Guest editorial

Citation

Webster, C. and Ivanov, S. (2016), "Guest editorial", Journal of Tourism Futures, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 107-108. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-06-2016-0017

Political ideas and developments in future tourism

Welcome to “Political Ideas and Developments in Future Tourism,” a special issue of the Journal of Tourism Futures. The concept upon which this edition of the journal rests is that political ideas will play a role in tourism in the future. This is an interesting and timely topic, as we see in general that politics and political ideas are being taken increasingly seriously in the tourism literature.

We feel that the topic is critical to be written about, as we find it hard to differentiate between the economic and the political, as they are often intertwined and nearly indistinguishable. For example, it is hard to distinguish whether a concept such as “free trade” is a political construct or an economic one. We also think that political changes, as well as economic development will have an impact on tourism in the future. So while a concentration of capital in developed countries and the expansion of China as an economy are economic events or developments, reactions to these events or developments are likely to be political or at least based on political ideas, such as that wealth should be shared equally or that nations are important. Ideas are important because they allow us to conceptualize the reality around us and political ideas are linked with entire frameworks that inform policy, policy that can and will have an impact on the tourism industry.

In the article “Political ideologies as shapers of future tourism development” Craig Webster and Stanislav Ivanov investigate something that is not frequently mentioned in tourism research: political ideologies. The authors outline the major political ideologies and then illustrate the relationships between the prevailing political ideologies that exist and their relationship with tourism. The authors then look into how the ideologies have played a role in terms of informing tourism development in the past in various countries/regions (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Scandinavia, Russia, USA, China, Japan, Indonesia, North Korea), showing that political ideas have played a role in terms of guiding political forces in terms of how they respond to the challenges of tourism. The authors also elaborate on how political ideas will likely play a role in shaping tourism in the future.

“The independence referendum in Scotland: A tourism perspective on different political options” by Brian Hay deals with a more simple political idea, nationalism. While most mainstream social scientists view nationalism as something that evolved following the French Revolution, the idea is a political idea that is not necessarily linked with deeper political systems of thought (political ideologies) although some argue that nationalism is an ideology. The political idea of an independent Scotland and a referendum on it is something that is political but has deep implications for tourism in Scotland. In this piece, the author analyses the tourism implications of the Scottish secessionist movement. With the rise of secessionist concepts in Western countries, this is a timely and important topic.

In “New opportunities for future tourism after 25 years of political and socioeconomic transformation – foresight in Poland’s tourism planning” Matylda Awedyk and Agnieszka Niezgoda discuss the Polish experience with tourism planning. The authors investigate the political changes that occurred in Poland in 1989 and how these led to a change in the ways that the authorities have looked into the political process of tourism planning. The authors give insight into how a major political change led to substantial changes in the way that political authorities conceptualize the role of tourism in the economy and society.

A different take on political ideas and future tourism is found in “The Geopolitics of Future Tourism Development in an Expanding E.U.” In this piece, Peter Singleton observes that the political idea of the European Union and its expansion plays a positive role in terms of expanding the tourism potential of member states of the European Union. The author stresses that the political idea of the European Union and its investment in infrastructure and association with peace have led to a positive environment in which the tourism industry can develop.

In “Ethno-nationalism and Impediments to Cooperation in Tourism in a Post-Settlement Cyprus,” Craig Webster, David Jacobson and Kelsey Shapiro look into the long-standing political and ethnic division of Cyprus. The research is based on a field study to learn about the attitudes of Cypriots toward cooperation with other Cypriots in the tourism industry in a Cyprus with a political solution. The research shows how Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the hospitality industry view the future of the hospitality industry in Cyprus following a political solution. In this piece there is more than a little bit of politics, as ethno-nationalism has split the country for decades and the thought of a political solution and the results for the tourism industry are important.

Ian Yeoman, Una McMahon-Beattie, and Carol Wheatley’s “Keeping it Pure – A Pedagogical Case Study of Teaching Soft Systems Methodology in Scenario and Policy Analysis” is a very different article, explaining how a pedagogical approach can be implemented. It is political, as it relates to tourism planning and the political forces in the process of planning. What is interesting about this piece is that it illustrates how a different methodology can be implemented in the classroom to incorporate political actors in the planning process of tourism.

All in all, this special edition offers a great deal to readers, introducing them to the role of political ideas in future tourism. For some of the authors, the political ideas that they explore are sophisticated systems of thought (ideologies) but for some, the political ideas are simple concepts such as ethno-nationalism or the value judgment of what role the state should play in the tourism planning process. We hope that this edition is helpful and useful to many who read it, as it shows that tourism is influenced by political ideas, whether the political ideas are as superficial as ethno-nationalism, as deep and sophisticated as Marxism or liberalism, or as pragmatic and technocratic as the expansion process of the European Union. We hope that the idea that politics will play an essential and enduring role in tourism development will be appreciated by readers and cause them to reflect upon the role of political ideas as well as political actors in tourism and not just treat tourism as an economic thing that is influenced by rational business decisions divorced from value judgments that are and always have been political in nature.