well (Table
5.1).
The early development of tourism in Uruguay owed a great deal to Horacio
Arredondo, a member of the first national commission on tourism, which was set up in
1930 and named Commission in Charge of Projecting the Attraction of Foreigners to the
Country (“Comisión Encargada de Proyectar la Atracción de Forasteros al País”) (Varese
2001, 225). Arredondo was a visionary of tourism in the country, especially in Rocha.
He became responsible for the reconstruction of the colonial forts of Santa Teresa and
San Miguel, just 40 kilometers north of Castillos. He believed that the state had to promote tourism by investing in major projects that required large amounts of capital investment, and then the private sector would continue the development of the industry.
His approach to tourism development was impressive in those early stages of the industry worldwide:
…I consider important the exploitation of natural beauties, conserving them first, and then making them available to visitors, exploiting them carefully and elegantly, trying to take moderate advantage from them for the state, the private sector, as well as for the culture and for the economy (Varese 2001, 224).
The Commission planned on the promotion of a conscious tourism that would conserve fauna and flora, and at the same time, highlight history for the people to have access to monuments of the past (Varese 2001).
In the Castillos coastal zone, as well as in the rest of Rocha, tourism started primarily by private initiatives through the construction of huts and provision of services, 58 such as transportation and recreation facilities. It was the 1920s when Rocha’s currently used slogan “where the nation’s sun rises” started to be used (Varese 2001, 227).
The government’s role in those years, besides regulations on health care and
waste management, focused mainly on Arredondo’s project for the renewal of Santa
Teresa and San Miguel forts. These two colonial landmarks comprise today the most
important historical tourist attraction in the region. By the 1920s, Castillos local
newspapers started to play an important role as tourism advocates within the community.
More detail on their role in tourism development is provided in Chapter 6, where local
community participation is addressed.
Table 5.1 – Timeline of the government’s and PROBIDES’s involvement in tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone
Year Event
1920s Horacio Arredondo set up the Commission in charge of projecting the attraction of foreigners to the country Reconstruction of colonial forts of Santa Teresa and San Miguel
1962 Government passed Act No. 13.076 declaring Castillos city and surrounding areas as zones of interest for tourism
1963 Opening of a main street in Aguas Dulces responding to local residents’ claims
1972 First professional land measures taken in Aguas Dulces by appraisers
1976 The region became protected with UNESCO designation as biosphere reserve
1992 Government passed Act No. 16.335 transferring land property of Aguas Dulces from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries to the Municipality of Rocha
1993 PROBIDES was established
1999 Government passed Act No. 17.160 declaring Aguas Dulces area of national interest for tourism development
59 The 1962 government Act No. 13.076 declaring Castillos city and its surrounding areas as a zone of interest for tourism represented the first official recognition at the national level -after Arredondo’s projects- of the region’s importance for tourism. This
Act provided some special provisions for hotel development in the area. In 1963, the government opened a main street in Aguas Dulces, responding to the village’s residents’ requests, and actually, it was done at the community’s own expense.
In 1976, the Castillos zone became protected when Uruguay’s eastern wetlands were designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The status of the region as a protected area had not generated much change until the Reserve’s Management Program
–PROBIDES- was established in 1993. PROBIDES Governing Board was composed of three members: the Municipality of Rocha; the Ministry of Housing, Land Management, and Environment; and the University of the Republic of Uruguay (PROBIDES 2002).
In 1992, by Act No. 16.335, land property of the Aguas Dulces area was transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries to the Municipality of Rocha. This transfer was aimed at giving the municipal government the authority needed to control issues of land tenure, urbanization, and development of the village.
Since houses built on the coastal area basically occupied public-owned lands, ownership issues became extremely controversial at the local and national levels. In addition, the ocean continued to sweep away houses close to the coastal line, which became a threat for further constructions in the neighborhood (Figure 5.1).
The government allowed people to settle close to the coastline since the settlement would help to fix the sand dunes, preventing their further movement into productive lands used for agriculture and cattle ranching. When the area started to 60 develop and tourism to grow, the increasing amount of constructions on the beach sands became instead a degrading factor for the ecosystem health as well as for the landscape aesthetic. The government approved urban plans for some sections of the villages of
Aguas Dulces and Barra de Valizas, yet land ownership and several urban issues along the coastline remain unsolved. This situation constitutes a sensitive topic for the local community and raises environmentalists’ concerns and governmental debate as well.
Figure 5.1 – Aguas Dulces in 1966
5.3 Development into an international tourist destination
The Uruguayan Senate passed in 1999 Act No. 17.160 declaring Aguas Dulces
area of national interest for tourism development. This declaration meant that any
infrastructure project in the location would attract special attention from appropriate
agencies and that agreements between the municipal government and the national
government would be required for the approval of any projects. This resort area, 61 according to the Act, needed concerted efforts from the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Housing, Land Management, and Environment, as well as the Municipality of Rocha.
The spontaneous fashion in which Aguas Dulces developed, recognized in the justification section of the Act, and the need for the state to appreciate its identity and to act without altering the traditional local landscape was called for.
Tourism in Rocha presents a remarkable seasonality with a strong concentration of tourists’ arrivals during summer. The sun and sea tourism is therefore the most important commodity in the region. Ecotourism is an incipient project. Ecotourism initiatives are based on the region’s natural riches and on the need to diversify tourism to attract visitors during the entire year.
The Castillos coastal zone attracts more domestic tourism than international one, but the latter also accounts for a significant percentage among total visitors. In 1986,
6,000 international tourists visited Rocha, and in 1999 the region reached 75,000 visitors
(Methol, Fagetti, and Vitancurt 2002). From 2001 to 2002, however, tourist arrivals at
Rocha decreased by 50 percent due to the Argentinean economic crisis, the main source of tourists. Therefore, 2002 data do not represent previous trends in tourism in the region but it is the only data that gives an estimation of visitors to the Castillos coastal zone. In
2002 the Ministry of Tourism started to disaggregate data by each particular coastal village of Rocha’s coast.
In the first quarter of 2002, Cabo Polonio, Valizas, and Aguas Dulces received in total 2,606 international visitors (Ministry of Tourism of Uruguay 2002). This figure represents almost 12 percent of total visitors to Rocha. Since there is no information available on previous years on tourist arrivals to these particular three villages, only 62 estimations can be calculated based on their approximate 12 percent share of Rocha’s total visitors (Table 5.2). In 2000, the Ministry of Tourism issued a special report on domestic tourism, which provided the number of domestic visitors to Rocha. These numbers allowed calculating an estimation of domestic tourism to Castillos as well. Then,
2001 data on international arrivals to Rocha were used to calculate international visitors to Castillos during that year.
Table 5.2 International and domestic arrivals at the Castillos coastal zone
2000 2001
Rocha International arrivals 59,932 65,138 Domestic arrivals 281,522 n/a
Castillos International arrivals 7,192 * 7,800 * Domestic arrivals 33,782 * n/a * Estimation
Source: Ministry of Tourism of Uruguay 2000 and 2001, National Statistics Institute of Uruguay 2001.
The total number of international arrivals in a year is estimated at 7,800, a number
that almost equals the combined population of Castillos city and the villages of Cabo
Polonio, Valizas, and Aguas Dulces altogether, which amounted to 8,454 in 1996
(National Statistics Institute of Uruguay 1996). These figures indicate the importance of
tourism for the local economy even without considering domestic tourism, which is
indeed larger than international tourism. 63 5.4 Present conditions of tourism in the study area
Although the four villages of the Castillos coastal share common characteristics in
nature and culture, they have also developed their own identity. Castillos city is the main
urban center in the area. It has strong links with the four villages -Cabo Polonio, Barra de
Valizas, Aguas Dulces, and La Esmeralda- creating all together a pole of development
where tourism plays a fundamental role. Based on Mercedes Casciani’s work (2002),
general tourist attractions in the entire area of Castillos coastal zone are outlined in Table
5.3, and specific features as well as tourist infrastructure of the four villages as well as of
Castillos city are provided in Table 5.4.
Table 5.3 – General tourist activities in the Castillos coastal zone
Beach baths Sport fishing Guided visits: Ombu tree forest and Butia Palm landscape Sale of handicrafts Typical food Recreation facilities Interpretative trails Trekking Biking Horse riding Local production Visits to forts of Santa Teresa and San Miguel 64 Table 5.4 - Specific characteristics of Castillos city and of its coastal villages
General characteristics Tourist infrastructure
Cabo Polonio Cape with mobile dunes Private transportation in and open beaches 4-wheel-drive vehicles Declared Natural Dunes Monument or horse-drawn carts 2 hotels 4 restaurants
Barra de Valizas Located in the mouth of Valizas Bus services Stream Public phones Land owned by the Ministry of Public health Agriculture, Livestock and 2 hotels Fisheries 7 restaurants Wetlands and lagoons ecosystem Camping site Lodging
Aguas Dulces Open beach Bus services Taxi services Public phones Post office Waste management Public health Police office 2 hotels 6 restaurants 5 cottage-complexes Camping site
La Esmeralda Most recently established village Bus services Open beach with important slope Public phones Planned urbanization 2 restaurants 2 cottage-complexes Camping site
Castillos city Main city at 12 km. from the coast Administrative and Agriculture and cattle ranching area financial services Transportation Gas stations Tourism information center Museums Hospital
The type of tourism developed in the Castillos coastal zone basically comprises the sun and sea option, with a strong component on nature explained by the wetland 65 ecosystems, the lagoons, the hills ranges, and the unique ombu forest (Figure 5.2) and butia palm landscape (Figure 5.3). Tourist infrastructure is not extensively developed consisting of a few hotels and restaurants in each village, camping sites and lodging, and general services, such as transportation, communications, and health centers. Agro and ecotourism are incipient initiatives designed to complement the summer sun and sea option. To a great extent, tourism is based on family vacations, a quiet environment, and appreciation of nature.
