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Over the past thirty years a large number of micro-states2 and small island economies (SIEs) around the world have attracted offshore finance and tax haven activity. Their low levels of effective taxation, minimal regulatory regimes and... more
Over the past thirty years a large number of micro-states2 and small island economies (SIEs) around the world have attracted offshore finance and tax haven activity. Their low levels of effective taxation, minimal regulatory regimes and bank secrecy made these offshore ...
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Having examined taxation, secrecy and regulation in the development of OFCs, we now engage with a fourth key factor, the role of the state, that is, the political context of the relationship between mainland state and offshore territory.... more
Having examined taxation, secrecy and regulation in the development of OFCs, we now engage with a fourth key factor, the role of the state, that is, the political context of the relationship between mainland state and offshore territory. Here we explore the nature of the special relationship between many offshore territories and mainland states as, arguably, such relationships are central to the development of offshore finance.
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In the previous chapter we examined the emergence of the Jersey OFC, analysing the five main phases in its development using the key factors. This second part of the case study examines the impact of the OFC on the island using a... more
In the previous chapter we examined the emergence of the Jersey OFC, analysing the five main phases in its development using the key factors. This second part of the case study examines the impact of the OFC on the island using a provisional impact analysis. This leads us to address the issue of whether or not Jersey was subsidised by the UK in the areas of education, health and defence. Finally we discuss whether the States of Jersey had any real alternative to encouraging offshore finance from the 1970s and the outlook for the Jersey OFC.
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This final chapter considers two issues that arise from the preceding analysis: whether the Jersey example is relevant for other jurisdictions wishing to host an OFC; and the outlook for OFCs. As we saw in Chapter 4, many Caribbean... more
This final chapter considers two issues that arise from the preceding analysis: whether the Jersey example is relevant for other jurisdictions wishing to host an OFC; and the outlook for OFCs. As we saw in Chapter 4, many Caribbean islands are currently OFCs of one type or another. Other jurisdictions have considered establishing an OFC as a development strategy, but will hosting an offshore centre result in effective economic development for a small territory or is it an unrealistic option? In short, do the benefits of hosting an OFC outweigh the costs, and even if a jurisdiction establishes one, is there room on the global playing field for such new players? First, we focus specifically on hosting OFC activities and return to the Jersey case and ask whether others can copy this example, questioning whether the key factors are replicable by other territories. The analysis then shifts to the question of whether other places should copy Jersey. We then discuss the impact of hosting a functional OFC.
Research Interests: Business and Jurisdiction
Tourism in Gili Trawangan, located off Lombok, Indonesia, appears to be moving upmarket, progressing up the resort life cycle (Butler, 1980). The destination has changed from being a backpackers’ ‘party island’ (Hampton and Hampton, 2009)... more
Tourism in Gili Trawangan, located off Lombok, Indonesia, appears to be moving upmarket, progressing up the resort life cycle (Butler, 1980). The destination has changed from being a backpackers’ ‘party island’ (Hampton and Hampton, 2009) to increasingly hosting dive tourism and more upmarket tourists. This paper reports part of a longitudinal study that began with fieldwork in the 1990s (Hampton, 1998) and was updated with more recent fieldwork in late 2011. Direct fast boat access from Bali has facilitated rapidly growing tourist arrivals and the number of dive operators has increased significantly, as has the supply of accommodation, restaurants and other facilities. The island’s coral reefs and marine resources have been under pressure from rapid tourism growth, and local responses have included forming an NGO - Gili Eco Trust – to better manage the resource (Graci, 2013). However, Indonesia’s changing political economy demonstrates a complex mix of actors and influences, with divergence between adat (traditional law) and commercial pressures, and this acts in combination with layers of governance under decentralisation. The result is that island tourism, and dive tourism in particular, is operating within a challenging and fast-changing political economy which has serious implications for future sustainability of this island destination.
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... A similar phenomenon is taking place where European divers of all abilities frequent, for example,Dahab on Egypt's Gulf of Aqaba, Page 212. Accessible Dive Tourism 185 and reportedly Eilat. There has also been a movement to bring... more
... A similar phenomenon is taking place where European divers of all abilities frequent, for example,Dahab on Egypt's Gulf of Aqaba, Page 212. Accessible Dive Tourism 185 and reportedly Eilat. There has also been a movement to bring accessible dive tourism to Aqaba, Jordan. ...
