Thesis
Tourism management and subnational borders under Australian federalism : cross-border tourism management episodes in the Australian central east coast border region
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2016
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Abstract
The literature on border regions remains limited and fragmented, and has been largely restricted to international borders in Europe and North America. Significantly less attention has been paid to tourism management in border regions, especially in subnational border regions. This is despite calls for further research, especially in view of issues known to exist in cross-border tourism management in subnational border regions, in Australia and internationally. This thesis contributes to filling this gap in the literature by aiming to identify, analyse and evaluate the opportunities and challenges for tourism management across subnational political borders in Australia and to make recommendations to improve cross-border tourism management into the future.
The thesis contributes a social constructionist approach to the existing research, which embraces the messiness of border regions as negotiated, multi-scale spaces where multiple realities and perspectives exist. The focus was on three cross-border tourism management episodes in the Central East Coast Border Region, bisected by the New South Wales and Queensland state border. A range of secondary sources, interviews with tourism actors and observations of cross border meetings informed an understanding of cross-border tourism management in the case study border region. The use of multiple sources of data and the use of crystallisation of the data provided thick descriptions, complexly rendered interpretations and reflected multiple perspectives. An abductive approach to analysis allowed for multiple perspectives to be recognised, while enhancing understanding of the complexity of cross-border tourism management, by interrogating the tourism episodes, as well as the existing literature.
By moving beyond the existing approach to investigating cross-border tourism management, often focused on a single scale and on integration of administrative units of government, the thesis provides a significant contribution to knowledge by proffering a perspective that sees tourism management in subnational border regions as more nuanced. It shows that cross-border tourism management in subnational border regions is characterised by multiple borders, multiple networks, multiple scales, diverse views on tourism and multiple meanings of borders. Based on the research and the existing literature, the thesis recommends (1) improved project management of cross-border projects, (2) the establishment of Cross-border Joint Boards of Tourism and (3) strengthening of Federal and State Government support of cross-border projects.
The thesis concludes that subnational borders are far from a “nostalgic fiction”, but require novel policy and governance approaches. As such, subnational border regions, and cross-border tourism management, is a rich area for future research where considerably more work is needed.
Details
- Title
- Tourism management and subnational borders under Australian federalism : cross-border tourism management episodes in the Australian central east coast border region
- Creators
- Joshua Rupert Hills - Southern Cross University
- Contributors
- Grant Richard Cairncross (Supervisor) - Southern Cross University
- Awarding Institution
- Southern Cross University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Theses
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
- Publisher
- Southern Cross University
- Number of pages
- xiv, 275
- Identifiers
- SCU1546; 991012821303302368
- Copyright
- © JR Hills 2016
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Business, Law and Arts; School of Business and Tourism
- Resource Type
- Thesis