Figure 5.2 – Ombu tree forest
66 Figure 5.3 – Butia palm landscape
Source: PROBIDES 2002.
5.5 PROBIDES
5.5.1 The Program’s objectives
PROBIDES, the Bañados del Este biosphere reserve management program, was
established in 1993 as a result of the declaration of the region as a protected area,
according to international biodiversity protection efforts. It was financed by the UNDP,
with resources from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the European Union, and
Ministry of Housing, Land Management, and Environment, and private contributions
(PROBIDES 2002).
The Institution had three main areas of action: 1) research on the wetlands and its
biodiversity; 2) sustainable development, comprising local development and sustainable 67 alternative production; and 3) education, diffusion, and publishing. Several actors at the national, municipal, and local level have in general agreed that PROBIDES has focused on the first and third objectives in detriment of sustainable development. Tourism falls into the latter objective, and therefore not much improvement has taken place, despite wide documentation, research, publications, and some training activities.
5.5.2 PROBIDES work on tourism
In 1997, PROBIDES requested the Spanish tourism expert José Lopez Sancho to
prepare a report of Rocha’s possibilities for tourism development as a follow-up of a
supportive mission conducted in 1994 by the WTO and funded by UNDP. In his report,
Lopez Sancho enumerated the different elements of tourist attraction in Rocha’s region,
identifying Laguna de Castillos and its surroundings as one of them (Table 5.5). The
region’s tourist attractions classified by different types of tourism emphasize the diversity
of products to be offered (Table 5.6). Both lists illustrate not only the potential of the
Castillos coastal zone by itself but also of Rocha’s various locations that can be
developed into remarkable regional tourism destinations. 68 Table 5.5 - Rocha’s tourist attractions in Lopez Sancho’s report
Location Attractions
Laguna de Rocha Fauna and flora observation Laguna Garzón Native woods Laguna de las Nutrias
Laguna de Castillos Butia palm groves Fauna observation Ombu tree forest Wetlands surrounding the lagoon Agrotourism in cattle ranching farms: Guardia del Monte, La Barra Grande and others (native forest guided visits, horse riding, canoeing, typical food) Coastal villages: Aguas Dulces, Cabo Polonio, and Barra de Valizas
Laguna Negra Environmental education and nature tourism stations: Santa Teresa Biological Station and Don Bosco Establishment Archeological sites:Cerritos de Indios Historical sites: Santa Teresa and San Miguel Forts Fauna and flora observation Native forest Coastal villages: La Coronilla and Santa Teresa
Wetlands Fauna and flora Archeological and anthropological heritage Research and experimentation interests Native woods surrounding
Atlantic coast Lodging capacity La Paloma, Cabo Polonio, Punta del Diablo, Santa Teresa, La Coronilla, Chuy, Barra de Chuy, and others
Based on Lopez Sancho 1997
69 Table 5.6 – Tourist elements in Rocha
Tourist elements
Landscape Remarkable diversity in a relatively small area: rolling prairies, mountain ranges, lakes, marshes and wetlands, numerous rivers, palm groves, streams, sand dunes and beaches along ocean coastline.
Cultural values Historical and architectural monuments, archeological sites, local handicrafts, local products.
Natural resources Wetlands, lagoons, palm groves, coastline. Fauna and flora wealth
Geographical situation Proximity to border with Brazil and to major seaside resorts such as Punta del Este and Piriapolis.
Based on Lopez Sancho 1997.
According to PROBIDES 1999 Master Plan for the Bañados del Este Biosphere
Reserve, there are currently two designated national parks in the Castillos coastal zone:
Laguna de Castillos National Park and National Monument of Cabo Polonio Dunes
(Methol, Fagetti, and Vitancurt 2002). What these designations really imply and how
they will be managed are issues still to be decided, though.
In the 1999 PROBIDES Master Plan, sustainable tourism was identified as a key
activity for the area, emphasizing ecotourism as an alternative to the traditional option of
sun and sea tourism. The intention was to expand tourism all year long as well as
integrating it with conservation of the region’s natural and cultural wealth. As a result,
PROBIDES has supported the work of the Agro and Ecotourism Association of Rocha –
ADEATUR- in order to promote ecotourism initiatives in the region, which are still in a
very incipient stage as it is explained later on this chapter. In addition, PROBIDES has 70 also worked with other institutions involved in tourism providing information, guidance, and training (Table 5.7).
Table 5.7 – PROBIDES institutional collaborative efforts
Institution Event/activity
Ministry of Tourism Publication of materials, participation in congresses and fairs
ADEATUR Institutional support and training
Tourism Corporation of Rocha Institutional support and training
Real Estate Association, and Hotel Center of La Paloma (Rocha) Coordinating tours and promotion of tourism information
Hotel Association of La Paloma Information exchange
Castillos Tourism Coordinator Information exchange
Artisan groups Training and design of an arts and crafts brochure
La Paloma Artisan Fair Information booth for agro and ecotourism sites
Militay Park Services Coordinating activities in Laguna Negra
Municipality of Treinta y Tres Training activities
Source: PROBIDES 2002.
5.5.3 Introducing ecotourism in the region
Ecotourism is an incipient tourist product in Uruguay. The Ministry of Tourism and PROBIDES have been recently promoting it identifying Rocha as the best area of the country for its development. Actions towards ecotourism promotion include the creation, 71 in 2000, of the National System of Natural Protected Areas and the organization, early in
2002, of the First National Ecotourism Congress held in Rocha.
Also during the first few months of 2002, some experts from the Municipality of
Rocha and PROBIDES elaborated on a preliminary draft on ecotourism in Rocha. The document had the objective of defining a Tourism Development Plan for Rocha where ecotourism was identified as the driving force for the tourist industry in the region and natural protected areas as an essential element in its development (Methol, Fagetti, and
Vitancurt 2002). The authors of this work stated that there has been a general consensus on the need to diversify tourism activities and they emphasize the potential of the region to develop different types of tourism based on its natural, cultural, and historical values
(Methol, Fagetti, and Vitancurt 2002). These items are very similar to the options suggested in Lopez Sancho’s report (1997).
Some ecotourism establishments are already functioning around the Laguna de
Castillos coast, such as Guardia del Monte, Barra Grande, and Monte Grande, together with an experience held by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries in a
Fauna Reserve in the lagoon (Methol, Fagetti, and Vitancurt 2002). These establishments, which are members of ADEATUR, are considered extremely important by the
Municipality of Rocha, basically for its demonstration effect as examples for future ecotourism projects.
Among tourist operators in the region, as well as in the Municipality of Rocha and the Ministry of Tourism, the work that these private establishments have been doing to develop ecotourism has been in general considered positive and promising as a new tourist product in the region. In the conclusions of the 2002 First National Ecotourism 72 Congress, the principles of ecotourism were generally addressed, particularly regarding conservation of cultural and natural values and community participation. However, some worries on these issues are taking place as well, particularly at the local level.
Conservation concerns
As stated by a park ranger at the ombu tree forest, the owner of a cattle ranching farm who wants to develop ecotourism on his land does not have a new attitude towards the landscape; on the contrary, he just adds a new pressure on the environment. The way agriculture and cattle ranching activities are pursued have not changed since the region was declared a biosphere reserve, and that is considered a bad sign of the effective functioning of the area as a reserve. This situation applies to ecotourism initiatives as well. Ecotourism establishments do not follow specific guidelines when managing the sites. According to a Ministry of Tourism’s expert, there are no quality or management standards required for people who want to pursue ecotourism projects. Visits to the ombu tree forest are included in the tourist package but at the same time, cattle pace around the area, eating the new seeds, and destroying the trees. The butia palm grove is recognized as unique in the world and as part of the natural and cultural local heritage. Its fruits are used for a wide range of local products: honeys, liquor, conserves, and others. Still, no management plan has been implemented to assure the sustainable use of the palm protecting the future of the species. These examples show that despite attempts at planning, the implementation of environmentally friendly approaches to production –and to ecotourism- is still minimal in the region. 73 Community participation
Another debated issue related to ecotourism development in the region refers to the level of community participation. Ecotourism establishments offer guided visits to the native forests, bird watching, canoeing, fishing, horse riding, typical food, and home made local products, among others. Most of the activities take place in the establishment itself, and even though it employs local people, the way the product is put together limits benefits to the broader community. If the tour takes place mainly around the life of specific private establishments –indeed the same traditional cattle ranching farms- the opportunity of having different sectors and locations involved is lost.
As a local artist expressed while referring to ecotourism, “the idea is that more people could live from tourism”. Tourist circuits might be organized in such a way that tourists could stay in different places, participate in historical tours, as well as visit artisan workshops and local production establishments –where they can buy handicrafts and other local products. In this way, benefits would reach much more people with a real multiplier effect on the local economy.
