Date of Award
2006
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
School
School of Marketing, Tourism and Leisure
Faculty
Faculty of Business and Law
First Supervisor
Professor Ross Dowling
Abstract
Tourism does not operate in a predictable and mechanistic environment and is influenced by unpredictable circumstances. Influences include underlying values and perceptions keeping the system unpredictable and dynamic. Tourism that utilises natural resources is exposed to the additional unpredictability of natural changes and activities and/or decisions of other stakeholders. Tourism research generally adopts reductionist approaches and has not effectively understood tourism as a stakeholder within a complex system of stakeholders. Reductionist approaches have led to interpretations of sustainable tourism development being highly focused and sector specific limiting understanding of the complex systems in which tourism operates and resulting in narrow perspectives. To understand underlying elements influencing the system, a new paradigm is required.
Recommended Citation
McDonald, J. R. (2006). Understanding sustainable tourism development from a complex systems perspective: A case study of the Swan River, Western Australia. Edith Cowan University. Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/82