the role of tourism in natural resource management in the okavango ...

ecoming more inclined towards 'do-it-yourself or self-catering holidays. In the USA,
the pattern was somewhat different, showing a notable decline in the traditional two­
week break, and the growing popularity of more frequent but shorter weekend
breaks (Chon and Singh, 1995; Shaw and Williams, 1997).
However, mass tourism, and the domestic tourist spaces of modernity had not
disappeared, but rather relocated to the Mediterranean coast, particularly Spain, for
the European market, and Latin America and the Caribbean for the North American
market (Chant, 1992; Gayle and Goodrich, 1993; Priestly, 1995). Regardless of
national or even regional differences, the overall trend showed greater variation in
the pattern of holiday consumption. In particular, the increasing popularity of short
off-season breaks, and the rise of new urban-based forms of tourism, led to a
distinct move away from the mass provision of domestic standard holidays into more
fragmented and diversified markets (Meethan, 2001).
In short, within the developed economies the tourist spaces of modernity were under
an increasing number of threats. Competition was no longer between resorts within
a domestic market, but between home resorts and international destinations. In
addition, a further threat was posed by the post-industrial cities and regions
developing urban and heritage tourism (Meethan, 2001).
3.2.4 Revitalising Urban Space
The industrial downturn which the manufacturing regions and localities of the
developed economies began experiencing from the late 1970s meant that new
forms of investment and employment had to be found, and the growing tourism and
leisure market began to be viewed as a sector capable of generating economic
growth. The need for local and regional economies to diversify, due to the above
mentioned reasons, gave rise to the development of new tourist spaces, primarily
based on urban heritage attractions (Law, 1993; Judd, 1995; Page, 1995; Meethan,
1996; Judd and Fainstein, 1999). Even though many of the larger cities had always
attracted tourists, the biggest obstacles were those of perception and image. As
holidays were traditionally taken away from the centres of industrialisation, the divide
between work and leisure space created through the differentiation of modernity was
as much conceptual and symbolic as it was actual (Meethan, 2001).
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