Spatial Strategies for Destinations Used for a Sustainable Tourism Class

1. Chapter 9: Spatial Strategies
for Destinations
Harold Sowards
Joshua Fisher

2. Introduction
• Although accreditation and other quality control mechanisms for
implementing either mode f sustainable tourism are not yet well
articulated at the destination level, it is still possible to identify
specific types of strategies that contribute to this goal
• Purpose: Outline Sustainable Tourism strategies that are broadly
spatial or geographic in character

3. Frontstage and Backstage
• Front regions- performances in social establishments are made in
front of customers
• Back regions- performers retire to recuperate and prepare for future
performances
• Front stage- Accommodate tourists
• Back stage- everyday lives of local residents are give priority

4. Stages of these regions
• Stage 1- Unapologetically contrived performance areas
• Stage 2- Frontstages decorated with objects from the backstage (shopping villages)
• Stage 3- Frontstages organized to appear like backstages
• Stage 4- Backstages that are regularly opened to tourists, basically a frontstage/backstage hybrid
• Stage 5- Areas where tourists are allowed only occasional and privileged access
• Stage 6- “Pure”, tourists normally encountered are business related
• Periodic Frontstage- serve as backstage at some points, but mainly as frontstage during peak
times
• Mobile frontstage- tour bus/taxi
• Mobile Backstage- local transportation
• The roads vary between frontstage/backstage/hybrid depending on location and other factors

5. • Distinctions should be implemented in an informal/temporary or
spontaneous manner especially during the informal early stages of
the destination life cycle
• Unclear designated backstage demarcations increase the risk of cross-
cultural understanding, confrontation and vigilantism

6. Sustainability implications
• Local residents can cope better with the demands and impacts of tourism if
the brunt of the activity is confined to designated frontstage locations
where strategies are implemented to moderate the impacts so that DAT or
SMT outcomes are achieved
• Sanctuary Factor- elements of the local culture is commodified for tourists
within frontstage leaving the backstage as an area where the traditional
and authentic culture can be practiced and preserved beyond the
conventional tourist gaze and where local residents can retreat and
recuperate after their exposure to tourists in the frontstage.
• Intrusions by alternative tourists have high potential for negative
sociocultural consequences

7. Example
• Giza Plateau
• The Gov. recognizes the area as a major tourist attraction- want to establish
a controlled frontstage where activities and land uses not conductive to
heritage preservation and visitor satisfaction are prohibited
• Area is seen as an informal shantytown for poor Cairo residents operating
informal tourism-oriented businesses
• Middle class Cairo visitors think of the area as an urban site that satisfies
their own leisure and recreation needs
• Mutual antagonism among all three (Gov., lower class, middle class)

8. Implications for Indicators
• Include the percentage of the destination occupied by frontstage and backstage
(and their sub-stages)
• Stability of these distributions –change in the area occupied by each category
• Measure of the distribution and adjacency of the stages should also be included
(Conflict if Stage 1 shares boundary with Stage 6)
• Relevant indicator: Measure the length of such boundaries within a destination
and the degree to which this has increased/decreased over a period of time
• Physical nature of boundary
• Large wall (eye sore) vs Dense tree buffer zone (not intrusive or displeasing)
• Frontstage and backstage has different indicators and benchmarks

9. Carrying Capacity
• Carrying capacity- The amount of tourism activity that can be
accommodated without incurring serious harm to a destination
• There is ecological/economic/social carrying capacities
• How much use is too much?

10. LAC and Carrying Capacity
• LAC-limits of acceptable change
• Emphasizes the values that are deemed worthy of protection and
then focuses on ways of providing this protection
• How much change is acceptable?
• How much use is therefore too much?
• Considered to be a carrying capacity framework

11. Fixed carrying capacity
• Premise for backstage: Anything more than minimal tourism change is
undesirable
• Fixed carrying capacity- the level and mode of tourism activity maintained
below the critical carrying capacity threshold range of the destination
regardless of the actual level of tourism demand
• Supply side focus – this is what the destination is deemed to be capable of
supporting under these circumstances
1. Fragile, undisturbed natural environment/culture
2. Carrying capacity unknown
3. Resources can’t accommodate the intensification or expansion of
tourism
4. Residents opposed to intensification