Research Interests: Tourism and Best practice
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This paper examines the growth of money laundering in conjunction with the associated development of offshore finance centers (OFCs) located in small places such as islands or microstates in the Caribbean and elsewhere. The paper then... more
This paper examines the growth of money laundering in conjunction with the associated development of offshore finance centers (OFCs) located in small places such as islands or microstates in the Caribbean and elsewhere. The paper then examines recent policy developments concerning money laundering and OFCs, such as the workings of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the regional Task Forces such as the Caribbean Task Force.
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International tourism is often perceived by LDC government planners as an engine of economic growth, but the focus is commonly mass tourism whilst ignoring backpackers. The case study of Lombok, Indonesia, indicates that the encouragement... more
International tourism is often perceived by LDC government planners as an engine of economic growth, but the focus is commonly mass tourism whilst ignoring backpackers. The case study of Lombok, Indonesia, indicates that the encouragement of backpacker tourism ...
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ABSTRACT Located in a broad Political Economy approach, this paper presents a new conceptual framework, based on Ferguson (2011) and Mosedale [2011. Thinking outside the box: Alternative political economies in tourism. In J. Mosedale... more
ABSTRACT Located in a broad Political Economy approach, this paper presents a new conceptual framework, based on Ferguson (2011) and Mosedale [2011. Thinking outside the box: Alternative political economies in tourism. In J. Mosedale (Ed.), Political economy of Tourism: A Critical perspective (pp. 93–108). Routledge], to assess the reciprocal relationship between tourism development and the power relations of the main actors within the backpacker tourism sector: backpackers; businesses catering for them; and tourism policy makers. We explore how these power relations change through the actors’ social, cultural and political embeddedness. An ethnographic multi-method approach was applied to the under-researched Latin American context with fieldwork conducted in Salento, Colombia. The analysis demonstrates that power inequalities exist concerning knowledge, financial and social power that did not seem to be diminished by backpacker tourism development. We further found that social and cultural embeddedness informed the political embeddedness of the actors. Our findings have important implications for policy makers addressing power inequalities in tourism.
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Offshore Finance Centres (OFCs) have proliferated since the 1960s and many small jurisdictions and microstates around the world now host OFCs as part of the increasing globalisation of financial capital. This paper argues that microstates... more
Offshore Finance Centres (OFCs) have proliferated since the 1960s and many small jurisdictions and microstates around the world now host OFCs as part of the increasing globalisation of financial capital. This paper argues that microstates are becoming increasing vulnerable to forces outside of their control resulting in transit crime such as money laundering and flows of illegal flight capital.
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Research Interests: Political Economy, Tourism Studies, Tourism Management, Development Studies, International Development, and 14 moreIsland Studies, Political Science, Sustainable Development, International Political Economy, Critical international political economy, Applied Economics, Sustainable Tourism Development, Small Island Developing States, The resiliency of "Small Island" states, Precarious Workers, International Tourism, Seychelles, Public Administration and Policy, and Precarious work
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Tourist arrivals have grown at more than 5% in Latin America, growing at 12% in Colombia in 2014 (UNWTO). Although little official data exists, it seems that backpacker tourism is a thriving segment in Latin America. Both the improved... more
Tourist arrivals have grown at more than 5% in Latin America, growing at 12% in Colombia in 2014 (UNWTO). Although little official data exists, it seems that backpacker tourism is a thriving segment in Latin America. Both the improved security and the improved economic situation in those countries means that more people are able to travel within Latin America, though the impacts of tourism development there have not been sufficiently explored yet. This paper introduces a new framework to analyse tourism development and its impacts on rural, local communities in Less Developed Countries (LDCs), adopting a Political Economy approach, building on Ferguson's (2011) and Mosedale's (2011) work. The new framework combines the consumption and production side of tourism, a shortcoming of the perceived dichotomy as identified by Ateljevic (2001). For a deeper understanding of the impacts of production and consumption on a local community in a rural setting, the social, cultural and po...
