Tourism Development in Transition Economies
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TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES: AN EVALUATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM AT A BLACK SEA COASTAL DESTINATION DURING POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRANSITION SVETLA IVANOVA STOYANOVA-BOZHKOVA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Bournemouth University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2011 Bournemouth University This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. Tourism development in transition economies: an evaluation of the development of tourism at a Black Sea coastal destination during political and socio-economic transition 2 ABSTRACT Svetla Ivanova Stoyanova-Bozhkova Tourism Development in Transition Economies: an Evaluation of the Development of Tourism at a Black Sea Coastal Destination during Political and Socio-Economic Transition The present research addresses a gap in the academic literature on the transformation and development of coastal destinations in the transition economy of Bulgaria. It takes further the tradition in tourism studies that calls for the incorporation of the contextual change in the process of destination development. The purpose of this study was to determine whether, and in what ways, the nature of the socio-economic and political transition has influenced the processes of tourism development of a coastal tourism destination in the period 1989-2009 and if the tourism stakeholders have incorporated and implemented the principles of sustainability in the transformation and operation of the tourism sector, with the associated questions of why, why not, and how. In order to answer the research questions, a case study research was undertaken in the Varna- Balchik destination on Bulgaria‟s North Black Sea coast, which allowed the study of the whole spectrum of developmental processes in the period of transition. Data for the research was collected using a multi-method research approach with a combination of secondary data and primary data gathered using qualitative research techniques including a series of stakeholder interviews and observation. The semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with decision-makers, involved in tourism development in the destination studied at some time over the studied period (1989-2009), from the stakeholder groups at a local, regional and national level. This research employed the path-dependent path-creative approach to analyse the nature of transformation and conceptualise the forces which impact on tourism development on Bulgaria‟s North Black Sea coast. The research findings indicated that sustainability did not fit well into the rapidly changing CEE transition context. In spite of the increasing empowerment of the local Tourism development in transition economies: an evaluation of the development of tourism at a Black Sea coastal destination during political and socio-economic transition 3 communities and their attempts to achieve balanced development by implementing integrated and long-term planning, the primary data revealed growing concerns over the ineffectiveness of policy- making, the increasing urbanisation of the coastal strip and the competitiveness of Bulgaria‟s North Black Sea coast tourism offer. An analytical framework was developed based on the research findings to explain the specific development path(s) of the destination studied. It took into account the political (politicising), psychological (mentalities), institutional dimensions of transition (property rights, social networks and local empowerment), the role of the state (reduced state intervention) and the individual (human capital). Some of these themes (politicising and mentalities in particular) have been largely absent from previous research on tourism in transition and from the wider tourism studies. Tourism development in transition economies: an evaluation of the development of tourism at a Black Sea coastal destination during political and socio-economic transition 4 LIST OF CONTENTS Copyright statement .......................................................................................................................2 Abstract ....................................................................................................................................3 List of Contents ....................................................................................................................................5 List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................18 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................19 Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................................22 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................24 1.1. Background of the research ..............................................................................24 1.2. Overview of the destination studied .................................................................24 1.3. Aims and objectives of the research .................................................................30 1.4. How these objectives were achieved .................................................................32 1.5. Organisation of the thesis ..............................................................................32 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................36 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................36 2.2. The phenomenon of CEE transition .................................................................38 2.2.1 Background ..........................................................................................38 2.2.2 Defining transition ..............................................................................38 2.2.3 What constitutes transition? ................................................................39 Tourism development in transition economies: an evaluation of the development of tourism at a Black Sea coastal destination during political and socio-economic transition 5 2.2.4 Transition theories and their application in tourism studies ............41 2.2.4.1 Modernist Transitology .................................................................42 2.2.4.2 Historicist approaches ................................................................42 Path-dependence path-creation ...................................................43 Neo-classical sociology .................................................................44 Embeddedness and the structurationist perspective .........................45 2.2.4.3 Modernity ..............................................................................45 2.2.4.4 Conceptual models of tourism in transition .........................46 2.3 Tourism Development and Sustainability ...................................................48 2.3.1 The concept of sustainable development ...................................................48 2.3.2 Sustainable tourism, sustainable tourism development or tourism development and sustainability .................................................................49 2.3.3 Approaches to the study of sustainable tourism and sustainable tourism development ...........................................................................................51 2.3.3.1 Jafari‟s platforms model ................................................................52 2.3.3.2 Clarke‟s framework of approaches to sustainable tourism ............53 2.3.3.3 The adaptive paradigm .................................................................54 2.3.3.4. Tourism development: analytical models .........................54 2.3.3.5 Tourism development: descriptive models .........................55 2.3.4 Sustainability – principles and research on traditional coastal tourist destinations ..........................................................................................57 Tourism development in transition economies: an evaluation of the development of tourism at a Black Sea coastal destination during political and socio-economic transition 6 2.3.4.1 Planning in the framework of sustainability ......................................57 2.3.4.2 Principles of sustainability in the policies and practices .........................59 2.3.5 Sustainability, transition and tourism .................................................................63 2.3.5.1 The relationship between the socialist legacy and sustainability ............63 2.3.5.2 Sustainability and transition .................................................................63 2.4 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................66 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................69 3.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................69 3.2 Case study as a research strategy ..............................................................................71