12. Flexible Carrying Capacity
• Frontstage spaces find increase in the level of tourism desirable
• Strategies should gradually allow an increase in the critical carrying capacity threshold range so
that higher levels of tourism activities can follow
• Demand driven
• Visitation/Intensification curve should follow the threshold curve so that the conditions are
already in place to cope with the increased demand at the time that more visitors arrive
• Alternative (Reactive): Raise the threshold range in response to increased visitation, coping
methods not in place
• Appropriate in:
1. Heavily modified/urbanized destinations with a weak sustainability approach
2. Confidence in projected carrying capacity associated with intensification
3. Resources are available to invest in coping methods
4. Local residents/stakeholders support SMT intensification

13. Violations of frontstage/backstage distinctions
• Aerial intrusions- caused by the overpass of a tourism aircraft
• Visual intrusions
• Gaze In model- tourisms positioned in the frontstage who take
pictures/gawk at the residents within the backstage
• Gaze out model- residents in the backstage are exposed to the frontstage
• Aural intrusions- unwelcomed noises carried out by tourism activity in the
frontstage
• Olfactory intrusions- unwanted odors and fumes generated by tourism
activities

14. Development Standards
• Development/Performance Standards- legal restrictions that regulate
a physical or measurable aspect of development
• Means for a community to mandate a physical characteristic of a
development meet certain standards and that they don’t generate
certain measurable impacts
• Helps an area adhere to the frontstage/backstage designation and
help realize DAT/SMT options
• Public sector can enforce sustainable tourism practices in the private
sector

15. Development Density controls
• Density-number of accommodation units per hectare
• 12-25 : Very low
Indicate: Cottage type development or low rise multiple unit structures
surrounded by a large amount of open space
• 25-75 : Low to medium
Two-storey block buildings or multi-storey structures surrounded by
open space
• 75-150 :Higher
Four-storey block buildings
• 150+ : High
High-rise strips that characterize intensively developed tourism cities

16. Height Restriction
• Increased height indicates increased obtrusiveness in the cultural
landscape
• Not an indicator of unsustainability in tourism cities
• However, in Rural resorts the negative impact of high-rise on the viewscape
is evidence
• Caribbean's limit the height of beachfront hotels to 3 stories so trees can
hide the hotel skyline
• Urban settings implement height restrictions to preserve the skyline
• Some places the motivation isn’t landscaped related, it is based on the lack
of infrastructural or road capacity to cope with the volume of use

17. Building Footprint
• Cumulative Footprint of all buildings expressed by FAR
• Floor Area Ratio- the area of all floors of all buildings on a site divided
by the area of that site
• Indicator only if you take into account the actual configuration of the
floor space
• Site coverage- the amount of parcel occupied by buildings as seen
from the air
Low- property can retain a large amount of open space that can be
used as a park or Nature preservation

18. Setbacks
• Setbacks- minimum distances required between landscape features
• These vary based on locations
• High tide mark- Amount of open space that must be maintained between hotel
buildings and the beach
• Beach setbacks reduce likelihood of erosion and light pollution, improve long
term financial sustainability of resorts by reducing probability of high damage
caused by storms, provide a sense of seclusion and can lead to inconvenience and
dissatisfaction of hotel customers too far from the beach
• Setbacks commonly used to protect watersheds and water quality and aquatic
recreational experiences by maintaining distance between buildings and
streams/lakes
• Urban settings, setbacks are used to create buffer zones between buildings and
public roads/sidewalks

19. Building Standards
• Energy efficiency
• Storing/Disposing of liquid waste in a non-polluting way
• Reducing glare from light pollution
• Cultural sustainability- standards requiring conformity to vernacular
architectural norms and use of complementary paint colors and
building materials

20. Landscaping
• Maintenance of natural contours, drainage networks and wetlands
• Retention of tree cover or other natural vegetation on open spaces and especially on
sensitive sites
• Avoidance/Minimization of pesticides/herbicide/fertilizer
• Preference of native trees/shrubs/grasses
• Naturalization
• Construction of berms, earthen embankments to provide sound and physical barriers
between potentially incompatible land uses
• Elevated wooden walkways in sensitive wetland areas
• Site softening- type of development standard whereby heavily degraded open spaces left
over from the construction of parking lots, roads, buildings, etc are naturalized and
restored through re-contouring and the planting of native flora

