<strong>Beyond</strong> <strong>Greening</strong>: Reflections on <strong>Tourism</strong> in the Rio-Process | Positioningpaperconsensus that decentralization is not only an important condition to achieve sustainablesocio-economic development, but also a fundamental ingredient for good governance.The principles of good governance, however, are not new. Good governance means thatauthorities and their institutions are participatory, consensus oriented, accountable,transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follow the rule oflaw. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into accountand that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is alsoresponsive to the present and future needs of society. 41Good governance can also be instrumental in providing services that respond more closely tothe needs of the local population. In brief, decentralization, which has come to occupy aprominent role in the debate on sustainable human development, is viewed as an importantmeans to achieve a more democratic and participatory approach to governance.There is a myth that tourism is one of the sectors that need high level investment, skills andprofessionalism. So there is a claim that there has to be a better system of governance whichshould include the private sector (industry) that ensures the effectiveness and high level skillsin tourism. But in reality the implications of this biased governance badly affect thedestination communities. This lack of proper governance in tourism undermines progresstowards sustainability. Democratic governance and proper regulations in tourism areindispensable in order to protect the interests of local people, their resources and theirlivelihoods in the destinations.Sumesh Mangalassery is a tourism researcher and social activist from India. He is one of the foundingmembers of Kabani – the other direction, a research, networking and campaign organisation working ontourism issues in India.The Role of <strong>Tourism</strong> Corporations: The Neoliberal Attack on Local andGlobal DemocracyBy Joan BuadesAs from the mid-80s, the boom in the global hotel industry has occurred in parallel with anunprecedented expansion of financial capitalism. The point of connection, or synergy,between the two has been the creation of a huge tourism offer in the form of business clusterswhich have added a wide range of incentives to the traditional hotel model (from condo hotelsto golf courses, marinas and casinos). For those controlling the speculative investment fundsthat characterised turbo-capitalism until the crisis of autumn 2008, the positive social image oftourism as an "industry without chimneys" and a "passport to development" – especially in thecase of multipurpose resorts with a variety of residential options – has permitted the murkysource of much of their capital to be laundered whilst at the same time yielding quick profits.41www.unescap.org/pdd/prs/ProjectActivities/Ongoing/gg/governance.asp, retrieved on 29/5/201262
<strong>Beyond</strong> <strong>Greening</strong>: Reflections on <strong>Tourism</strong> in the Rio-Process | PositioningpaperBlack holes of the international economyBy participating in strategic alliances and employing all kinds of financial investment tactics,the less scrupulous hotel industry TNCs have acquired extraordinary investment liquiditywhich has helped to boost growth in the scale of their operations on a level that would havebeen unimaginable just a few years ago (Buades, 2006, p. 41-58). These mutual benefits, or"win-win strategies" in the neo-liberal jargon, have focused on routing much of the flow ofcapital and finance through a dense network of tax havens (from the City of London to theCayman Islands via the New York Stock Exchange) which function as a slush fund for theworld-domineering TNCs, over and above governments, laws and borders. In fact, there is nohotel industry TNC (or TNC in any other important economic sector) in existence that doesnot have multiple ghost societies domiciled in these black holes of the international economy,since they are beyond the reach of public control and transparency (Chavagneux & Palan,2007; Palan, Murphy & Chavagneux, 2010; www.lemonde.fr, July 9, 2008).A further characteristic of tourism TNCs is their indifference to the democratic or dictatorialnature of political regimes when deciding their locations. As an extraordinarily unregulatedindustry, it can indulge its preference for investing in states which do not prompt "regimeuncertainty", such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Indonesia and Morocco, rather thanin "classical" democratic systems. As was the case with the Balearic Islands and Spain, whichwere used as a testing ground from 1955 to the late 70s, the modus operandi is to manipulate apowerful network of local "friends" in order to ensure a safe scenario for investmentopportunities and the repatriation of profits abroad, a scenario which includes low wages inunskilled jobs and public sector support in order to obtain improved transport infrastructures(mainly airports, ports and motorways) and electricity, water and waste services. The goal is tocreate large-scale business clusters aimed at constant quantitative growth. Partnerships withlocal elites generate corruption and enable the wealth generated by tourism to be divertedabroad unhindered (Buades, 2009).Public money to benefit TNCsTNCs want the state to act as the facilitator of their projects, allocating the maximum possibleamount of public money to infrastructures in order to sustain constant expansion in terms ofaccommodation, and taking an active role in marketing their products through multi-millioninternational publicity campaigns. Naturally, the use of staggering sums of public money tofurther the interests of TNCs is detrimental to investment in human development in thesocieties which theoretically benefit. Wherever airports and motorways spring up, watertreatment plants and incinerators appear and fabulous sums are squandered on promotingholidays organised by private companies, investment in basic and university education, healthand social welfare usually decreases or simply disappears altogether, as is the case of socialhousing (Buades, 2006, p. 67-119).This lack of structural transparency is closely related to the acceptance of the so-calledneoliberal "Washington Consensus" and, above all, to the use of tax havens to facilitatefinancial machinations. In January 2000, the 140 member states of the World TradeOrganization produced the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This agreementcreated a new framework which supplants national economic, environmental or social lawsand regulations and is entirely favourable to TNC investments of any kind in any country. Themost striking aspect is that key concepts such as "environmental sustainability", "distributionof wealth", "fiscal transparency," "environmental conservation" or "participation of localcommunities" do not enter the agreement's lexicon at any point. The impact of the GATS onsuch an internationalised sector as tourism has been devastating, as it converts the TNCs intocompetitors with the same rights as any local company or initiative. Consequently, these63