‘Charm sells’: The role of a community action group in preserving a place image in Akaroa, New Zealand

Abstract

This chapter has shown that to focus on explicit ‘tourism policy’ and the economic processes of destination image formation and promotion is flawed. In the case of Akaroa, the preservation and strengthening of the destination’s historic appeal emerged out of a more general concern to preserve the built heritage and streetscape of the township. The insights presented here highlight the cultural and political nature of destination image formation and contestation and reveals that economic hegemony is not the only, or necessarily the most important, source of power in debates over the most appropriate destination image for a tourist destination. In the case of the ANTN, the cultural capital and linguistic ability of the organisation’s key spokepeople played a crucial role in the success of their campaign. It has highlighted also, however, the importance of the use of the rhetoric of tourism by the ANTN to ensure that their goals could be achieved, at a time when the district’s long term wellbeing was increasingly reliant on the visitor industry. While the motivation of the Akaroa National Treasure Network to see the built heritage of Akaroa preserved was not primarily tourist related, their activities and efforts have ensured that Akaroa’s built charm maintains a prominent position in the promotion of Akaroa as a tourist resort into the twentyfirst century.