The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism: a Focus on Promotion and Economic Development
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The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism: A Focus on Promotion and Economic Development Fathimath Amira A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Tourism 2009 New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) Primary Supervisor: Dr. Simon Milne Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ i List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ iv Glossary ......................................................................................................................................... v Attestation of authorship ............................................................................................................... vi Ethics approval.............................................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims and objectives of the research .................................................................................... 4 1.3 Organisation of the thesis .................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 7 2.1 Globalisation and tourism .................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Mass tourism and homogenisation of products and services ............................................. 12 2.3 Small island developing states (SIDS) and globalisation .................................................. 17 2.4 Sustainable tourism ............................................................................................................ 21 2.5 The role of food in tourism ................................................................................................ 22 2.6 Globalisation, local food and sustainable tourism ............................................................. 33 2.7 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .................................. 42 3.1 Methodological approach .................................................................................................. 42 3.2 Grounded theory ................................................................................................................ 45 3.3 Case studies ....................................................................................................................... 46 3.4 Multiple methods and triangulation ................................................................................... 48 3.5 Secondary data ................................................................................................................... 50 3.6 Primary data ....................................................................................................................... 51 3.6.1 Content and discourse analyses ............................................................................... 51 3.6.2 Surveys .................................................................................................................... 55 3.7 Data validity and reliability ............................................................................................... 59 3.8 Survey characteristics ........................................................................................................ 61 CHAPTER FOUR: THE MALDIVES CASE ...................................................................... 64 4.1 Geography and climate ...................................................................................................... 64 4.2 People, history, culture ...................................................................................................... 64 4.2.1 Population ................................................................................................................ 65 4.3 Economy ........................................................................................................................... 67 4.4 Agriculture ......................................................................................................................... 71 4.5 Fishing ........................................................................................................................... 72 4.6 Tourism development ....................................................................................................... 73 4.7 Tourist arrival trends ......................................................................................................... 79 4.8 Maldivian cuisine .............................................................................................................. 83 i CHAPTER FIVE: THE CURRENT ROLE OF FOOD IN TOURISM .............................................................. 89 5.1 Role of food in tourism promotion .................................................................................... 89 5.2 The use of local food in tourism ...................................................................................... 113 5.3 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 120 CHAPTER SIX: DEVELOPING LINKS BETWEEN LOCAL FOOD AND TOURISM ............................... 121 6.1 Prospects for tourism and food linkage ........................................................................... 121 6.2 Constraints ....................................................................................................................... 129 6.3 Overcoming constraints to linkage development ............................................................. 134 6.3.1 Prospective foods and events ............................................................................... 141 6.3.2.Events as a vehicle for food linkages..................................................................... 155 6.4 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 156 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................. 157 7.1 Implications for future research ....................................................................................... 163 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 165 Appendix 1 - Operators’ questionnaire ...................................................................................... 183 Appendix 2 - Expert Opinion Survey Questionnaire ................................................................. 192 Appendix 3 - Participant Information Sheet .............................................................................. 195 Appendix 4 - Ethics Approval ................................................................................................... 198 ii List of Figures Figure 1.1 Map of the Republic of Maldives ............................................................................ 5 Figure 2.1 The hypothetical evolution of a tourist area .......................................................... 16 Figure 2.2 Isle of Arran food trail webpage ............................................................................ 31 Figure 2.3 Seafood trail advertisement (NZ Marine Farming Assn.’s website) ..................... 32 Figure 2.4 The contribution of local food to sustainable development .................................. 36 Figure 3.1 Methodological triangulation ................................................................................ 49 Figure 3.2 Capacity of responding businesses ........................................................................ 61 Figure 3.3 Respondent duration of employment in business/Maldives tourism industry ....... 62 Figure 4.1 Age structure ......................................................................................................... 66 Figure 4.2 Population growth rate .......................................................................................... 67 Figure 4.3 Thilafalhu Lagoon and Thilafushi Island .............................................................. 68 Figure 4.4 GDP and GDP growth rates .................................................................................. 69 Figure 4.5 Employment of locals and expatriates by industry ............................................... 70 Figure 4.6 Purpose of visit 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