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COMPETITIVENESS AND TOURISM
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 43 (2013) 651–661
653
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 43, pp. 653–655, 2013 Printed in Great Britain
COMPETITIVENESS AND TOURISM Edited by Geoffrey Crouch and J. Brent Ritchie. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited (www.e-elgar.co.uk/) 2012. Vol. I: xx + 497 pp. Vol. II: xi + 565 pp. Hbk $610. USD 978 1 84980 927 6. Ce´cile Clergeau University of Angers, France This excellent anthology of previously-published papers on destination competitiveness is divided into two volumes, the first of which is further divided in five parts that present empirical studies of tourism competitiveness. The papers in the first volume help the reader understand that competition in tourism cannot be conceptualized in terms used for manufacturing industry; for example, the papers by B. Seyoum, H.P. Gray, and J.D. Palmer clearly emphasize the distinctiveness of tourism as a service. Tourism researchers are challenged to develop their own concepts or to adapt existing ones in order to build the foundations of a major research field. Part two of the first volume is devoted to various models of tourism competitiveness, among which are papers by the editors as well as authors including L. Dwyer and C. Kim, E. Heath, and E. Bordas. These authors explore various aspects of destination management: evaluating, modeling, organizing, planning, managing, and marketing. It is not possible to mention every author’s name included in this collection, but the reader will have access to a complete overview of the most important works. The second volume contains 13 papers, including pioneering works by B.R. Stevens, and G.I. Crouch as well as more recent ones by P. Forsyth and L. Dwyer. Priority is given to economic approaches in the first part of volume 2, while papers in the second half address sustainable development. These papers are very good but dated, published originally from 2000 to 2003. This left this reviewer a bit disappointed. More recent research would have been preferable. The latter half of the second volume is more interesting: a series of case studies that discuss models, analyze various international destinations, and give substance to theories previously discussed. After reading these two volumes, two questions remain. The first is: what about the tourist? G. Crouch and J.R. Ritchie offer predominantly a supply-side, industrial, view of tourism. It is not sufficient to simply say that tourism is a service, researchers have to take this into account in their work. G.I. Crouch and J.R. Ritchie have made a wonderful work of transposing the concepts of industrial organization into tourism industry through adapting M. Porter’s concepts to the specificity of tourist destinations. Nevertheless, while reading their selection of papers it is clear they focus on the supply side of tourism and forget (or ignore) the role of tourists and the experience of visiting a destination. The selection of articles for these two volumes clearly reflects this industrial, supply-sided approach. The management of service systems has been explored for years and many researchers have shown that customers contribute to service delivery. Ironically, however, the concept of co-production is hardly used in the analyses of tourism and, in particular, in approaches to local processes (Clergeau & Violier, 2011).
654
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 43 (2013) 651–661
Using Porter’s approach of a sustainable competitive advantage rooted in local resources and productive network, one can assume that competitiveness is a matter of local processes and one should not forget the role of tourist in these processes. Furthermore, marketing research views consumption as the production of an experience. Following J. Baudrillard (1970), consumption has become an activity of producing signs, sense, and symbols; consumers do not consume products but, rather, the symbolic value of objects. The consumer is seen as an emotional individual looking for sensible experiences (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). Many researchers such as B. Pine and J. Gilmore (1999) emphasize the necessity of the active participation of consumers in the production of an experience. For instance, tourist resources do not exist independently but in relation to the representations of individual tourists and societies. A recent illustration is the touristification of the Millau viaduct, a creation of tourists against the will of the architect, of local actors, and many local inhabitants. A second example can be seen in destination boundaries and the geographic definition of a destination. It follows naturally from the tourists’ participation in the production process that the limits of the destination are not defined a priori by local actors or by organizations looking to harness the productive process for the benefit of a particular region. Rather, tourists themselves define them, based on their intentionality. This definition depends on the representation they make of the space in which they develop their re-creative project. For example, the French Riviera is a destination for Chinese tourists but not for French tourists. For the French tourists, one speaks of Cannes or Nice. If we want to build strong tourism theories, we cannot translate models and concepts from industrial economics to tourism without specifying the role the tourists have on the destination, on its resource, and on the production of tourists’ experience. Another question is about time, sustainability, and evolution. The theoretical antecedents of all the research presented in this collection are static, yet in a hypercompetitive world, competition is more Shumpeterian than price-dependent. In other words, competition depends on innovation, quality, and dynamic. This is far from pricing and price elasticity of demand perspectives. Books such as Competitiveness and Tourism help document the state of the art and provide focus on what have been done and what remains to be done. After reading the selected papers, one can see merit in an evolutionary theory of destination change (Nelson & Winter, 1982). A resource-based approach of tourist destinations misses an answer to the questions of the creation and the evolution of resources, the creation and the evolution of practices, the creation and the evolution of firms and networks, and so on. This static approach, common to all the papers in this anthology, is a weakness in much tourism research, which this book echoes. Ce´cile Clergeau: Department of Tourism, University of Angers, 49004 Angers Cedex 01, France.