21. Signage
• Signs facilitate sustainability by providing information that fosters appropriate
tourist behaviors including identifying frontstage/backstage areas
• Inappropriate signs are distracting and substantially degrades the aesthetics of
smaller communities and rural areas in particular
• Standards: Size, number, shape, color, location, content, illumination and height
• Problem: Tourists need signs and they wouldn’t be exposed to the information on
them if they weren’t there
• Solution: Standards must be met while preserving the effectiveness of signs as
conveyers of strategically important information
• Above ground utility structures are also diminishing to the aesthetic qualities of
the landscape and thus explains the reason they are now required to buried

22. Noise Regulation
• Sound muffling landscape measures
• Standards restricting decibel levels
• Hours in which given levels of noise can be produced and are applied
to attractions
• Reducing the level of aircraft related noise has started to progress
• Small progress in personal recreation vehicles/buses because it is
difficult to prohibit concentrations of machines that collectively
violate local noise standards

23. Public access
• Some places require that the public be denied access to certain highly
sensitive public places, but it is vital to preserve and facilitate community
access to other strategic public spaces in order to maintain the goodwill of
residents towards tourism
• Caribbean destinations require public access corridors to the beach to be
provided at regular intervals
• Who should benefit and who should suffer to provide these things?
• Allemannsratt- Swedish concept meaning everyman’s right, private owned
land opened up many different types of public recreation as long as they
are undertaken in a responsible manner

24. Zoning and Districting
• Zoning-regulations that demarcate specific areas for different types of land
uses and the development standards to be applied within each land use
zone
• Confines certain types of land use and activity to specific areas and thus
recognizes spaces that fulfill frontstage/backstage functions at all levels
• Backstage- Residential/Industrial
• Stage 4- evident in residential zones that allow for the establishment of
guesthouses, bed and breakfast establishments
• Frontstage tourism designations are extremely diverse but usually combine
a type of use with an intensity of use

25. Example –Resort Municipality of Whistler
• Zoning bylaw that attempts to minimize the environmental and
sociocultural impacts of tourism on the community
• 6 tourist accommodation zones

26. Protected area zoning
• Land use within an individual protected area is largely determined by its IUNC designation
• Multiple mandates
• Zoning systems are commonly implemented by protected area authorities in order to minimize negative
environmental impacts and stakeholder conflicts that potentially arise from these diverse demands
• Wilderness zones- Strict Nature Reserve and Wilderness areas of the IUCN
• Environmental backstage- intrusions by tourists and other visitors are minimized
• Nature Environment zones accommodate compatible recreation related structures represents a
frontstage/backstage hybrid
• Recreation and Park Service zones- sustainable recreational and support related activities are emphasized
reveal frontstage intentions
• Restoration Zones- areas where priority is given to the proactive long term rehabilitation of natural habitat
• Buffer zones- established in adjoining areas in a “social fence” to minimize encroachment into the protected
area
• Cultural zones- protect areas where traditional cultural rights or ceremonies are exercised

27. Districting
• Districting- the formal delineation of an area with special attributes,
such as a historical urban neighborhood or a scenic rural landscape
• Goals: Historical preservation, urban renewal, protection of culture,
environmental remediation and encouragement and containment of
tourism
• Districts imposed over existing zones and conform to their
management strategies
• Specially designated districts usually have their own administration
structure and are eligible for special funding
• Control of access is a major issue in urban historic districts
• Traffic regulations

28. Redevelopment
• Aka Revitalization, Renewal, Regeneration
• Necessary if an area wants to go from UMT to SMT
• Redevelopment- removal or renovation of environmentally or
socioculturally unsustainable structures and features and their
replacement by land uses that embody the principles of sustainable
tourism
• Embraces public/private partnerships since reconstruction is usually in the
private sector
• Stimulates tourism, revitalizes downtown, significant amount of
direct/indirect employment, cultural/recreational activities for local
residents

29. Vieux Carre
• This 90 block section of New Orleans is an example of inner city
tourism related districting
• All improvements must be approved by the Vieux Carre Commission
• Goal: Protect the district’s colonial French architectural heritage
• Buidling materials and design, paint type and color, height, sidewalks
and signage
• Influenced by micro-zoning
• Problems: Dealing with tourism fluctuation during Mardi Gras

