Rural tourism development a network perspective CENTRALE LANDBOUWCATALOGUS 0000 0904 9582 Promoter: Prof. dr.A.G.J . Dietvorst Hoogleraar ind esociaal-ruimtelijk e analyse vanlandgebruik ,me t bijzondere aandacht voor recreatie &toerism e Co-promotor: Dr.H .Hetsen , Universitair hoofddocent, leerstoelgroep sociaal-ruimtelijke analyse vanlandgebruik , metbijzonder e aandacht voor recreatie& toerisme Promotiecommissie: Prof. dr.P.P.P .Huigen , Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Prof. dr.RJ.F.M . vande rVaart , Universiteit Utrecht Prof. dr.ir .A .va nde nBrink , Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr.J .Lengkeek , Wageningen Universiteit (Juo^z^\} szZS Rural tourism development anetwor kperspectiv e Janine Caalders Proefschrift terverkrijgin g van de graadva n doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit prof.dr.ir. L Speelman in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 20 december 2002 des namiddags om 13.30 uur in de Aula c ItbdKJ Uv- lJ 5 ISBN9 0580 8 7700 Wageningen Universiteit Postbus910 0 6700H AWageninge n theNetherland s ISBN9 0516 6941 0 Uitgeverij Eburon Postbus 2867 2601C W Delft [email protected] www.eburon.nl © 2002 J.D.A.D. Caalders. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical ,photocopying ,recording , orotherwise ,withou t theprio rpermissio n inwritin gfrom th eproprietor . fMJo2?aif 3 3J5 Stellingen bij het proefschrift "Rural tourism development: a network per­ spective" Janine Caalders Wageningen Universiteit, 20 december 2002 1. Inhoudelijke vragen krijgen steeds vaker een procesmatig antwoord. Vaak wordt echter over het hoofd gezien dat de keuze voor een pro- cesaanpak zeer sturend is voor de (inhoudelijke) uitkomst (dit proef­ schrift). 2. De marginale positie van toeristische actoren in rurale (beleids-) netwer- ken is zowel oorzaak als gevolg van het gebrek aan serieuze beleids- aandacht voor dit thema (dit proefschrift). 3. Het gebrek aan aandacht voor toeristische innovaties in plattelandsver- nieuwingsprocessen vormt een bedreiging voor de toekomst van de sector, maar ook voor detoekoms t van het platteland (dit proefschrift). 4. Toeristische ondernemers zouden massaal lid moeten zijn van organi- saties voor landschapsbehoud, natuur en cultuurhistorie (dit proef­ schrift). 5. Toerist, dat benj e zelf. 6. Wetenschap, hoetoegepas t ook, heeft altijd iets vrijblijvends. 7. Wie vanwege zijn positie meer invloed heeft op het formuleren van re- gels, moetoo k harder worden gestraft bij overtrading ervan. 8. Als kranten meer goed nieuws zouden brengen zou het vertrouwen in de samenleving met sprongen toenemen. Preface While carrying out my PhD research, I often felt a pioneer. This was both inspiring and frustrating: inspiring as it gave me the feeling of exploring a new subject; frustrating because exploring isno t similar to efficiently working towards apreviousl y defined goal. By finishing this book Ihav e left the frustration behind me- bu t Ia mstil l astonished that a subject as topical, interesting and strategically important as tourism development in rural areas is left topioneers . Tourism in general receives very little academic andpolic y attention: in the Netherlands there is about one academic researcher for each billion Euros turnover. One ofth e reasons behind the lack of attention for tourism istha t leisure is considered subordinate to work. While working on the last bits of this book, many people inm yenvironmen t must havethough t thatthi swa sth e case for mea swell . A number of people have been invaluable in creating the circumstances to make it possible to write this book. Before all, I would like to thank Hans, whose attitude towards my PhD research has always been that of a concerned and interested outsider. He provided me with food for thought, and never omitted to stress that finishing my thesis was important, but not if that would be at the cost of more important things. Our son Willem has probably been the best stimulus to finally finish this book. His presence isth ebes treminde r thatther e arebette rway st o spend myweekends . I am grateful to my colleagues at BUITEN, and especially to my business partner Joost Hagens. They have created the atmosphere and circumstances which made it possible to combine my consultancy work and my thesis and still have time left for a private life. Throughout the period that I worked on my thesis, my promotores always kept confidence in my approach. Ihav e experienced thejoin t supervision ofm y work by two men with quite different perspectives and working methods as both invaluable and inspiring. Adri Dietvorst - who combines vision and a keen nose for innovative ideas, with apractica l view and a healthy dose of pragmatism -pu t