Tourism System in Molokai - Report Example

Tourism System in Moloka’i Introduction Sustainable Development Mathieson and Wall1982 discussed the complex nature of tourism and the various economic, physical as well as social impacts. United Nations declared the year 2002 as the ‘International Year of Ecotourism’ with an aim of consolidating all other diversified definitions and interpretations of Sustainability in tourism. World Commission on Environment and Development refers to sustainable development as the kind of development with future stake holders in mind. The report underlined the various responsibilities which should be taken by the current generation in view of preserving future generations. Sustainable development incorporates the various economic activities since they affect the nature of tourist attraction centres since tourism is directly dependent upon the level of maintenance done on the natural environment. Moloka’i is one of the small rural Hawaiian Island divided into three district regions which includes; mountains and valleys of East Moloka’I, the central plain and also the open terrain of West Moloka’i. The island’s population as per the year 2000 was approximated at 7000, these being predominantly Native Hawaiian (Hawaii Business Research Library, 2007). Before 18th Century, the natives lived in the valleys of East Moloka’I where they depended on water and land resources for rich living (McGregor, 2007). However, arrival of westerners in late 18th Century brought crucial changes to the native’s social life, natives were known as Kanaka Maoli. The island of Moloka’I became the cultural center (Kipuka) during Hawai’s political and economic hard times. The cultural Kїpuka were known to be cultural communities of Kua’ãina who lived in the pre-colonial era. Geographically Moloka’I is an isolated land and identified by researchers as suitable for industrial agricultural production. However, during social upheaval in Hawai’i in the nineteenth century, investors from Honolulu purchased part of the land utilizing it as Moloka’i Ranch (McGregor 2007). The Ranch was later acquired by Guoco whose current primary activity is based on real estate development. The social, economic and political inclination within Moloka’i was shaped by Hawaiian Homelands Commission under the influence of US federal government. Homesteaders who settled on the island survive economically through leasing of their land ownership to commercial ventures from outside the island. Current sustenance economy is based on market economy despite the presence of few amenities. Many natives of the island are also involved in hunting, fishing as well as gardening. Moloka’i Island was opened up as tourist destination by neoliberal globalization based on real estate and leisure industry investments. Guoco is one of the re-known transnational corporations with its operations on the island, the company invests in real estate and industrial tourism. However, Moloka’i community has adopted tourism activities as an opportunity towards potential economic development assisting in developing health and welfare of the people as well as ecosystem (McGregor, 2006). The community is negative towards any changes to their lifestyle based on real estate development. However, they are conversant with importance of active participation within market economy. Various concepts are used for the purpose of sustainability on the island, these includes Kanaka Maoli concepts advocating for love and care for the land which is used as Maloka’i anchor on economic and political goals. Such concepts require all stakeholders within tourism industry to take stewardship role in utilizing land and natural resources. Sustainability can be defined through different approaches namely thermodynamic, capital-based and human approaches. Thermodynamic approach looks at sustainable development as development confined within the limits of earth’s carrying capacity. Capital-based approach views the environment as a form of capital asset which can be increased through replenishing and at the same time decreased through consumption. Human approach involves the process of considering sustainability as means of improving people’s lives (Hopwood, 2005). Science and technology can also be shaped by globalization where there is growing demand for interconnectedness within Maloka’i’s biophysical systems, as well as improved communications through internet. Application of new mobile technology by use of phones could help create the possibility of using Just-in-Time services. Such technological adjustments have created possibility of using e-tourism services with greater expectations. Consequently, emergence of new technology would lead to creation of new software capable of handling rapidly growing hardware technologies (Kruk and Grzonkowski, 2006). Development of quality attraction centers in Maloka’i requires use of upgraded technology capable of producing modern designs and at the same time maintaining a sustainable environment. The developmental process focuses on scrutinizing available resources and ultimately advice natives and investors on the preferred methods capable of maintaining aesthetic value of the natural environment. The Island’s background, practices and communal set up form the core of Island’s existence. There is need to effectively administer the Island’s populace, community and academic resources. Effective management will portray the government’s ability to initiate exclusive strategies for growth. The political dispensation needs to be improved and corresponding reorganization of the societal set up achieved. Tourism industry has developed in Hawaii for approximately the last fifty years. Superior geographical location of Maloka’i makes it easier for tourists to perform their activities owing to free trade as well as favorable business policies. The open door policy creates easy access promoting increase in the number of inbound tourists within Maloka’i. However the rate of development of tourism industry may slow down in due to recession and terrorist activities. Great competition has since existed from other rising destinations, creating the need of aggressive tourist marketing activities all over the world. There is widespread long-haul growth spear headed by high economic growth, rejuvenation of confidence in tourists especially those of American origin and aggressive marketing activities. Affordable travels connecting the Hawaiian highland to America has made it attractive and inexpensive for most tourists. Development of infrastructure such as well established water ways improves visitor experiences within long and short-haul market environments. Frequent visits by tourists can be encouraged by the introduction of Individual Visiting Scheme (IVS), which enables individuals to travel freely without specialized visa. However, all other key tourist destinations within Hawaii revealed a strong growth over the last few years. Owing to such competition from neighboring countries, Moloka’i requires continuous up-grade within its facilities and services including quality branding. This calls for strategic marketing plans capable of addressing various changing trends within global markets. The strategies should be flexible enough for the purposes of accommodating both native and international tourists. Research on Moloka’i rich resources focus on tourism development and the processes of developing and sustaining various tourist destinations. However, further research reveals that few models focus on the processes of developing tourism within Hawaiian