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Tourism research has evolved significantly since the phenomenon of tourism started to be studied by academics from the 1930s. Initial work mainly considered domestic tourism but as international tourism expanded rapidly from the 1950s,... more
Tourism research has evolved significantly since the phenomenon of tourism started to be studied by academics from the 1930s. Initial work mainly considered domestic tourism but as international tourism expanded rapidly from the 1950s, academic research turned to examine these growing international tourist flows. The paper briefly reviews the location of tourism and tourist academics within universities and the early pioneers’ work on international tourism from the 1970s exemplified by Hills (Geography), Archer (Economics) and Cohen (Sociology). The paper then examines main tourism research trends noting the growth of high level ‘systems’ type work in the 1980s such as Britton’s application of dependency theory to tourism or Leiper’s work on the international tourism system, before noting the continuing rise of managerial/business perspectives from the 1990s and the relative decline of research on geographical/spatial aspects such as resort morphology. This section ends by observing...
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Many islands host tourism and offshore finance but research tends to focus on either industry without examining the nature of the relationship(s) between these two where they co-exist. This paper examines the nature of the relationships... more
Many islands host tourism and offshore finance but research tends to focus on either industry without examining the nature of the relationship(s) between these two where they co-exist. This paper examines the nature of the relationships using a case study of the British Channel Island of Jersey. Both industries demand labour, land and capital that are frequently scarce in small islands. Given their common characteristics and, drawing lessons from Jersey, the paper then considers the nature and the dynamics of their relationship, and the issue of resource competition between the two sectors. In light of the unusual context of small polities and the political power of external actors, the paper also analyses the dynamics of the central relationship between tourism, offshore finance and the state in islands. Finally, the paper considers the overall impact of the relationship between tourism and offshore finance and how it affects the economic development trajectory of small islands.
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Although conventional interna tional tourism to Less Developed Countries has a growing literature, volunteer tourism – or more recently ‘voluntourism’ – is currently under-researched. This Working Pa per examines this growing area using... more
Although conventional interna tional tourism to Less Developed Countries has a growing literature, volunteer tourism – or more recently ‘voluntourism’ – is currently under-researched. This Working Pa per examines this growing area using case studies from two Less Developed Countries, Malaysia and Nicaragua. Students and early career prof essionals from developed c ountries travel to the less developed world on tourist visas to work as volunteers on long-term placements with either non-profit or ganisations or commercial tourism businesses. Voluntourists have been obser v d in various charitable pr ojects ranging from rural electrification to indigen ous rights or ecotourism. In addition, as expected, individual participants’ motivations ar e varied. Some volunteers see it as an affordable way of travelling in a foreign country for a longer period, some need the field experience for later careers, some use it as a legitimate way of taking time out to reconsider career c hoices, and o...
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This short report summarises the initial findings of the scoping study carried out in Ngapali Beach, Rakhine State, Myanmar, during November 2014. From this scoping study, a few initial recommendations can be offered. Ngapali beach has –... more
This short report summarises the initial findings of the scoping study carried out in Ngapali Beach, Rakhine State, Myanmar, during November 2014. From this scoping study, a few initial recommendations can be offered. Ngapali beach has – at present – a Unique Selling Point of its unspoilt beautiful beaches and low rise, unobtrusive hotel development with relatively small numbers of hotels and associated tourism infrastructure. At present it seems that the relatively low numbers of higher spending tourist in the area are having minimal negative social impacts, and significant positive impacts on the local host community. Instead of permitting unrestricted mass tourism at Ngapali, our initial findings suggest that lessons can be learnt from the case of the Seychelles and adapted for the context of coastal Myanmar. We suggest a model we call ‘Seychelles Plus’ be explored, that is, an emphasis on an upmarket resort offer of four/five star hotels plus boutique hotels combined with strong...
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Coastal tourism is growing rapidly across South-East Asia, especially in small islands. Islands and coastal areas face significant issues of how to manage the rapid growth of tourism whilst retaining economic benefits for the local host... more
Coastal tourism is growing rapidly across South-East Asia, especially in small islands. Islands and coastal areas face significant issues of how to manage the rapid growth of tourism whilst retaining economic benefits for the local host community. First, the paper sets the context and charts the scale and significance of international dive tourism, especially in less developed countries. The paper draws upon extensive fieldwork in small island destinations in Malaysia and Indonesia and explores how to research this area and the particular practicalities of fieldwork. Next the paper analyses the main socio-economic impacts of dive tourism drawing upon findings published in HaddockFraser and Hampton (2012); Daldeniz and Hampton (2013) and Hamzah and Hampton (2013) before introducing new analysis that is 'work in progress.' Finally, the paper concludes by considering lessons for other destinations in South-East Asia learning from success, and helping avoid mistakes being repeated.