5.5.4 Local views on PROBIDES action in the region
In general, PROBIDES has not been viewed as a positive force for the region by
many local business associations and community groups. One interviewed member of the
Castillos Heritage Commission analyzed several initiatives on conservation that were
taking place in the area before PROBIDES started to function. Those actions included
introduction of environmental topics in school and high school classes, and editing of a
video –which was periodically updated- to be used with educational purposes. 74 He claimed that not only PROBIDES did not recognize those efforts, but also that those initiatives were put aside and all the attention concentrated in PROBIDES work.
The fact that PROBIDES was receiving funds from international agencies was also a source for community’s frustration. They claimed that the Program had the resources to help local people to develop economic alternatives, but they failed to do so.
PROBIDES’ role is controversial within different actors at the local, municipal, and national levels. At its best, PROBIDES was considered very positive, mainly in bringing conservation to the table, creating awareness, and producing a broad amount of research and documentation. At its worst, PROBIDES was seen as a negative factor, separated from the community and working for its own benefit. As some actors argued,
PROBIDES’ disappearance when international funds stop, will not be regretted by many.
Those that considered PROBIDES role as negative or irrelevant for the region stressed that it is clear that the area is a reserve and that natural riches should be protected. But they believe that no alternatives for economic development have been given, and therefore, conservation purposes would have hindered further local development in many cases.
Tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone has been based mainly on a spontaneous and unplanned process led by local residents. The government had an important role during the first quarter of the century, particularly through the reconstruction of colonial forts, as an example of the intention to promote tourism as a promising activity for revenue generation. Despite the benefits and opportunities provided by some Acts passed by the government a few decades later, recognizing the importance of the region for tourism, no major projects took place. The government’s 75 role has mostly focused on promotion of tourist activities and support of the private sector’s initiatives without identifying a concrete model of tourism development for the region.
Despite the UNESCO declaration of the region as biosphere reserve in 1976, it was only in 1993, with the establishment of PROBIDES (and flows of international funds) that activities towards management of the reserve began to take place.
PROBIDES’ action has centered on research and documentation introducing conservation issues and ecotourism in the region. The Program’s work with the Ministry of Tourism, the Municipality of Rocha, and some entrepreneurs, such as ADEATUR (the
Agro and Ecotourism Association), has included information exchange, publications, training, and general institutional support.
The inclusion of ecotourism in the Ministry of Tourism and tourist operators’ promotional material show that the region has been recently receiving enormous attention from academic research, political discussion, and governmental planning circles at the national and municipal levels. However, those initiatives are just starting to be developed, with much being said in papers but still little materialized in concrete actions. Ecotourism principles and experiments pursued in other countries should be taken into account in order to introduce environmentally friendly approaches to management of ecotourism sites as well as strategies to involve more people within the community.
This Chapter has examined the activities of the government and PROBIDES in promoting tourism in the Castillos coastal zone. The role of local business associations and community groups is studied next, in order to have a complete understanding of the 76 different actors involved in tourism development in the region, their interests and interactions.
77 Chapter 6
Local businesses and community groups in the Castillos coastal zone
6.1 Introduction
This chapter examines the role played by local businesses and community groups
in tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone, which comprises the second
objective of this research. It explores who these local forces are and how they have been
involved in tourism, as well as their views on tourism development in the region and their
interactions with the government and PROBIDES. In the same way as the previous
chapter, it is based mainly on the interviews conducted with the four major actors in the
tourist industry.
Castillos’ permanent dwellers and occasional visitors demanded the provision of
different services during the spontaneous urbanization process of the region, which led to
the emergence of a number of local businesses. Although these entrepreneurs have been
key promoters of tourism in the region, few had truly realized their roles in tourism
development until the 1990s. When they became aware of the significance of tourism for
their businesses and for the overall local economy, they started organizing themselves to
promote the industry’s development. They formed commissions or centers with legal
status in order to pursue different activities, such as tourism promotion and infrastructure
improvements. Local entrepreneurs also pursued partnerships with the government.
Local residents of the Castillos coastal villages organized themselves in
associations or commissions as well. They comprise mainly groups of neighbors that got
together and created legally recognized civil society groups with the objectives of 78 improving infrastructure and provision of services, as well as promoting cultural activities. In many cases, local business associations and community groups have worked together with the collaboration of the Castillos Local Government as well, providing good examples of joint community work.
6.2 The emergence of local entrepreneurship
The first tourism-related local businesses in the Castillos coastal zone were
dancing places, restaurants, and hotels. The opening of the first hotels by 1917 was
referred by a local newspaper as the upcoming of a new mentality, namely, that of
“professional entrepreneurs” (El Palmareño [Castillos], March 1998). When local actors,
particularly the media, realized the lack of government involvement in tourism, they
started to call for local businesses’ joint work in order to promote the industry. As early
as 1931, the local newspaper La Acción claimed the lack of attention to the region’s
natural riches for tourism development and the need to constitute a committee to help
Castillos develop into what it should be “a tourist center” (La Acción [Castillos], Marzo
29, 1931).
Those demands are still alive seven decades later. In the past few years, the role
of local businesses in tourism promotion seemed to have become much more visible than
it used to be. In 1995, La Acción issued a special edition on tourism in the region,
emphasizing local entrepreneurs’ leadership: “Castillos… has taken the path of the
tourist industry through the hard work of a young local entrepreneur…” (La Acción
[Castillos], May 1995). 79 6.3 Local business associations
Local businesses working in tourism in the Castillos coastal zone include a wide
range of activities directly or indirectly related to tourism. One of the recognized
difficulties of measuring tourism impacts on the local economy has been attributed to the
industry’s multifaceted aggregation of goods and services produced by different
economic sectors (Ioannides and Debbage 1998). In Castillos, the diversity of businesses
providing goods and services to tourists combines with an important element of
informality11.
The formal and informal sectors intersect with each other in a complex way in the
region. Local businesses in the formal sector include, among others, apparel stores,
drugstores, and hardware stores (Table 6.1). Businesses in the informal sector include, for
example, property’s owners that rent their houses during the summer months, women
who work as maids in visitors’ houses, and teenagers who work as gardeners. The things
that tourists might need during their stay represent opportunities for local residents to
earn income from tourism.
11 The informal sector is characterized by a large number of small-scale production and service activities that are individually or family owned and use labor-intensive and simple technology. It is an unorganized, unregulated, and mostly legal but unregistered sector of the economy (Todaro 2000). 80 Table 6.1 – Major local businesses involved in tourism in the Castillos coastal zone
Agro and ecotourism establishments
Transportation: buses, shuttles, remises, taxis, boats
Groceries
Camping sites
Lodging
Tour operators
Restaurants
Farms: local products
Artisans
Drugstores
Car repair services
Hardware stores
The significance of tourism as an economic force refers not only to the informal
sector but also to the industry’s multiplier effect. The money that people raise during the
summer season determines the health of the local economy during the rest of the year.
Local entrepreneurs, as a business association’s member stated, have realized that more
tourism not only means more sales to visitors during the summer but also more sales to
permanent residents during the entire year. In other words, a self-feeding cycle of
generation of revenues and employment beyond tourist activities takes place.
Local businesses in Castillos city have also benefited from their location in the
main urban center of the area, which has enabled them to be supplier bases for coastal 81 villages and ecotourism establishments in the surrounding areas. Commercial opportunities tend to increase considerably in the summer seasons and are expected to increase even more if ecotourism expands into yearlong tourism.
Another factor that has increased local businesses’ participation in tourism, according to a representative of the Castillos Local Government, has been the loss of other economic resources in the region. By 1970, Castillos started to lose ground in agriculture and industrial activities and people turned to tourism as a major source of income. As stressed by a Castillos Local Government’s representative, “no sector can feel that tourism affects in a negative way, on the contrary, everybody feels that tourism is the engine for lots of activities, such as handicrafts, local production, and retail services”.
Local entrepreneurs have several times attempted to organize their own associations or partnerships with the local government. Some of them were successful at the beginning stage, but later many became symbolic as their members turned less enthusiastic, and many associations shared similar goals and activities.
In 1995, the Castillos Tourism Commission was established with the objective of promoting Castillos as a tourist place (La Acción [Castillos], April 1995). The
Commission gathered local tourist operators, and aimed at reinforcing their role in the
Tourism Corporation of Rocha (Corporación Rochense de Turismo), a private organization, which brings together associations working on tourism in the entire department of Rocha.
One of the activities promoted by the Commission was the edition of a video showing Castillos tourist attractions, of which 1,000 copies have been sold so far (La 82 Acción [Castillos], April 1995). The geographical scope of their action has expanded beyond Castillos. In 1995, the Commission’s representatives participated in a tourist fair held in the Brazilian city of Pelotas. Representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Rocha’s
Mayor, and other authorities, along with twelve Castillos tourist operators, attended the event. (La Acción [Castillos], July 1995).
One statement by a Commission’s member illustrates the way they feel about their work on tourism:
Marketing is necessary, is fundamental, and we are doing all of this with pleasure and caring because we have realized that this goes beyond commercial and economic purposes, we feel attracted to our surroundings and this has led to the formation of a group that lives in contact with nature (La Acción [Castillos], July 1995).
