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Exporting paradise: tourism and development in Mexico
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Tourism Management 24 (2003) 597–601
Book reviews Exporting paradise: tourism and development in Mexico Michael Clancy (Ed.); Pergamon, Oxford, ISBN 0-08043715X Exporting Paradise is a monograph by Michael Clancy listed on Pergamon’s Tourism Social Science Series of publications. This book concentrated on topics related to the development pattern of tourism and its contributions to Third World countries using Mexico as the subject for discussion. The seven chapters of the book kicked off with the discussion of the relationship between tourism and development. A more focused theoretical illustration on export-led economic growth, industrial transformation and more importantly the role of government was provided in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 switched the scene to the discussion of Mexico’s contextual setting and its development history. This chapter provided a strong background for the discerning of its tourism development policy. Chapter 4 then moved onto the discussion of roles and strategic position of the Mexico government in pursuing tourism development. Chapters 5 and 6 were dedicated to the discussion of airline and hotel development, respectively. Chapter 7, as the closing chapter, served as a concluding remark of the monograph, which warm up the discussions of the book and reinstate the arguments of the author. The author seriously questioned the appropriateness of export-led strategies as a tool for development of the Third World economies. He carefully investigated and blended export promotion and development into one entity and consolidated it into the objectives of his study. The author of this monograph has two objectives: to present a working model to conceptualize the results of export promotion; and to utilize the model to document the growth and dynamics of tourism in Mexico. The author also briefly discussed the significance of stage theories of destination lifecycle on development and strongly argued that the stage theories actually supporting state interventions through various mode rather than leaving growth to the market. The author also argued with strong supports for the importance of tourism to the Third World and the development of the Third World economies. Although this mongraph is neither the only nor the first work on the subject issue, it is definitely an important piece of doi:10.1016/S0261-5177(03)00011-6
publication that widens our scope and vision in assessing the value of tourism in developing the Third World. It contributed to the body of knowledge on development, which emerge from a commodity industrial level to a service/information economy level. The author discussed the various roles the Mexico state government had assumed in the development of tourism. As a conclusion, the active participation of the state is an essential element for what Mexico has accomplished. He even argued that tourism promotion should be planned and directed from the public sphere. The two chapters on the development of the hotel and airline industry further investigated the state’s interest, policy and level of intervention into the tourism industry. Although it did not provide absolute answers to the questions related to state intervention, it provided insights on factors affecting the development and strategic position of the government. The author’s discussion on state-led tourism development mainly rested on a business-economic prospective, which could be broadened to include discussions of social, environmental and political considerations that are argued as strong arguments for state interventions. This, however, should be regarded as the delimitation of the book rather than a weakness. Although the book focused its discussion with the case of Mexico, its arguments, analysis and concluding remarks are actually applicable to other Third World countries, especially in the mist of the mega trend of globalization. The contributions of the book, therefore, extended beyond its geographical boundary of the research subject. This monograph is a good reference book for tourism and economic students, researchers, academia and policy makers. The argument is clearly presented in a step-by-step follow through approach, which enables readers to follow the discussion easily, and is well supported with evidences. It is well written and highly readable. It is interesting and comprehensible even if the reader has no knowledge about Mexico, tourism and economic development. Paul Leung Kin Hang Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong E-mail address: [email protected]
Tourism Management 24 (2003) 597–601
Book reviews Exporting paradise: tourism and development in Mexico Michael Clancy (Ed.); Pergamon, Oxford, ISBN 0-08043715X Exporting Paradise is a monograph by Michael Clancy listed on Pergamon’s Tourism Social Science Series of publications. This book concentrated on topics related to the development pattern of tourism and its contributions to Third World countries using Mexico as the subject for discussion. The seven chapters of the book kicked off with the discussion of the relationship between tourism and development. A more focused theoretical illustration on export-led economic growth, industrial transformation and more importantly the role of government was provided in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 switched the scene to the discussion of Mexico’s contextual setting and its development history. This chapter provided a strong background for the discerning of its tourism development policy. Chapter 4 then moved onto the discussion of roles and strategic position of the Mexico government in pursuing tourism development. Chapters 5 and 6 were dedicated to the discussion of airline and hotel development, respectively. Chapter 7, as the closing chapter, served as a concluding remark of the monograph, which warm up the discussions of the book and reinstate the arguments of the author. The author seriously questioned the appropriateness of export-led strategies as a tool for development of the Third World economies. He carefully investigated and blended export promotion and development into one entity and consolidated it into the objectives of his study. The author of this monograph has two objectives: to present a working model to conceptualize the results of export promotion; and to utilize the model to document the growth and dynamics of tourism in Mexico. The author also briefly discussed the significance of stage theories of destination lifecycle on development and strongly argued that the stage theories actually supporting state interventions through various mode rather than leaving growth to the market. The author also argued with strong supports for the importance of tourism to the Third World and the development of the Third World economies. Although this mongraph is neither the only nor the first work on the subject issue, it is definitely an important piece of doi:10.1016/S0261-5177(03)00011-6
publication that widens our scope and vision in assessing the value of tourism in developing the Third World. It contributed to the body of knowledge on development, which emerge from a commodity industrial level to a service/information economy level. The author discussed the various roles the Mexico state government had assumed in the development of tourism. As a conclusion, the active participation of the state is an essential element for what Mexico has accomplished. He even argued that tourism promotion should be planned and directed from the public sphere. The two chapters on the development of the hotel and airline industry further investigated the state’s interest, policy and level of intervention into the tourism industry. Although it did not provide absolute answers to the questions related to state intervention, it provided insights on factors affecting the development and strategic position of the government. The author’s discussion on state-led tourism development mainly rested on a business-economic prospective, which could be broadened to include discussions of social, environmental and political considerations that are argued as strong arguments for state interventions. This, however, should be regarded as the delimitation of the book rather than a weakness. Although the book focused its discussion with the case of Mexico, its arguments, analysis and concluding remarks are actually applicable to other Third World countries, especially in the mist of the mega trend of globalization. The contributions of the book, therefore, extended beyond its geographical boundary of the research subject. This monograph is a good reference book for tourism and economic students, researchers, academia and policy makers. The argument is clearly presented in a step-by-step follow through approach, which enables readers to follow the discussion easily, and is well supported with evidences. It is well written and highly readable. It is interesting and comprehensible even if the reader has no knowledge about Mexico, tourism and economic development. Paul Leung Kin Hang Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong E-mail address: [email protected]