30. PDR agreements• The purchase of environmentally or culturally sensitive property and its specific designation as a public protected area is
one effected way a government can pursue environmental sustainability
• Problem: Absence of funds to carry out the purchase, managing the land, unwillingness of managers to sell their land
Can be solved by expropriation but that causes problems
• Purchase of development right or PDR agreements- involve the payment of a negotiated sum to a landowner in exchange
for permanent deed restrictions on the land uses and activities that are allowed on that land, which is retained as the
private property of the existing landowner.
• Operative principle is that the payment represents compensation for the decline in property value that is caused by the
stipulated restrictions which are usually intended to remain in effect for perpetuity
• Variations are also possible so that a smaller payment might be involved in exchange for increasing the minimum allowable
lot size from 1 to 10 acres
• Conservation/Agricultural easements- rural land that is retained as natural habitat or farmland
• Land trusts are often established as non-governmental bodies empowered to accumulate and disseminate funds and
otherwise monitor and manage PDR agreements within a given jurisdiction
• Funds are often required through tax-deductible donations
• American Farmland Trust – 400000 hectares of farmland preserved since 1980
• Loss of farmland to urban sprawl has negative implications for the pursuit of sustainable tourism in destinations that
depend on rural amenity of the cultural landscape

31. Boulder Co., Colorado
• Exemplary PDR agreements having entered such arrangements on
more than 8000 hectares of farmland and 245 properties since the
mid 1970s
• Another 10000 hectares have been acquired by the county and leased
back to farmers
• PDR agreements taken on non-agricultural land in order to contain
urban sprawl and preserve the rural character of the local landscape
• $135 million have been spent on PDR agreements in Boulder Co. with
the money coming from voter approved increases in the county sales
tax

32. Trade offs
• Trade off- quid pro quo agreements in which the mutual interests of the relevant public and private sectors
are advanced through compromise agreements that deviate from the strict interpretation of existing
regulations and other laws
• Receiving area- one that can cope with a higher density
• Sending area- an environmentally sensitive site
• Transfer of development rights (TDR) agreements- a developer might be allowed a higher than allowed
density of construction in one area in exchange for allowing another parcel to be set aside as a conservation
easement
• Advantage of TDR over PDR are no-payment options are possible, because the developer recoups the loss of
revenue from the conservation easement area through the higher revenues gained from the greater number
of units allowed in the higher density area
• Bidding process if several developers interested in the same receiving area sites
• Gov. effectively delimits sending and receiving areas between with the TDR exchanges can be made
• Ease of understanding and provision of adequate incentives for property owners in the sending areas to sell
their development rights are keys to success
• Also important that the sending areas are subject to real development pressures

33. Mitigation strategies
• An agency agrees to or is required to make compensation for
development related damages incurred in one site by engaging in
environmental or cultural restoration at another site
• Example: Smithsonian Institute in 2003 had to fund the restoration of
44 hectares of the Manassas battlefield to its Civil War-era condition
in order to compensate for the bog destroyed in the construction of
its National Air and Space Museum annex at a nearby location

34. Government Incentives
• Facilitate destination sustainability by offering incentives to
individuals, companies and organizations for adopting green practices
that are not already strictly required.
• Capital Gains and income tax deductions –donating land to gov.
• Inheritance taxes are commonly reduced for landowners who enter
into PDR agreements

35. Calvia, Spain
• Calvia is on the island of Mallorca in the Spanish Mediterranean pleasure periphery
• Mature tourism city that is attempting to move from the UMT to SMT
• This 143 square kilometer municipality, with 55 kilometers of coastline, 120000 units of tourist accommodation and 50000
permanent residents attracted 1.2 million visitors in 1997 and 1.6 million in 2000
• 20% of the area is urbanized
• Tourism accelerated in WW1 and by 1960 there were 7000 units of accommodating
• Late 1980s starts showing signs of stagnation/decline
• 1990s start implementing sustainable tourism due to a Local Agenda 21 initiative from the idea of the Rio Earth Summit of 1992
• Radical rehabilitation was selected and articulated by 1998 consisted of 10 lines of action and 40 specific initiatives related to
these lines
• Expresses the intent to contain the human pressure to limit the growth and favor the comprehensive restoration of the territory
and its littoral
Declassification of 1350 hectares of land that had been zoned for urban development
Prohibition of new buildings on rural land
Introduction of ecofriendly building standards that take into account bioclimatic adaption
Maintain the land and sea natural heritage and promote the creation of a tourist and regional eco-tax
Promote the comprehensive restoration of the residential and tourist population centers
Beach Clearance Plan reclaims 51000 sq meters of land which is used to establish the Maritime Esplanade and a lot of it is convered
to green space
Improved the public transportation system, restored ancient public footpaths

36. •Questions?