At present, among the local business associations operating in the Castillos area, some of them act at the national and municipal level while others restrict their activities to the region (Table 6.2). In Castillos city, there are two active local business associations, which have pretty much the same members but different objectives. One has general commercial purposes –Castillos Entrepreneurship Center (Centro Empresarial de
Castillos)- while the other has specific purposes of tourism promotion –Castillos Tourism
Coordinator (Coordinadora de Turismo de Castillos). Castillos Entrepreneurship Center has worked mainly in partnership with the Castillos Local Government, and its activities are addressed later in this Chapter. 83 Table 6.2 – Business associations operating in the Castillos coastal zone
Association Objectives Scope of Action
Castillos Entrepreneurship Center General Castillos area commercial purposes
Castillos Tourism Coordinator Tourism promotion Castillos area
Local Development Council General promotion Castillos area
Cabo Polonio Transporters Union Regulation of the Castillos area Transportation to the cape
ADEATUR (Agro And Ecotourism Association of Rocha) Ecotourism promotion Rocha
Tourism Corporation of Rocha Tourism promotion Rocha
Association of Rural Women of Uruguay Women local production National promotion
Major activities that the Castillos Tourism Coordinator are responsible for include
taking promotional trips to various regions in Uruguay and to some Argentinean
provinces; operation of an information center at Castillos city’s entrance; demonstrating
informative signs; distributing promotional, printed and audio materials; and training
local youth to assist visitors at the information center. The funds for these activities have
been raised through a number of channels. First, the Association has solicited
contributions from its members; second, it has sold promotional videos; and third, a large
community festival has been organized, called “La fiesta de todos” (everybody’s party) in
a fundraising effort. The Association has also received financial supports from the
Municipality of Rocha. 84 While the tourist information center is located at the entrance of the city of
Castillos, the Tourism Coordinator has conducted a series of surveys of tourists that were visiting this area. They accumulate the survey data regarding tourists’ nationality, places they visited in the area, as well as their complaints and suggestions. This has provided more knowledge of the area’s visitors and consequently the Tourism Coordinator has been able to improve its member businesses’ services towards tourists.
Another business association in the region is the Cabo Polonio Transporters
Union (Cámara de Transportistas de Cabo Polonio). The Union has been promoted by
PROBIDES in an attempt to assemble all transportation businesses working at the entrance of Cabo Polonio. The only way to access the cape is through these companies that provide rides in four-wheel-drive vehicles or in horse-drawn carts, which are the type of vehicles needed to circulate in the dunes.
In 1997, The Municipality of Rocha restricted the access to Cabo Polonio limiting the number of transportation companies. According to the owner of one of these companies, this municipal regulation placed too many limitations on their work, which have led to divisions among transporters. Another problem transporters face has been the lack of a terminal where all companies could put their vehicles and carts giving some sort of order in the access to the cape.
The Transporters Union exists only on paper due to the difficulties that its members could not reach any agreements among themselves. The fact that the Union was created mainly responding to a PROBIDES initiative might explain why local transportation companies have not been cooperative. Their skepticism on the benefits of 85 working together has not been the case for other business associations that were created mainly by local entrepreneurs’ own initiatives.
The business associations that have been organized in Castillos –except the case of Cabo Polonio- and the positive outcomes of their collective work reinforce the importance of the local private sector not only in tourism development but also in getting the community more involved. There have of course been conflicts of interests and power struggles in these associations, yet positive seem to have outnumbered negatives.
There are more business associations, including ADEATUR: the Agro and
Ecotourism Association of Rocha, the Tourism Corporation of Rocha, and the Rural
Women Association, and they all operate in the region but not restricted to the community of Castillos. The Rural Women Association brings together women in the entire country in order to promote their work in handicrafts as well as local production, having a chapter in the Castillos region. The recently created ADEATUR and the traditional Tourism Corporation of Rocha both act at the municipal level. These associations are analyzed later in this chapter, in order to compare their approach to tourism with local views.
6.4 Local community groups
There are several community organizations currently operating in the Castillos
coastal zone. Most of them were created with the objective of improving quality of life
through better infrastructure, services, and cultural activities. Even though their
objectives do not focus solely on tourism, it has always been among their major concerns.
In Aguas Dulces, there are three main community groups with almost the same
objectives but with different viewpoints regarding local development (Table 6.3). The 86 differences are based on geographic and historic processes that have shaped the community social fabric.
Table 6.3 – Community groups in Aguas Dulces
Group Characteristics
Aguas Dulces Civil Association Created by early coastal settlers of the village
GADTA, Aguas Dulces Work and Support Group Created by newer settlers living away from the coast
Pro-Aguas Dulces Commission Most recent group created by an initiative by the Castillos Local Government
The Aguas Dulces Civil Association consists of early settlers of the village and in
general they live in the irregularly settled coastline. Those who moved later to the place
and live in general a few blocks away from the coast, more recently created another
group called GADTA, Aguas Dulces Work and Support Group. Finally, the third group,
Pro-Aguas Dulces Commission, was the last one to be created, promoted by Castillos
Local Government, and elected by neighbors through a democratic process. This group
represents a midpoint between the other two associations.
The main source of controversy among these three groups lies in the lack of urban
planning, regulations, and environmental protection in the coastline settlement. Those
living in the coastal part of the village work towards enhancing the origin and traditional
values claiming that the houses on the beach sands are at the core of Aguas Dulces’s 87 identity. They demand from the local government that their right to live there should be respected.
The other groups, particularly, GADTA, claim that residents living further inland cannot enjoy and benefit from the village’s natural riches, in particular the beach. For them, more regulations and controls by the government are required for the further development of tourism. Finally, the Commission is more concerned with general community issues in the area, trying to act as an intermediary between the other two confronted groups.
Neither the municipal or the local government have been able to find solutions to the call for strict regulations on the urbanized area along the coast and community groups in Aguas Dulces have failed to get together and reach agreements on the issue. There is a clear lack of leadership in the village of Aguas Dulces, which has not been fulfilled by any other actor in the region.
In Barra de Valizas, situations are a bit different. Even though the coast has been irregularly settled, there is not much division among residents regarding regulating coastal areas. This village, the same as Cabo Polonio, was born responding to artisanal fishing and tourism developed afterward when visitors started to come, mainly from
Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
Summer visitors in 1995 got together to create a community group called
AFOBAVA –Pro-Barra de Valizas Association. People from Montevideo mainly integrated the Association but they encouraged local residents’ participation as well.
Their objectives were promotion and development of the village as well as to provide support to the local community. 88 Besides AFOBAVA, there is another group called Barra de Valizas Community
Commission. It was created in order to represent the community in the process held by the Castillos Local Government and the Municipality of Rocha to regulate urbanization in the area. Both groups have their own agendas with some issues in common (Table 6.4).
Table 6.4 – Community groups in Barra de Valizas
Group Characteristics
AFOBAVA, Pro-Barra de Valizas Association Group created by tourists from Montevideo. Local residents participate as well.
Barra de Valizas Community Commission Group representing the community before the government in the process of regulating urban issues
AFOBAVA’s origins go back to a project called “Pro Valizas” that was prepared,
in 1995, by some professionals from Montevideo who owned houses in Barra de Valizas.
They filed a proposal to the Municipality of Rocha with their own solutions to urban
problems in the village. The authorities gave no response to that private initiative but
according to an AFOBAVA’s member, the government would be currently working on
the implementation of policies that are based pretty much on their suggestions.
“Pro Valizas” was elaborated by a group of experts –architects, engineers,
lawyers, and appraisers, among others- responding to numerous flaws in urban plans that
were designed by the Municipality of Rocha, in 1994. The objectives of “Pro Valizas”
were 1) to reach a common solution for the entire village, 2) to maintain the local
identity, 3) to create employment, and 4) “to elaborate a proposal for alternatives types 89 of tourism characterized by the equilibrium, respect, and proper relationship between man and nature” (Pro Valizas 1995, 4).
In the process of elaborating this project, the experts working on it organized community meetings in order to obtain the permanent residents’ approval of the final draft of the project. The document rejected what others called the illegal character of settlers and provided a thorough analysis of social, environmental, and tourism-related aspects of Barra de Valizas.
AFOBAVA’s main accomplishments included the establishment of a local medical center and the opening of a dentist center. Currently it is working on the construction of its headquarters in the recently obtained plot of land granted by the
Municipality of Rocha. This space will be used for social and cultural activities, mainly for local residents, which have been held until today in rented locations.
6.5 Local public-private partnerships
Partnerships between the local private and public sector have also been pursued.
A good example of this is provided by the work of the Local Development Council. The
Council’s creation has been promoted by the Castillos Entrepreneurship Center in an
initiative that aimed at collaborating with the local government. The Council brought
together the Castillos Local Government, Rocha’s Mayor, local businesses, and
community groups.
The Council’s activities have included cleaning-up of the city, waste
management, signaling, editing promotional materials, improving infrastructure, and
educating school kids on the importance of tourism. The work with school kids has 90 aimed at building awareness among the local youth, which demonstrates the Council’s long-term aspirations for tourism development.
The Council recently stopped functioning due to politically motivated internal affairs. The municipal authorities --the Municipal Congress-- considered that the
Council’s action was beyond the local competence, and therefore, they obstructed its work centralizing the activities in Rocha. Power centralization is one of the issues that the
Castillos Local Government has faced in its efforts to manage the community, mainly in relation to economic resources. Rocha’s Mayor tried to implement decentralization initiatives but the Municipal Congress has not supported his idea yet.
The partnership between the private and public sectors was positive at the local level, where the Castillos Local Government’s role has been reinforced and economically supported by entrepreneurs. At the municipal level, authorities seemed to consider the
Council’s work as stretching beyond their area of capacity, which led finally to the
Council’s disappearance.
