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Centre for Tourism Policy Studies

Sustainable Tourism in Local Economies (STILE)

The Sustainable Tourism in Local Economies [STILE] Special Interest Group
Founded by Dr. Marina Novelli in 2002, STILE’s mission is to generate new knowledge on ways in which tourism can play a key role in ‘good change’ by stimulating local economies, conserving the environment, developing people and positively impacting on lives.

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Globally, tourism is increasingly being defined as a sector that may contribute to sustainable development. International organisations, such as the World Bank and the UN World Tourism Organisation, national and regional bodies, like Ministries and regional development agencies, third sector organisations such as NGOs and volunteering associations, see tourism as an important tool for regional development, cross-sector integration and socio-economic development. Tourism is seen as a motor for local socio-economic diversification and regeneration. However, despite these high expectations, research shows that tourism as a development tool offers many complications.

Foreign investors and other dominant economic factors may take the lead in the development process by pushing aside local actors and by overruling their activities. Leakages and unequal distribution of tourism revenues may widen the gap between rich and poor regions. Local populations may be increasingly faced with dilemmas produced by host/guest encounters and as tourists visit indigenous villages the consumption of tourism spaces, places and culture becomes the centre of debates on for example authenticity, modernization and identity.

Tourism in natural environments poses a variety of concerns in terms of the way the tourism consumption process takes place, especially in the presence of climate change challenges. Large hotels, new airports and roads, more means of transportation, increasing numbers of visitors, etc. have undeniably had an impact on the quality of the landscape, nature and environment and their management.

Within the literature on tourism and international development, sustainable tourism has been defined in a variety of ways and the attempt to improve the way the consumptive process takes place has led to the identification of a number of tourism development approaches (i.e. community based, responsible, ethical, pro-poor tourism) with variable level of success.

Development priorities are reshuffled in relation to political agendas, local populations’ needs, levels of power, democracy, social justice and inclusion, protection of local cultural meanings, preservation of natural resources, fair trade principles, ethics, poverty reduction strategies, corporate social responsibility and climate change, which all are dimensions of sustainability at the core of the UN Millennium Development Goals and Rio+ Agendas.

The question is whether it is possible to reach development through tourism while simultaneously taking into account the various dimensions of sustainability, which may vary according to the perspective adopted (e.g. global, international, national, regional, local, developed vs. developing world, emerging destinations, etc).

In the context of a growing critical interest into the role of tourism in development, STILE is involved in researching this from many perspectives. For example:

  • Tourism and the ‘new’ sustainability debates (i.e. the post-2015 UN Millennium Development Goals, the Rio+ Agenda)
  • The global aid agenda and tourism (i.e. capacity building at grassroots level, international agencies’ practices of development, human resource development)
  • The impact of travel philanthropy in its multiple forms (i.e. gifts’ giving, volunteering)
  • Tourism and the climate change agenda (i.e. the prioritization challenge for developing nations, adaptation strategies)
  • Tourism and development in fragile states (i.e. post-conflict states)
  • Tourism, diversification and regeneration processes and practices
  • Leisure, Tourism and Global Citizenship

Most recent STILE’s Research and Consultancy:

Commonwealth Secretariat
July 2012-Feb 2013 Customer Services Skills Training Programme for Namibia’s Tourism Industry. Including a train the trainers programme in 3 destinations in Namibia and collaborative work with the Namibia Tourism Board.

Ministry of Tourism and Culture (Gambia - MTOC)
May 2012 Facilitation of a participatory workshop on Sectors’ Service Standards involving some 67 destination’s stakeholders (i.e. Hotels’ General Managers, MTOC, Gambia Tourism Board, Tourism Security Unit, Immigration, Ground Operators) and drafting of a set of Service Standard Criteria to become the National Tourism and Hospitality Service Standard.

Aga Khan University (Nairobi, Kenya)
August 2012 Study identifying and assessing PG and Research Programmes in Sub-Sahara Africa (with Burns, P.) ($7,500 bursary).

Aga Khan University (Nairobi, Kenya)
2011 Study identifying and assessing key knowledge and skill gaps in the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the developing world (with Burns, P.)

World Bank
2011 Restructuring The Gambia Hotel School into a National Tourism Training Institute – Business Plan.
2010 Review of Swaziland Tourism Sector and drawing of Tourism Policy Note.
2009 Restructuring The Gambia Hotel School into a National Tourism Training Institute. Document presented to the National Assembly in 2010 became Bill in December 2011.

UNIDO
2010 COAST Pan-African Projects (Nigeria) – Ecotourism and Environmental Management Training Need Analysis for Badagry, Lagos State.
2010 COAST Pan-African Projects (The Gambia) – Ecotourism and Environmental Management Training Need Analysis.

UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
2009 Short Course Development in Tourism and International Cooperation for Development.

UNESCO
2009 Revitalization of the Nigerian Technical Vocational Education Curricula on Tourism Leisure and Hospitality. Project in collaboration with the Nigerian Board of Technical Education.
2004 Training Needs Analysis for the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Sectors. Project in collaboration with the Nigerian Board of Technical Education.

EU
2008 EU Asia-Invest, ‘Asian Tour-Capacity Building Training provision’, Kathmandu, Nepal 22-26 September.
2008 EU Asia-Invest ‘Asian-Tour: Study of tourism state of the art in the Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam’.

South East Development Agency (SEEDA)
2003-2004 ‘Healthy Lifestyle Tourism Phase I’ for the establishment of a tourism cluster based in East Sussex.
2004-2005 ‘Healthy Lifestyle Tourism Phase II’ to enable policy implementation and marketing activities related to the formed tourism cluster.

Ministry of Environment (Italy)
2004-2005 “Progetto Parchi” aimed at the realisation of a monograph on the Gargano National Park (with Novelli G.).

Ministry of University (Italy)
2005-2007 PRIN Turismo “Tourism Development and territorial changes. Urban Areas, ecosystems and regional challenges” collaborative research with the Geography Department/University of Catania and the Department of Geographical Science/University of Bari, Italy.
2002-2004 “Tourism and Economic Growth: Local Factors and Territorial Competitiveness” collaborative research with the University La Sapienza of Rome and the Department of Geographical Science/University of Bari, Italy.