Islands. Necessity lies not in focusing on numbers but in explaining the major development processes which should be adopted. This requires deep understanding on the nature of growth and the various changes within such tourist destination areas. The whole issue involves tourism industry’s capabilities as well as those within public sector since they provide necessary infrastructure and at the same time have major responsibilities towards environmental conservation. The theme of the evolution of destinations is one of the major theme’s focusing on the development processes within such tourist destinations. The destination life cycle model is used majorly for the purposes of developing tourist destinations. The model assists in formalizing some recognized processes from literature (Prosser 1995). According to Prosser (1995), three main factors contribute towards enduring attraction of the concepts within destination life cycle. The model goes further to provide understandable conceptual framework where theoretical approaches cannot be relied on. According to Butler’s (1980), destination life cycle model, the sale of a product is considered to proceed slowly in the preliminary stages, and then followed by rapid growth rate which at times stabilizes and at times decline leading to creation of what is referred to as a basic asymptotic curve. This infers that, basically visitors come in small numbers at the initial stages majorly due to lack of crucial domains such as accessibility, facilities as well as local knowledge. Development of facilities as well as knowledge can encourage growth within Moloka’i’s tourism industry. The level and nature of marketing will to a large extent determine popularity of such tourist destination but would ultimately decline depending on the carrying capacity. The carrying capacity of such areas can be determined through environmental factors, infrastructure and social factors. Environmental degradation resulting from over-use would eventually have negative impact on visitors to the Island. The exploration stage is marked by small number of non-local tourists attracted due destination’s uniqueness in nature and culture. This makes the level of contact amongst individuals as well as facilities high, creating high significance levels to the tourists and at times the local residents. At some stage the natives would get involved in providing facilities primarily for visitors, strengthening the relationship between natives and visitors. Such cooperation would lead to major marketing activities such as advertising meant to attract more tourists within a defined market environment. Tourist seasons would be preceded by various adjustments within the social pattern of the natives who are deeply involved in economic activities. At some point the government should assist in making tourist travel arrangements such as upgrading access roads including expansion of pedestrian paths. Then there is also development stage within the model which represents a well-defined tourist market area. This will however be characterized by decline in local participation in the control of development activities. This is since upgraded facilities with modern designs would be provided by private firms enabling high accommodation rates. Facilities would be upgraded to accommodate both cultural and natural attractions and at the same time giving room for man-made imported facilities. Such development would change the physical appearance of the Moloka’i Island with either approval or disapproval of the local community. Consolidation stage is characterized by the decline in the rate of tourists visiting an area. The stage also reveals that the total number of visitors is greater than the population of the local residents making tourism one of the major parts of the specified area’s economy. Marketing is the major activity within this stage where various efforts would be made for the purposes of extending visiting seasons and marketing area. The stagnation stage on the other hand represents the situation where the full capacity of visitors are attained owing to full utilization of the available resources leading to the creation of environmental, social as well as economic problems. Available facilities would be fully utilized leading to repeat reliance on the same forms of traffic and social facilities hence strain in maintenance of the level of visitation. The various forms and areas of attraction would have been overwhelmed by the artificial facilities making distortion within the natural geographic environment. This encourages major change towards organized groups of tourists. Stability stage may be reinforced by renewed growth and re-development to enhance the required complete change within the various attraction points in Moloka’i island. Such changes would involve adjustments to the carrying capacity levels and at the same time demand perpetual protection of the available resources. Then the decline stage is characterized by the areas inability to compete with other modernized new attraction centers leading to a decline in the market. Despite previous discussions, one important aspect should be recognized within this area which entails the change of attitude in the planning process involving tourist areas. Development of such areas should be kept within predetermined capacity limits with upgrade being made and maintained for longer period of time to cater for more visitors. Tourists’ activities despite being a major foreign exchange earner still accounts for smaller percentage of Moloka’i’s economy. This is attributed to over-reliance on the property sector especially real estate; diversity can only be realized by investing in tourist products. In order to utilize the tourism industry, there is need for the government to consider upgrading tourist attraction centres as well as improving the status of the available infrastructure within Moloka’i. Creation of new attraction and heritage centres and development would contribute much to the increasing GDP of Hawaii. This would enhance the international image of the cities, placing them as some of the key tourist destination centre’s owing to their vibrant nature(Kruk and Davis, 2006). Major activities providing excitement and visual interest would be developed within the active waterfront. Some activities like cargo handling and road construction have proved to be detrimental to the lucrative tourism industry along the coastline. The waterfront should be utilized for such activities as cycling, fishing, strolling amongst other activities. The design of the waterfront should consider upgrading its form based on the waterfront setting. The various building heights and spaces should consider human movements, where there is room for easy usage as well as interactions (Terri 2004, 10-44). References Butler. (1980).The concept of a tourist-area cycle of evolution and Implications for management. The Canadian Geographer, (24): 5-12. Hawaii Business Research Library, 2007. Maui County Data Book 2007. http://www.hbrl sbdc.org/mcdb.htm. Hopwood, B. 2005. Sustainable Development: Mapping Different Approaches. Sustainable Development, (13), pp. 38-52. McGregor, D. 2007. Nā Kuaāina: Living Hawaiian culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Molokai Enterprise Community, A lasting settlement: Ho`i Hou, return of native lands on Moloka`i. Mike May Production, Inc. SanNicolas, C. 2010. Services in dispute fall on Molokai Properties Maui News. http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/540021/Services-in-dispute-fall-on- Molokai-Properties.html Read More