6.6 Local actors resisting municipal and national views
Alongside the contributions that local business associations and community groups have made towards tourism development, their views of tourism development deserve a closer look, since they have held very different views from the national and municipal governments. The Castillos coastal zone has traditionally been considered, at the national and municipal levels, minimally developed in terms of tourism. However, for local businesses and community groups, and the local government, tourism not only is extremely important but also it has been growing in the area. 91 There is a widely accepted idea within the Ministry of Tourism (national level) and the Municipality of Rocha, PROBIDES, and the Tourism Corporation of Rocha
(municipal level) that the Castillos coastal zone’s tourism development has been informal, and somehow negative. Negative statements have been repeated about this area, including “chaotic urbanization impairs tourism development”, and “we should plan how to sweep away what is there and start again with something well-done”. Two additional elements are identified when referring to tourism in Castillos, the combination of a semi-transgression culture with a border culture (proximity to Brazil), which have led to a scenario where “it is not very clear where the law is”.
At the local level, however, representatives of Castillos Local Government and
local business associations and community groups tell a different story. For them, tourism
is important, it works, and it has been developing over time. Recent decreases in tourist
arrivals at the region have been attributed to the Argentinean and Uruguayan economic
crises rather than to any wrongdoings at the local level.
A Castillos Local Government’s representative stated that Castillos pursued its
own development because the Muncipality of Rocha has focused more on its closest
coastal villages including La Paloma, La Pedrera, and Costa Azul. Favoring La Paloma to
other villages in the region has been explained for political interests and its proximity to
the city of Rocha. La Paloma is the coastal village of the city of Rocha (center of the
department with the same name), where the Municipality is located. The relation between
La Paloma and the city of Rocha can be compared to Aguas Dulces’ relation to Castillos
city since La Paloma developed as the summer resort of Rocha city’s residents. 92 Some local entrepreneurs also claimed that Castillos zone should have had the same help that La Paloma has enjoyed. According to a Castillos Entrepreneurs’ Center representative, the Municipality of Rocha has broadly delegated power to the Tourism
Corporation of Rocha, which he considered “not the best thing to do”. He believed that the Municipality itself should have its own advisers and experts working on tourism. One of his statements reveals the extent of the local perception regarding the inequality between Castillos and La Paloma:
The Tourism Corporation of Rocha and the Municipality of Rocha have attempted at hindering investment in the Castillos area in order to promote more development in their own area, in La Paloma or La Pedrera.
At all levels, there is a general consensus that there has not been defined
government policies or strategies either at the national, municipal, or local level for
tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone. Tourism developed in a casual and
spontaneous fashion, as an informal option, with local entrepreneurs --mainly
microenterprises-- and local community groups acting as the driving forces of the
process, and the government following their initiatives.
6.6.1 Environmental concerns in the region’s development
PROBIDES has not been the unique conservation institution in the region. Casa
Ambiental (Environmental House), a non-governmental organization operating in
Castillos with financial support from international agencies, has been working on
conservation issues as well, mainly at the local level. The activity of Casa Ambiental is
perceived in a more positive way among local community groups. According to a Local
Government representative, Casa Ambiental has counted with much less economic 93 resources but with much more importance and impact within the community. It is considered as a more participatory approach, whose achievements are concrete and useful for people, who are the real protagonists of its projects.
Some local actors are aware of the benefits of adopting conservation as a tool for economic development, but they recognize that the community as a whole still does not understand the concept of biosphere reserve. Particularly, people do not understand the economic opportunities of a well-done natural resources’ exploitation, beyond the idea of protecting nature for its intrinsic value. As examples, one of the interviewee expressed that people still do not realize that it might be more profitable to conserve the native forest than to cut it and sell it as wood. Or that instead of hunting a native specie, such as the carpincho, for a short-term solution, it would be better to protect it and become a tourist guide making a long-term living out of native fauna. Many actors share these ideas but they have still not put them into practice in concrete activities that could help to build awareness among the local community.
Within the controversial opinions on the way tourism developed in the Castillos coastal zone, environmental concerns charge as a fundamental issue, and a divisive one as well. While many actors consider development in the region negative mainly due to pressures on the environment, others reinforce natural conditions as the most important value of the area.
Opinions of tourism and conservation vary in an interesting way. On one side, it has been recognized that the lack of development has preserved, in general, the natural wealth of the region, since nature has the strongest value for tourism development. On the other side, some areas are considered severely degraded as a consequence of the 94 pressures exerted by the amount of irregular constructions. These latter views are held primarily at the national and municipal level, somehow reinforcing the differences from local views.
What is seen as “illegal”, “irregular”, and “chaotic” by the national and municipal government and private sector representatives, is considered “spontaneous”,
“creative”, and “the local way” for local actors. There are some examples of this “local way” that illustrate the process through which the community reinforces its own identity facilitated by the actions of institutions such as business associations and community groups.
In 1992, by resolution No. 01808 passed by the Municipality of Rocha, Castillos
city was declared “Environmental Capital” based on the beauty of the area, being the
center of a rich protected area with important ecological, landscape, and native values.
Ten years later, the Open Mural Museum, painted in public spaces of Castillos city, gave
“color, line, and shape” to that designation (Castillos Local Government 2001). A
number of murals illustrating palm groves, the coast, the lagoon, the sand dunes, the past
indigenous peoples, the birds, and the sea lions, have been drawn to highlight the region’s
nature and culture (Figures 6.1 to 6.3). Local artists painted them, with support from local
businesses.
Another example of community work aiming at protecting cultural values has
been the local newspaper “El Palmareño” initiative to promote a participatory process to
give names to Aguas Dulces streets and open spaces. Residents and visitors were
encouraged to suggest names in ballot boxes placed in Castillos and Aguas Dulces,
process that ended with almost 800 proposals (El Palmareño [Castillos] 2000). 95 Figure 6.1 – Open Mural Museum
Figure 6.2 – Open Mural Museum
96 Figure 6.3 – Open Mural Museum
The names finally adopted represent the informality of the place, which reinforced
the image and identity of the community, as well as the appreciation of nature and local
culture (Table 6.5). The summer visitors were encouraged to participate in the process,
which showed the importance assigned to tourists by local residents, integrating them
into the community decisionmaking on tourism development. 97 Table 6.5 – Suggested topic names for Aguas Dulces streets and open spaces
Prestigious people in history
Shipwrecks
Geographical locations
Thatched huts
Seafood
Fauna and flora
Indigenous ethnicities
Birds
Art elements
This chapter has analyzed the role played by local business associations and
community groups in tourism development in the region. These local forces have been
conducting important actions towards improving infrastructure, protecting cultural
values, and promoting tourism, some examples of which were provided. In many cases,
these business associations and community groups have worked together and in others,
they have also requested the support of the government, either at the local, municipal, or
national levels.
While the lack of leadership of the government and PROBIDES is generally
recognized, these local forces’ actions have remained as the main driving force for
tourism development in the region. The importance local businesses assigned to the
tourist industry for the local economy has stimulated the creation of associations to
organize their efforts towards tourism promotion. Within community groups, tourism has 98 been permanently included in their agendas as an important element in their activities towards infrastructure improvement and promotion of culture.
Regardless of the concrete impact of these groups’ actions in promoting tourism growth in the region, their work is meaningful mainly in representing tourism for the broader community. In this sense, tourism has developed as an endogenous phenomenon.
Beyond the extent of real economic benefits it might provide for the community, it has become part of the local identity. This point is further analyzed based on Aguas Dulces residents’ perception of tourism, which is examined in the next chapter.
99 Chapter 7
Local residents’ views of tourism development
7.1 Introduction
In the previous two chapters the analysis has focused on the historical
development of tourism in the Castillos coastal zone and the roles played by four major
forces: governments, PROBIDES, business associations and community groups. The
participation of these actors in tourism promotion might have influenced community
people’s views of tourism development in the area. According to Shaw and Williams
(2002), tourism entrepreneurs act, either directly or indirectly, as brokers within the host
community. This particular role is conditioned by whether they are drawn from the local
community or if they come from outside (Shaw and Williams 2002).
In this chapter, local residents’ perception of tourism is presented in an attempt to
assess whether they view themselves as beneficiaries of tourism development and how
they view the four major actors in tourism development. This analysis addresses the third
objective of the research and is based on the interviews conducted with a sample of
Aguas Dulces permanent residents. The study reveals the way in which local residents
perceive tourism, the meaning they give to it, and their expectations for further tourism
development in the study area.
7.2 Respondents’ profile
Respondents’ age, gender, and occupation, as well as the amount of years they
have lived in the Castillos coastal zone might have influenced their views of tourism.
Therefore, those elements are examined here (Table 7.1 – 7.4). Associations between 100 some of these variables and specific questions on tourism are included later in this
Chapter.
As shown in Table 7.1, most of the respondents are older than 34 years old, 22 percent are between 34 and 50 years, and 27 percent between 50 and 82 years. The age structure of the sample might be related to the number of years that the respondents have lived in the region. Among them, 36 percent have been living in the Castillos coastal zone for more than 10 years, and from that percentage, 18 percent have lived there for more than 20 years. Thus, respondents are expected, in general, to have witnessed tourism development in the region over an extended period of time. Both genders are almost equally represented in the interviewed sample. Finally, most of the respondents are self-employed/business owners, housewives, or retired.