REFERENCES Baudrillard, J. (1970). La socie´te´ de consommation. Paris: Gallimard. Clergeau C. & Violier, P. (2011). Information system in network dynamics of tourism cluster: To a revival of tourism paradigm. 1st Sino-European International Tourism Forum, University of Ningbo, Fenghua, China. 15–17 Juin. Holbrook, M., & Hirschmann, E. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasy, feelings, and fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2), 132–140. Nelson, R., & Winter, S. (1982). An evolutionary theory of economic change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 43 (2013) 651–661
655
Pine, B., & Gilmore, J. (1999). The experience economy: Work is theatre and every business is a stage. Harvard: HBS Press. Assigned 25 February 2013. Submitted 15 April 2013. Accepted 25 April 2013. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2013.05.012
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 43, pp. 655–657, 2013 Printed in Great Britain
CRUISE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: HOSPITALITY PERSPECTIVES (2nd EDITION) By Phillip Gibson. Routledge (http://www.routledge.com/) 2012, ix + 312 pp. (index, tables, photographs). Price $52.34 Pbk. ISBN: 978 0 415 699532. James F. Petrick Texas A&M University, USA PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW The cruise industry is arguably the fastest growing sector in tourism, with an estimated annual passenger growth of 7.5% since 1980 (CLIA, 2012). This growth is showing no sign of slowing down, with a total of 24 new ships providing approximately 29,000 beds entering the market in 2013 and 2014 (CLIA, 2014). Due to this expansion, the industry needs well-trained employees now and in the future. The author states in the forward (p. i) that the text ‘‘provides a comprehensive and contextualized overview of hospitality services for the cruise industry. As well as providing a background to the cruise industry, it also looks deeper into the management issues, providing a practical guide for both students and professionals alike.’’ The book consists of 12 chapters and includes very broad discussion of the cruise industry as well as specific information related to various positions within the hotel and restaurant divisions of cruise operations. Each chapter was written to stand-alone, allowing the reader to either cumulate a thorough indoctrination into hospitality practices on board a ship by reading the entire text, or to generate knowledge within specific areas by reading single chapters. Chapter 1 provides definition and scope of the industry as well as some history and current supply information. Included in this chapter are five excellent descriptions of different types of ships afloat. As with the rest of the text, it includes a European slant to the information provided. With 68.0% of all Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) member cruise line passengers being from North America, and only 23.6% being from Europe (CLIA, 2012) it is believed that more of a North American perspective might have been beneficial. Additionally, little to no attention is given to the Asian market, which many cruise experts expect to grow exponentially in the coming decades. Chapter 2 describes sales perspectives from a global perspective while briefly describing various cruise offerings. It would have been helpful had this chapter
653
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 43, pp. 653–655, 2013 Printed in Great Britain
COMPETITIVENESS AND TOURISM Edited by Geoffrey Crouch and J. Brent Ritchie. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited (www.e-elgar.co.uk/) 2012. Vol. I: xx + 497 pp. Vol. II: xi + 565 pp. Hbk $610. USD 978 1 84980 927 6. Ce´cile Clergeau University of Angers, France This excellent anthology of previously-published papers on destination competitiveness is divided into two volumes, the first of which is further divided in five parts that present empirical studies of tourism competitiveness. The papers in the first volume help the reader understand that competition in tourism cannot be conceptualized in terms used for manufacturing industry; for example, the papers by B. Seyoum, H.P. Gray, and J.D. Palmer clearly emphasize the distinctiveness of tourism as a service. Tourism researchers are challenged to develop their own concepts or to adapt existing ones in order to build the foundations of a major research field. Part two of the first volume is devoted to various models of tourism competitiveness, among which are papers by the editors as well as authors including L. Dwyer and C. Kim, E. Heath, and E. Bordas. These authors explore various aspects of destination management: evaluating, modeling, organizing, planning, managing, and marketing. It is not possible to mention every author’s name included in this collection, but the reader will have access to a complete overview of the most important works. The second volume contains 13 papers, including pioneering works by B.R. Stevens, and G.I. Crouch as well as more recent ones by P. Forsyth and L. Dwyer. Priority is given to economic approaches in the first part of volume 2, while papers in the second half address sustainable development. These papers are very good but dated, published originally from 2000 to 2003. This left this reviewer a bit disappointed. More recent research would have been preferable. The latter half of the second volume is more interesting: a series of case studies that discuss models, analyze various international destinations, and give substance to theories previously discussed. After reading these two volumes, two questions remain. The first is: what about the tourist? G. Crouch and J.R. Ritchie offer predominantly a supply-side, industrial, view of tourism. It is not sufficient to simply say that tourism is a service, researchers have to take this into account in their work. G.I. Crouch and J.R. Ritchie have made a wonderful work of transposing the concepts of industrial organization into tourism industry through adapting M. Porter’s concepts to the specificity of tourist destinations. Nevertheless, while reading their selection of papers it is clear they focus on the supply side of tourism and forget (or ignore) the role of tourists and the experience of visiting a destination. The selection of articles for these two volumes clearly reflects this industrial, supply-sided approach. The management of service systems has been explored for years and many researchers have shown that customers contribute to service delivery. Ironically, however, the concept of co-production is hardly used in the analyses of tourism and, in particular, in approaches to local processes (Clergeau & Violier, 2011).