me back on the right track whenever I lost my focus. Hans Hetsen kept an eye on the research design and crucial details. Through hisjo b at the Innovation Network he also provided a link with policy practice. Due to my colleagues at the Centre for Recreation and Tourism Studies - a much better name than the current one -an dth e fellow AIOs in 'De Hucht', Ihav e experienced my time in Wageningen as a very pleasant one. In the course of time many people left and sometimes others came in their place. One permanent factor were the 'women under 35': Birgit, Femke and Lianne. My colleagues offered not only pleasance, we also had plenty discussions and with somepeopl e Iclosel y cooperated. With Birgit Elands,Renz e Brouwer, Jan Philipsen and Wim van der Knaap I discussed the in's and out's of Lefebvres 'Production of Space'. The article with Jan Philipsen contributed significantly to the theoretical part of this thesis. Cooperation with Geoffrey Hagelaar was momentary, but sharpened my thoughts on interactive policy-making. The person in Wageningen I cooperated with the most is Rene van der Duim. Ihav e learned a lot from the projects we jointly work(ed) on and have enjoyed our trips to Costa Rica. Han's coffee - violently - helped to wake me up on many a morning when the canteen was closed. Special thanks to Tom 'Pirn' Slijkerman for the analysis of the data with all possible means: SPSS, UCINET and coloured pencils. And also for his free advice on howt ous ewallpape r gluet o improveth e substance ofshampoo . SinceI lef t Wageningen, myappreciatio n hasonl y increased for thewa y inwhic hth e Socio-spatial Analysis Group manages to deliver a good product within the university system. During mysta y in France, Iwa sa gues t at theENIT Ai n Clermont-Ferrand. Iwan tt o thank all the fellow-workers at the institute for making my stay a pleasant one. I owe special thanks to Nathalie Disez who introduced me to the institute, toprof . J-F.Mamd y for making mysta ypossible ,an dt o my 'roommate' ArmelleMaumelat . This research would not have been possible without all the people that were willing to answer my questions, to show me around in the research areas, help me out on practical matters orfill i n myquestionnaires . Iwan t to thankthe m for their help. Iwoul d liket othan k Adri van 'tVee r for makingth e maps andfigures. Th elibrarian s Gerardva n der Moolen and Wieske Meijers were always willing to extend the loan of my books for yet anotherperiod . Jeremy Rayner hascorrecte d the English. To my 'extended' family and to my friends, who kept informing when the party would be, I'm glad I can finally say: HET IS AF! I will see you tonight. Pap, mam, this book isdedicate d toyou , asa symboli c return for your support. Finally, to you, the reader. Ikno w for some of you the preface is the most appealing part of the book. It is certainly the part of any thesis that Ineve r skip.Bu t ifyo u decide totr yth erest : Ihop eyo u enjoy itan dle tm ekno wwha tyo uthin k ofit . voor mijn ouders [This strategy] would seek to carry the whole territory and the whole population forward together in aproces s which would not separate growth from development. The inevitable urbanization of society would not take place at the expense of whole sectors, nor would it exacerbate unevenness in growth or development; it would successfully transcend the opposition between town and country instead of degrading both by turning them in to an undifferentiated mass. Lefebvre, H. (1991, orig. 1974).Th eproductio n of space, p.p.55 Content Preface Content 1 Introduction 11 1.1 The countryside: in search for renewal without loss of identity 11 1.2 Standardisation and conservation in tourism development 15 1.3 Rural tourism: an interdisciplinary approach 22 2 Rural space and rural qualities 27 2.1 The European countryside: aheterogeneou s space 27 2.2 Conceptualisation of rural space 31 2.3 Rural qualities 36 2.4 Network as an analytical concept 41 2.5 Evaluation 45 3 Rural development: the role ofplac e and the rise of interactive approaches 47 3.1 The early days:exogenou s top-down approaches 47 3.2 From endogenous development to networks and interaction 52 3.3 Thepositio n of rural areas 57 3.4 Conclusion 60 4 Networks, innovation and planning 61 4.1 Networks as a means for innovation 61 4.2 Networks as an instrument for governance: characterising interactive approaches 68 4.3 Networks and rural tourism development 73 5 Anetwor k approach to rural tourism development 77 5.1 Issues addressed in the case studies 77 5.2 A contextualised analysis of networks 79 5.3 Case studies: an explorative approach 87 6 Exploring the context for rural tourism networks in the Auvergne 93 6.1 Conceptualisation of rural issues in France 95 6.2