Table 7.1 – Age
Category Frequency Percent
18 to 34 15 23.4 34 to 50 22 34.3 50 to 66 14 21.9 66 to 82 13 20.3
Total 64 100.0
Table 7.2 – Gender
Category Frequency Percent
Female 34 53.1 Male 30 46.9
Total 64 100.0 101 Table 7.3 – Occupation
Category Frequency Percent
Professional 4 6.3 Student 2 3.1 Housewife / unemployed 12 18.8 Retired 10 15.6 Construction 8 12.5 Self-employed / business 16 25.0 Informal 4 6.3
Total 64 100.0
Table 7.4 – Years respondents have been living in the Castillos coastal zone
Category Frequency Percent
Less than 5 years 14 21.9 5 to 10 years 14 21.9 More than 10 years 18 28.1 More than 20 years 18 28.1
Total 64 100.0
7.3 Importance of tourism in the local economy
One particular item in the questionnaire attempted to discover local resident’s
opinions on the importance of tourism in the region. A look at Table 7.5 reveals that 95.3
percent considers tourism extremely or very important in the Castillos coastal zone while
Table 7.6 shows that for 92.2 percent of the respondents, tourism is positive for the
region. Respondents were subsequently asked as to the nature of their responses.
Their reasons to consider tourism as positive or negative were later classified by
content analysis in Table 7.7. Of the 92.2 percent who claim that tourism is positive, the
majority bases such statement on tourism’s economic impacts (generation of employment 102 and income). Some others include social and cultural development and just a few mention conservation as well as promotion of the region as factors accounting for the positive impact of tourism. Of the 4.7 percent that identifies tourism as negative, reasons are mainly based on nature destruction, pollution, and generation of new demands for the local community.
Table 7.5 – Responses to the question, “How you do define tourism as an economic activity in the Castillos coastal zone?”
Category Frequency Percent
Extremely important 24 37.5 Very important 37 57.8 Not very important 3 4.7
Total 64 100.0
Table 7.6 – Responses to the question, “How you do consider tourism in the Castillos coastal zone?”
Category Frequency Percent
Positive 59 92.2 Negative 3 4.7 It depends 2 3.1
Total 64 100.0 103 Table 7.7 – Responses to the question, “In which sense do you think tourism is positive or negative for the region?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 2 3.1 Economic (employment & income) 46 71.9 Economic, social & cultural development 8 12.5 Development & conservation 2 3.1 Promotion of the region 3 4.7 Negative (damage & pollution) 3 4.7
Total 64 100.0
Despite the general recognition of tourism as positive and important for the
region, opinions are divided when respondents are asked if they liked the way the
industry has developed (Table 7.8). Most of the respondents state that urban disorder and
lack of planning and development are the reasons to disagree on the existing tourism
development in the region (Table 7.9). Those who agree with the way the industry
developed state that tourism brought about improvements and development while some
others agree because tourism developed into a quiet and familiar environment.
Table 7.8 – Responses to the question, “Do you like the way tourism developed in the region?”
Category Frequency Percent
Yes 27 42.2 No 33 51.6 It depends 4 6.3
Total 64 100.0
104 Table 7.9 – Responses to the question, “Why do you agree or disagree with the way tourism developed in the region?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 10 15.6
Positive Quiet and familiar environment 7 10.9 It brought improvements and development 10 15.6 It gives options to tourists 4 6.3
Negative Urban disorder, lack of planning and development 20 31.3 Lack of nature and identity protection 7 10.9 Lack of promotion and options to tourists 6 9.4
Total 64 100.0
The generalized idea of tourism as a positive force is reinforced when
interviewees are asked about tourism’s effects on the community lifestyle (Table 7.10). In
this regard, 71.9 percent identifies tourism as affecting the lifestyle in a positive way and
18.8 percent state that the industry did not affect it. While a few respondents –6.3
percent- doubt about the positive or negative effects of tourism, only 3.1 percent consider
that tourism affect the local lifestyle in a negative way.
Table 7.10 – Responses to the question, “Do you think tourism has affected the community lifestyle in the Castillos coastal zone?”
Category Frequency Percent
Yes, in a positive way 46 71.9 Yes, in a negative way 2 3.1 No, it does not affect 12 18.8 It depends 4 6.3
Total 64 100.0 105 7.4 Views of further tourism development
Respondents’ answers to further tourism development in the region show their
concerns for the uncertainty of the industry (Table 7.11). While 17.2 percent think
tourism would continue to grow, 32.8 percent are more cautious conditioning future
tourism development to government’s role in promotion and support of the industry. 35.9
percent envisions tourism development as negative or difficult and 10.9 percent doubts
about the industry’s future considering the current regional crisis in Latin America.
Table 7.11 – Responses to the question, “How do you envision tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone?”
Category Frequency Percent
Positive, it will develop more 11 17.2 Positive if things are done properly, if government 21 32.8 promotes it Positive if our neighbor countries improve 2 3.1
Negative, difficult 23 35.9 I don’t know, it’s difficult because of the crises 7 10.9
Total 64 100.0
The interviewees were then asked about their preferences for the type of tourism
to be developed in the region. Tables 7.12 and 7.15 show their answers to the possibility
of replicating Punta del Este’s type of development –as a massive jet-set destination- and
to foreign investment in the area, respectively.
Respondents’ reaction to the case of Punta del Este as an example of possible
future development in the Castillos coastal zone is illustrative of their preferences. 62.5 106 percent rejects that option, of which 51.6 percent considers that if the region develops in that direction the local identity will be lost, mainly nature and tranquility. 10.9 percent expresses their concerns for that kind of tourism development, which would lead to the gentrification of the region becoming a place only for rich people. Finally, those that support the idea of having Punta del Este’s type of development in Castillos –37.5 percent- base their answers in increased jobs and income.
Table 7.12 – Responses to the question, “Would you like to see the replication of Punta del Este in the Castillos coastal zone, why?”
Category Frequency Percent
Yes The area would develop more: jobs and income 24 37.5
No Our identity would be lost 33 51.6 It would be a place only for the rich 7 10.9
Total 64 100.0
A cross-tabulation analysis of willingness to replicate the case of Punta del Este in
the Castillos coastal zone was then conducted considering respondents’ age and gender.
Both genders react in basically the same proportion with approximately 40 percent in
favor and 60 percent against the possibility of having Punta del Este’s type of
development in the region (Table 7.13). As to age is concerned, it is interesting to note
that there is a significant percent of people in the two first age groups -18 to 34 and 34 to
50- who reject having the Punta del Este type of development (Table 7.14).
Approximately 73 percent of respondents between 18 and 34 years old reject that 107 development option, showing younger generations’ support to the region’s own identity.
It is then interesting as well to realize that almost 50 percent of respondents of 66 to 82 years old are open to the possibility of developing Castillos similarly to Punta del Este.
Table 7.13 – Cross-tabulation of variables: gender with willingness to replicate the case of Punta del Este in the region
Gender Yes No It depends Total
Female 13 20 1 34 Male 12 18 30
Total 25 38 1 64
Table 7.14 – Cross-tabulation of variables: age with willingness to replicate the case of Punta del Este in the region
Gender Yes No It depends Total
18 to 34 3 11 1 15 34 to 50 8 14 22 50 to 66 8 6 14 66 to 82 6 7 13
Total 25 38 1 64
Even though respondents place an emphasis on maintaining the region’s identity,
protecting nature, and promoting a quiet environment, 40.6 percent of them are positive
about having foreign investment (Table 7.15). Another group –9.4 percent- agree with
foreign investment in the region but under government regulation and a similar
percentage –9.4 percent- are hesitant about it. Therefore, almost 20 percent do not 108 completely reject the idea of having foreign investment but they are skeptical about its positive effects in the economic development of their area and their own well-being.
Finally, almost 30 percent of the respondents argues that local people should exploit the place instead of foreigners and 7.8 percent considers that the area would completely change once foreign companies start investing in.
Table 7.15 – Responses to the question, “Would you like to have foreign investment in the Castillos coastal zone, why?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 2 3.1
Yes For economic development all year long 26 40.6 With government’s regulation 6 9.4
No Locals should exploit the place 19 29.7 The place would change 5 7.8
It depends on how it takes place 6 9.4
Total 64 100.0
Some associations between gender and age and willingness to have foreign
investment in the region were also conducted (Table 7.16 and 7.17). Gender is an
influencing factor in respondents’ answers since a larger percentage of males than
females support the idea of having foreign investment in tourism development. Females’
positive answers to foreign investment accounts for 47 percent while males for almost 67
percent. Respondents’ age is not in general a determining factor. However, respondents 109 pertaining to the age groups of 34 to 50 and 66 to 82 are those that most supported foreign investment with almost 70 percent of the answers being positive. In contrast, only
47 percent of the youngest respondents (18 to 34) support foreign investment.
Table 7.16 – Cross-tabulation of variables: gender with willingness to have foreign investment in the region
Gender Yes No It depends Total
Female 16 14 4 34 Male 20 7 3 30
Total 36 21 7 64
Table 7.17 – Cross-tabulation of variables: age with willingness to have foreign investment in the region
Gender Yes No It depends Total
18 to 34 7 5 3 15 34 to 50 15 6 1 22 50 to 66 5 7 2 14 66 to 82 9 3 1 13
Total 36 21 7 64
The last part of the interview attempted to identify respondents’ opinions on
future tourism development as the main economic sector of the region. Tables 7.18 and
7.19 show that despite the widespread uncertainty for the future, respondents in general
support the tourist industry’s growth. 110 When asked if tourism should be developed in the region as the main economic activity, 71.9 percent answers “yes, completely”, while 21.9 percent supports the industry’s promotion but together with the promotion of other economic activities as well. These figures combined represent a 93.8 percent that supports the aggressive promotion of tourism in the region.