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Perhentian Kecil, located off the east coast of peninsula Malaysia, is predominantly a small-scale tourism destination, specifically for backpackers and independent travellers. Against the context of an aggressive drive by the state... more
Perhentian Kecil, located off the east coast of peninsula Malaysia, is predominantly a small-scale tourism destination, specifically for backpackers and independent travellers. Against the context of an aggressive drive by the state government to remove smallscale tourism development in favour of formal and high-end resorts, this paper examines the local responses to the exogenous factors that had threatened the equilibrium, and hence sustainability, of the tourism systems on the island. The paper draws upon a longitudinal study with multiple visits over an extended period since the mid 1990s. Using insights from Resilience Theory the paper argues that this island destination is an example of non-linear change rather than conventional resort evolution. The paper also discusses how the authors - as researchers - had to realign their research framework and approach to take into consideration the growing complexities of tourism development in small island destinations.
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Myanmar (formerly Burma) is emerging from almost six decades of international isolation into a period of rapid economic growth. Following moves towards increasing democratisation since 2011, Myanmar’s tourism industry has been propelled... more
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is emerging from almost six decades of international isolation into a period of rapid economic growth. Following moves towards increasing democratisation since 2011, Myanmar’s tourism industry has been propelled from “tourism pariah” to rising “tourism star” and is experiencing an extraordinary growth in tourism arrivals with associated revenues and investment. The unique rapidity of Myanmar’s recent transition enables an examination of how contemporary forces of globalisation and neoliberalism determine the direction and mode of tourism development from its beginnings. We show how tourism is perceived by the national government as an engine for rural development, conservation and livelihood creation for poor and rural communities. We then demonstrate how this is re-shaped by a globalised tourism industry into a socially and economically exclusive model which capitalises upon weak governance and disempowered local stakeholders. We conclude with observations which may point towards a more sustainable and responsible tourism industry.
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""Backpacker tourism is now common across much of South-East Asia with key destinations such Bangkok’s Khao San Road... more
""Backpacker tourism is now common across much of South-East Asia with key destinations such Bangkok’s Khao San Road or the Perhentian islands of Malaysia attracting significant numbers of young tourists. The region hosts the longest-established, and arguably largest, backpacker trail in terms of numbers travelling. This paper - based upon fieldwork in the region since the mid 1990s - examines this niche form of international tourism and begins by introducing the scale and scope of backpacker tourism. First, the origins are discussed, particularly the overland trail to India in the 1960s and 1970s, and the link to the subsequent emergence of backpackers in the 1980s and their diffusion across South-East Asia. The main part of the paper considers the economic development impacts of hosting backpacker tourism in South-East Asia including economic leakage and linkages, employment, local ownership and participation. Brief case studies of the local development of backpacker tourism are presented from Indonesia and Malaysia, before the paper ends by examining recent changes to the backpacker market, the implications for host countries in South-East Asia, and further research challenges.""
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""Tourism is a key sector in many islands and small states, and often drives economic growth by contributing to GDP,... more
""Tourism is a key sector in many islands and small states, and often drives economic growth by contributing to GDP, government revenues, and employment. However, since de Kadt (1979) asked whether tourism was a ‘passport to development’, debate has moved from focussing on economic impacts, to broader discussion of long-term sustainability and environmental concerns including climate change (Graci and Dodds, 2010). Nevertheless, international arrivals and receipts continued to rise year on year and tourism was seen as an expanding sector suitable for island and small state development. 2009 saw the first significant fall in international arrivals since 1950 as the global recession began to be felt (UNWTO, 2010). Continuing economic turbulence has significantly slowed international tourism’s growth but the results are spatially uneven. This paper examines key issues now facing island and small state tourism, with reflections drawn from policy-relevant research. It explores the key issues of tourism in times of economic uncertainty; its relationships with other industries; product diversification; and responsible/sustainable tourism.""