654
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 43 (2013) 651–661
Using Porter’s approach of a sustainable competitive advantage rooted in local resources and productive network, one can assume that competitiveness is a matter of local processes and one should not forget the role of tourist in these processes. Furthermore, marketing research views consumption as the production of an experience. Following J. Baudrillard (1970), consumption has become an activity of producing signs, sense, and symbols; consumers do not consume products but, rather, the symbolic value of objects. The consumer is seen as an emotional individual looking for sensible experiences (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). Many researchers such as B. Pine and J. Gilmore (1999) emphasize the necessity of the active participation of consumers in the production of an experience. For instance, tourist resources do not exist independently but in relation to the representations of individual tourists and societies. A recent illustration is the touristification of the Millau viaduct, a creation of tourists against the will of the architect, of local actors, and many local inhabitants. A second example can be seen in destination boundaries and the geographic definition of a destination. It follows naturally from the tourists’ participation in the production process that the limits of the destination are not defined a priori by local actors or by organizations looking to harness the productive process for the benefit of a particular region. Rather, tourists themselves define them, based on their intentionality. This definition depends on the representation they make of the space in which they develop their re-creative project. For example, the French Riviera is a destination for Chinese tourists but not for French tourists. For the French tourists, one speaks of Cannes or Nice. If we want to build strong tourism theories, we cannot translate models and concepts from industrial economics to tourism without specifying the role the tourists have on the destination, on its resource, and on the production of tourists’ experience. Another question is about time, sustainability, and evolution. The theoretical antecedents of all the research presented in this collection are static, yet in a hypercompetitive world, competition is more Shumpeterian than price-dependent. In other words, competition depends on innovation, quality, and dynamic. This is far from pricing and price elasticity of demand perspectives. Books such as Competitiveness and Tourism help document the state of the art and provide focus on what have been done and what remains to be done. After reading the selected papers, one can see merit in an evolutionary theory of destination change (Nelson & Winter, 1982). A resource-based approach of tourist destinations misses an answer to the questions of the creation and the evolution of resources, the creation and the evolution of practices, the creation and the evolution of firms and networks, and so on. This static approach, common to all the papers in this anthology, is a weakness in much tourism research, which this book echoes. Ce´cile Clergeau: Department of Tourism, University of Angers, 49004 Angers Cedex 01, France.
REFERENCES Baudrillard, J. (1970). La socie´te´ de consommation. Paris: Gallimard. Clergeau C. & Violier, P. (2011). Information system in network dynamics of tourism cluster: To a revival of tourism paradigm. 1st Sino-European International Tourism Forum, University of Ningbo, Fenghua, China. 15–17 Juin. Holbrook, M., & Hirschmann, E. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasy, feelings, and fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2), 132–140. Nelson, R., & Winter, S. (1982). An evolutionary theory of economic change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 43 (2013) 651–661
655
Pine, B., & Gilmore, J. (1999). The experience economy: Work is theatre and every business is a stage. Harvard: HBS Press. Assigned 25 February 2013. Submitted 15 April 2013. Accepted 25 April 2013. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2013.05.012
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 43, pp. 655–657, 2013 Printed in Great Britain
CRUISE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: HOSPITALITY PERSPECTIVES (2nd EDITION) By Phillip Gibson. Routledge (http://www.routledge.com/) 2012, ix + 312 pp. (index, tables, photographs). Price $52.34 Pbk. ISBN: 978 0 415 699532. James F. Petrick Texas A&M University, USA PUBLICATIONS IN REVIEW The cruise industry is arguably the fastest growing sector in tourism, with an estimated annual passenger growth of 7.5% since 1980 (CLIA, 2012). This growth is showing no sign of slowing down, with a total of 24 new ships providing approximately 29,000 beds entering the market in 2013 and 2014 (CLIA, 2014). Due to this expansion, the industry needs well-trained employees now and in the future. The author states in the forward (p. i) that the text ‘‘provides a comprehensive and contextualized overview of hospitality services for the cruise industry. As well as providing a background to the cruise industry, it also looks deeper into the management issues, providing a practical guide for both students and professionals alike.’’ The book consists of 12 chapters and includes very broad discussion of the cruise industry as well as specific information related to various positions within the hotel and restaurant divisions of cruise operations. Each chapter was written to stand-alone, allowing the reader to either cumulate a thorough indoctrination into hospitality practices on board a ship by reading the entire text, or to generate knowledge within specific areas by reading single chapters. Chapter 1 provides definition and scope of the industry as well as some history and current supply information. Included in this chapter are five excellent descriptions of different types of ships afloat. As with the rest of the text, it includes a European slant to the information provided. With 68.0% of all Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) member cruise line passengers being from North America, and only 23.6% being from Europe (CLIA, 2012) it is believed that more of a North American perspective might have been beneficial. Additionally, little to no attention is given to the Asian market, which many cruise experts expect to grow exponentially in the coming decades. Chapter 2 describes sales perspectives from a global perspective while briefly describing various cruise offerings. It would have been helpful had this chapter