When subsequently asked about the reasons for their answers, 46.9 percent states that tourism has been the main source for economic development in the region and 17.2 percent considers that the industry needs more promotion to continue growing. Among those that support the idea of developing tourism but not as the main economic activity,
9.4 percent argues that it might not be good for the community to rely only on one source. In addition, 7.8 percent believes that the region would negatively change if tourism grows too fast.
It is interesting to note that almost 20 percent of the respondents do not provide specific reasons for their support of further development in tourism. It can be assumed that this percentage is included in those that answered “yes” to the previous question –if tourism should be promoted and developed- but they are not very clear about reasons for doing that. 111 Table 7.18 – Responses to the question, “Do you think tourism should be promoted and developed in the Castillos coastal zone as the main economic activity?”
Category Frequency Percent
Yes, completely 46 71.9 Yes, but not as the main activity 14 21.9 Not too much 4 6.3
Total 64 100.0
Table 7.19 – Responses to the question, “Why tourism should or should not be developed in the region, as the main economic activity?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 12 18.8
Yes It is the main source for economic development 30 46.9 It needs more promotion 11 17.2
No We cannot rely only in one source 6 9.4 If it grows too much, things will change 5 7.8
Total 64 100.0
7.5 Views of PROBIDES and the government in tourism
Interviewees were also asked about PROBIDES and the government roles in tourism development in the Castillos coastal zone. Table 7.20 shows answers regarding respondents’ awareness of PROBIDES where 48.4 percent states that they had just an idea of the institution and 39.1 percent has no idea, representing the two figures 87.5 112 percent. This figure illustrates the extent to which local residents lack information regarding PROBIDES actions in the region.
Table 7.20 – Responses to the question, “Are you aware of PROBIDES’s activities in the Castillos coastal zone?”
Category Frequency Percent
Well aware of 8 12.5 Aware of 31 48.4 Not aware of 25 39.1
Total 64 100.0
The respondents that claimed that they knew pretty much or had an idea of
PROBIDES activities were subsequently asked whether the institution’s activities would
be considered positive or negative for the community (Table 7.21). 23.4 percent
considers PROBIDES role as very positive, 10.9 percent identifies it as not very
important, and 20 percent states that they have no idea. This might suggest that many of
those who know something about PROBIDES do not know enough in order to evaluate
the institution’s goals or activities.
113 Table 7.21 – Responses to the question, “How do you consider PROBIDES role in tourism in the region?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 26 40.6 Extremely positive 2 3.1 Very positive 15 23.4 Not very important 7 10.9 Negative 1 1.6 I have no idea 13 20.3
Total 64 100.0
Another asked item referred to the role of Castillos Local Government in tourism
development (Table 7.22). 67.2 percent of the respondents identifies its role as not very
important and 10.9 percent as negative, leading the two answers to an aggregated 78.1
percent of general complaint about the Local Government action on tourism. The
percentage that states that the government has a very positive role is 15.6 percent.
Table 7.22 – Responses to the question, “How do you consider the Castillos Local Government’s role in tourism?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 1 1.6 Very positive 10 15.6 Not very important 43 67.2 Negative 7 10.9 I have no idea 3 4.7
Total 64 100.0
114 Finally, the respondents were asked about their opinions on coordination among the government, PROBIDES, local businesses, and community groups. Table 7.23 reveals that almost 60 percent of the respondents points out that there has been no visible coordination among these actors, and 17.2 percent does not know about it. Those who consider that coordination exists account for 23.4 percent.
Table 7.23 – Responses to the question, “Do you think that coordination takes place among the government, PROBIDES, local businesses, and community groups?”
Category Frequency Percent
Yes 15 23.4 No 38 59.4 I don’t know 11 17.2
Total 64 100.0
7.6 Local residents’ involvement in tourism
Finally, interviewees were asked whether they have been involved with tourism-
related activities in the Castillos coastal zone (Table 7.24). The answers reveal an
interesting case where almost 60 percent of the respondents never worked in the tourism
sector. While 17.2 percent worked permanently, 10.9 percent often did, and 12.5 percent
only worked once in a while in the tourist industry.
It might be questioned how each respondent judged “tourism-related activities”.
The purpose of this question was not to identify how many residents indeed worked in
tourism (in that case a list of jobs would have been supplied to facilitate the answers) but
how local residents perceived the relationship between themselves and the tourist 115 industry. This is important because it shows how local residents understand tourism in their lives and if their perception is directly linked to their own economic benefits from the tourist industry.
Table 7.24 – Responses to the question, “Have you worked in tourism-related activities in the region?”
Category Frequency Percent
No answer 1 1.6 Permanently 11 17.2 Often 7 10.9 Once in a while 8 12.5 Never 37 57.8
Total 64 100.0
Despite the high percentage of respondents that never worked on tourism,
according to previously analyzed answers they consider the industry very important for
the region’s future. There seem to be some general recognitions of the benefits of tourism
for the broader community despite each individual’s own participation in it lacks.
Cross-tabulation was then calculated taking respondents’ work in tourism and
their occupations to gauge the degree of association among those variables. According to
Table 7.25 the largest percentage of respondents working permanently in tourism belong
to self-employed and business owners. Also, the high percentage of people not working
on tourism might be explained, at some extent, by the large amount of retired and
housewives respondents. 116 Table 7.25 – Cross-tabulation of variables: occupation with work in tourism-related activities
Occupation No answer Perm Often Once Never Total in a while
Professional 4 4 Student 2 2 Housewife/unemployed 1 1 1 9 12 Retired 1 9 10 Construction 1 2 5 8 Public employee 5 3 8 Self-employed/business 1 6 3 2 4 16 Informal 2 1 1 4
Total 1 11 7 8 37 64
Cross-tabulation of respondents’ gender and age and their work in tourism-related activities was conducted as well. While almost 27 percent of males worked in tourism permanently, only about 9 percent of females did so (Table 7.26). This might be indeed explained by the high percentage of retired and housewife/unemployed women, and to males’ high involvement in self-employed/business and construction (Table 7.27).
Table 7.26 – Cross-tabulation of variables: gender with work in tourism-related activities
Gender No answer Perm Often Once Never Total in a while
Female 3 3 4 24 34 Male 1 8 4 4 13 30
Total 1 11 7 8 37 64 117 Table 7.27 – Cross-tabulation of variables: gender and occupation
Occupation Female Male Total
Professional 3 1 4 Student 2 0 2 Housewife/unemployed 12 0 12 Retired 7 3 10 Construction 0 8 8 Public employees 3 5 8 Self-employed/business 4 12 16 Informal 3 1 4
Total 34 30 64
Finally, age is not a significant factor determining respondents’ work in tourism- related activities (Table 7.28).
Table 7.28 – Cross-tabulation of variables: age with work in tourism-related activities
Gender No answer Perm Often Once Never Total in a while
18 to 34 2 3 3 7 15 34 to 50 4 1 1 16 22 50 to 66 3 2 3 6 14 66 to 82 1 2 1 1 8 13
Total 1 11 7 8 37 64
It is clear that the majority of respondents perceive tourism positive and very important for the Castillos coastal zone, basically, for economic reasons. It is also interesting that half of the respondents disagree with the way tourism has developed in the region, what might be considered somehow contradictory with the previous statement. 118 However, their complaint is directed at the disorder and lack of planning in the region and not specifically to the arrival of tourists. Among those who agree with the tourism development in the region, most respondents argue that it brought about improvements while some others emphasize that they like the way in which tourism has developed into a type of quiet and familiar environment.
In addition, most respondents do not recognize either the Castillos Local
Government or PROBIDES as a major institution leading tourism development. On the contrary, the Castillos Local Government is mainly considered irrelevant regarding tourism and PROBIDES activities are basically unknown in that regard. Finally, a high percentage of responses show that for respondents, no coordination exists among different actors involved in tourism, namely the government, PROBIDES, the private sector, and community groups.
Despite the respondents’ claims about the lack of planning and minimum action by authorities and PROBIDES, they still identify tourism as the main economic activity to be promoted and developed in the region. They believe that tourism impacts the community lifestyle in a positive way, especially through an anticipated increase in income.
Respondents also provided an idea of which type of tourism they prefer to be further developed in the region. More than 50 percent rejects the idea of developing the area into a jet-set destination, such as the case of Punta del Este, while they identify their own image as linked to nature and a quiet environment. It is interesting to note that among those who support the idea of Punta del Este’s type of tourism development, their reasons are based mostly on economic reasons as well: more jobs and more income. 119 Opinions regarding the possibility of having foreign investment in the area are more divided. Half of the respondents support the idea and the rest reject it or are more cautious about its long-term effects. Fears of change in the region justify negative positions towards foreign investment while positive ones refer to more economic development. Some respondents condition their approval of foreign investment in the region to government control over it.
Respondents demonstrate a general concern about tourism future in the region, which might be justified for the severe economic crises in the region that has affected the tourist industry. It is also interesting to note that while a low percentage of the respondents had worked on tourism, they still recognized its economic importance for the community.
