Tourism and the rural culture economy in New Zealand: insights from the inner rural bays, Banks Peninsula

Abstract

During the 1980s in New Zealand, government-led bouts of economic restructuring destabilised the traditional economic foundations upon which many rural communities survived. Since then, and to evade ensuing socio-economic decline, many rural communities have sought to strengthen their local economies by developing tourism.

This thesis demonstrates that increasing rural tourism development in New Zealand can be understood as part of Christopher Ray's (1998) theory of emerging rural culture economies. The first stage of the study links Ray's (1998) theory and Typology of the (Rural) Culture Economy to theory found in tourism literature. As a result, four distinct dimensions of rural tourism development are identified and described: the commodification of rural culture, identity construction and rural place promotion, local initiatives to support rural tourism growth, and the community response to tourism. The link also leads to the conclusion that tourism is an ideal strategy for rural re-development because it relies on the use of a community's local/cultural resources-physical, symbolic and human - 'local' rudiments that ensure the social and economic benefits of tourism stay fixed in the community where the exchange between host and tourist takes place.

The second stage of the study uses qualitative research methods to examine Ray's (1998) rural culture economy theory and typology at one rural location where tourism has manifest: the Inner Rural Bays, Banks Peninsula (New Zealand). Results show that Ray's (1998) theory is: (1) a useful theoretical framework for rural tourism research and (2) a concise explanation for the current rise of rural tourism. Evidence suggests, however, that Ray's (1998) concept of the rural culture economy might be constrained to the early stages of rural tourism development when control is firmly in the hands of local people. Based on the results, a Typology of the Rural Tourism Culture Economy is devised. It is proposed that the Typology will be useful for individuals, groups or communities interested in forming a local rural tourism industry.