It is clear that almost all respondents identify tourism not only as important but also as their only chance for future development. They do not mention local businesses or community groups as main actors in the local tourist industry, but they basically reject the Castillos Local Government and PROBIDES as the key promoters of tourism. This information is not enough to determine whether respondents consider local businesses and community groups as key actors in tourism development in the region.
However, the combination of the formal and informal sectors in providing services for tourism, and the subsequent increased income for the community might be related to local residents’ positive perception on tourism. In addition, local business initiatives to promote the local identity, which promoted a sort of development based on the “local way”, might have influenced local residents’ opinions as well. 120 Chapter 8
Conclusion
Tourism has become an important source of revenue for many developing countries, and therefore has become an integral component of development planning. Its growing importance has attracted attention from a wide range of institutions, including international organizations, national governments, academic research institutes, and private businesses.
Whether tourism promotes local economic development remains debatable. The distribution of tourism benefits has been at the center of the debate, since many different actors, public and private at local, national, and international levels, would be involved in tourism development. In addition, tourism has been strongly linked to conservation and to protected areas where sustainable nature-based tourism (ecotourism) is seen as a feasible solution to promote local economic development based on the protection of natural and cultural values.
This thesis has examined tourism in the Castillos coastal zone, a protected area in southeastern Uruguay, focusing on the roles played by governments, the reserve conservation program, local business associations, and community groups. First, it reviewed the region’s tourism development history, present conditions, and its potential for future development as an international tourist destination. Then it examined the roles of local forces, meaning business associations and community groups, contrasting them with actions pursued by governments and PRODIBES, the internationally funded 121 biosphere reserve management program. Finally, it analyzed Aguas Dulces local residents’ opinions of tourism in the area.
The theoretical contribution of this research to the existing literature on tourism in developing countries refers to a reconsideration of the role of local actors in tourism development processes. Most of the studies on sustainable development and ecotourism have argued that governments, conservation agencies, and international organizations have to integrate local actors into their projects. This research, however, argues that local actors, including business associations and community groups have been major forces in tourism development in their areas, and governments and international actors rather need to be integrated into local actors’ projects. This research was conducted in winter time
(low tourist season) and it coincided with a severe regional financial crises, factors that might have affected the research findings.
Among the four major players in the development of tourism in the Castillos coastal zone, the government has not yet played a prominent role in tourism development. Governments, at all levels, have been involved only with general regulations and support of tourist operators’ initiatives. In addition, no foreign investment has taken place in the region and transnational travel agencies have not been involved in the process of tourism development. The lack of foreign investment does not really reflect a deliberate political decision but the lack of clear regulations that would protect investors. The absence of large international tourist developers has indeed allowed local forces to have their own voices in the region’s tourism development.
The 1976 designation of the region as a Biosphere Reserve –Bañados del Este- in the context of the UNESCO’s Program Man and the Biosphere (MAB), brought 122 conservation organizations and multilateral aid agencies to the Castillos coastal zone.
Their action took place through funding (from the UNEP, GEF, and European Union) of
PROBIDES, the Bañados del Este Biosphere Reserve Management Program, which was established in 1993. PROBIDES action on tourism in the region has focused on research and documentation, as well as on bringing together some local tourist operators. This
Program’s emphasis has been placed on the region’s potential to become an ecotourism destination. PROBIDES has worked separately from the community failing to take advantage of local forces’ organized efforts such as business associations and community groups. It was obvious in the interviews with local entrepreneurs and community leaders that PROBIDES has developed a somewhat negative reputation and that those people surveyed through questionnaires had poor knowledge of the program.
Opposed to the limited action of the government and PROBIDES, and to the lack of international travel agencies involvement in the region, local businesses and community groups have been the most important actors in tourism development in the
Castillos coastal zone. Tourism in the area has grown mostly responding to the action of the local –formal and informal- private sector. A wide variety of economic sectors provided goods and services responding to visitors’ demands spreading tourism benefits throughout the local community. Local entrepreneurs realized the importance of tourism for the local economy and therefore they organized themselves to promote the further development of the tourist industry.
Local businesses benefit from tourism not only by selling their products and services to visitors during the summer season but also to local residents during the rest of the year. This indirect impact on different sectors of the economy is called the multiplier 123 effect of tourism, which in the Castillos coastal zone is spurred by the existence of a large informal sector operating in tourism-related activities.
Local business associations and community groups’ initiatives for tourism development have also focused on promoting what they considered main local values: nature, tranquility, security, and a familiar environment. By doing this, they attempt to reinforce the region’s identity and influence the community’s positive perception of tourism. Despite opinions at the national and municipal levels that consider tourism in the
Castillos area as barely developed, tourism in the region has brought economic benefits to much of the community, which has been recognized by local operators and residents. It has also been clear that tourism development in the region has not ruined traditional local culture and identity yet. There have been some inevitable environmental damages as well as urban disorder resulting from the lack of planning in tourism development, but in no way these negative outcomes overwhelm positive ones, including economic benefits and identity protection.
Local values have been protected through many different mechanisms, such as naming Aguas Dulces streets and open spaces, the Open Mural Museum, and the enthusiastic participation in the fundraising event “La Fiesta de Todos”. These initiatives certainly show the community’s ability to enrich its cultural heritage, which is what sustainable tourism projects dream of. This was also appreciated in the opinions of Aguas
Dulces residents regarding tourism.
Despite many problems with the disordered and unplanned development process of tourism, an extremely high percentage of respondents consider tourism as a very important activity for the region, supporting its further development. Given the fact that 124 not many respondents to the interviews have really been employed in tourism-related activities, it is very clear that tourism has been viewed highly positive in the community.
The community’s attitude towards tourism provides a good starting point for strategies for further development. Based on the local community’s positive perception of tourism and its strong support to the industry’s future development, tourism will continue to be the most promising sector for the Castillos coastal region. Local forces, including business associations and community groups, will continue to be key players in the development process.
In conclusion, this research has demonstrated that local forces in the Castillos coastal zone, such as business associations and community groups, were main promoters of tourism. Still, there are limitations to this locally driven development, particularly associated with the globalized conditions of the present tourist industry, which make it difficult for locally owned businesses to compete against bigger foreign companies. The government and international institutions –whether conservation or multilateral aid agencies- need to act as an intermediary between the global and the local. These institutions should embrace local forces’ role as leading promoters of endogenous tourism development. In addition, community groups and local business associations might need the government’s support in encouraging participatory community planning and managing the growth of tourism in the region.
The conclusion of this work suggests that a more important role be assigned to local forces, such as local entrepreneurs and community groups, in tourism development.
It also calls for a bit different roles for governments, international conservation organizations, and multilateral aid agencies in tourism development. The ways in which 125 local businesses contribute to tourism development in different local economies should be further studied so that the goods and bad of attracting foreign investment in tourism can be better evaluated. In the same way, it will be interesting to study further scenarios for international agencies to work with local entrepreneurship.
This research has not considered the role of transnational tourism companies and travel agencies in tourism destinations. A closer look might be needed as well at their relationships with local entrepreneurs, particularly in assuring a fair distribution of benefits for the host community. The roles played by local businesses and community groups in places where plenty of foreign capital has been invested might provide another element of analysis on the interactions among different forces involved in tourism development. Finally, it might be as interesting to examine the specific mechanisms through which local communities resist the dominance of foreign tourist companies, which would undermine their traditional culture and regional identity. 126 References
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Interview guide for four major forces in tourism development
1. What has been the traditional role of tourism in Castillos coastal zone?
2. What strategies or policies have been implemented and at which level (national, municipal, local)?
3. What are major actors involved in tourism development?
4. What is the relationship between the government and community groups?
5. What is the role of community groups and local residents in tourism?
6. What is the role of PROBIDES, and how is the relationship between conservation and tourism?
7. Has the area being considered for mass tourism development, were foreign companies interested on it?
8. What do you think about the possibilities of ecotourism in the area?
9. What major factors influence tourism development, regarding opportunities and constraints in the area? 134 Appendix B
Interviews with residents in Aguas Dulces
1. How long have you been living in the Castillos Coastal Zone (Aguas Dulces, Cabo Polonio, Barra de Valizas, La Esmeralda)?
Less then 5 years From 5 to 10 years More than 10 years More than 20 years
2. How would you define tourism for the area as an economic activity? Extremely important Very important Not too important Irrelevant
3. How would you consider tourism for the area? Positive Negative In which sense:
4. Do you agree with the way tourism has been developed in Castillos? Yes No Why:
5. Are you familiar to Probides role and activities in the area? I am very familiar I have just an idea I have no idea
6. What do you think of Probides activities in the area in relation to tourism development?
7. How do you see the government role in the development and promotion of tourism in the area?
135
8. How do you envision tourism development in the area?
9. Do you want to replicate the case of Punta del Este here? Yes No Why:
10. Do you want to have foreign investment in the area? Yes No Why:
11. Are you involved in any community organization? Yes No Which ones:
12. How do these organizations see tourism development in the area?
13. Do you think tourism should be developed and promoted in Castillos? Yes, definitely Yes, but not as the main activity in the area Not at a great extent Not at all Why:
14. Do you think there are other economic activities that should be promoted instead of tourism? Yes No Which ones:
136
15. Have you worked in tourism-related activities in the area? Yes, permanently Yes, periodically Yes, but just once in a while No, never
16. Do you think tourism affects the lifestyle of the community? Yes, in a positive way Yes, in a negative way No, it does not affect the community In which sense:
17. Do you think there is coordination between the government, Probides, and business associations and community organizations as to tourism development? Yes No Why: