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This thesis examines the production of bathing beaches with reference to the 1976 European Bathing Water Directive and contemporary trends in environmental policy discourse. In contrast to studies in environmental policy, which tend to assess effectiveness of implementation, the thesis seeks to understand beach management by investigating how bathing areas in Scotland and Spain are connected to the Bathing Water Directive by practices of bathing area usage and management. The thesis argues that practices of bathing area management – such as beach flags and litter collections – and practices of bathing area usage – such as kayaking and dog-walking – are important in producing what has become known as a ‘bathing area’. Engaging with current debates on constructivism, the thesis demonstrates how different social constructions of a bathing area are created and coexist. Beach management is shown to be rationalised according to particular ideas of beach cleanliness, order and best practice. Empirical research concentrates upon two field study sites: Silversands in Scotland and La Herradura in Spain. Particular attention is paid to beach awards, marine litter collections, and scientific processes of bathing water measurement. The thesis is based on interviews with beach users, beach managers, environmental regulators, politicians and representatives of coastal conservation charities. The thesis investigates the materiality of beach flags to show how different interpretations of cleanliness are promoted and represented. It explores how knowledge of bathing areas is created through water quality measurement, litter surveying and personal experience. This knowledge of bathing areas is shown to be dependent on traditional science-based expertise. The thesis claims that expertise is currently used to distance many beach users from expressing their knowledge of potential bathing risks. While revisions to the Bathing Water Directive emphasise public inclusion, the thesis concludes that current practices of bathing area management are not participatory.

This research is an exploration of the politics and governance of resource use and environmental conservation in the geographical context of Tongareva – a remote atoll in the northern Cook Islands, eastern South Pacific – with a specific focus on the harvest of a species of giant clam, pasua (<i>Tridacna maxima</i>). The thesis examines a range of management practices, social relations and ecological conditions in order to demonstrate the socio-political-ecological nexus that produces pasua management on the island. Theoretically, the dissertation engages with recent debates around the social and the environmental as mutually constitutive domains, elaborating this relation by demonstrating that the use and conservation of pasua is negotiated in and through space. In particular, the thesis examines the complex interplay and co-constitution of so-called customary mechanisms for resource management by examining the politics surrounding the practice of rahui, a form of harvest closure. I explore how exchange networks, authority structures and economic changes intersect to determine and shape the politics of pasua harvest and rahui on Tongareva and place both the island and pasua in very specific ways. The research combines an analysis of oral ecological histories, key player interviews, participant observation along with findings from a comprehensive survey of pasua abundance and distribution in the lagoon. It pursues this combination of data collection not in order to use ecological ‘facts’ to verify social ‘beliefs’ but because it sees such knowledges as different but equally valid – if differently empowered – forms of resource knowledge.  The dissertation also concludes that conservation in particular localities is never limited to events that occur in that context alone, but rather is connected to myriad other places by the movement of people, ideas and species.

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This study examines ecotourism planning and management and sustainable development in rural areas of Chiang Rai province, Thailand. The assessment was based on developing a new conceptual framework based on a political ecology approach to examine ecotourism and sustainable development. It drew from theoretical ideas from the Western literature and previous studies about Thailand, and it is intended to be more integrative and comprehensive than previous ecotourism frameworks because it combines environmental ideas from research on natural resource management with a broad social science perspective. Political ecology helps to understand the complex connections between environment, economy, society, ideology and politics, and it explores the relationships among local actors and between them and relevant external actors. The framework was also developed to be sufficiently broad and flexible to be applied to understanding ecotourism planning and management in different rural areas. This framework was applied and evaluated for three case study rural areas in Chiang Rai province - Rong Bom, Yang Kham Nu and Ruammit villages. The framework was used to explore relations in these villages between the economy and society, politics and administration, practices and ideologies of sustainable development, and the management of ecotourism activities. These were examined from the perspectives of different actors within the villages and also outside them. Qualitative methods were adopted and relevant primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and fieldwork observation. The collected data were analyzed, interpreted and reported in the study using a thematic analysis method which drew on the study's conceptual framework. The research findings focused on relations between local social relations and sustainability, the ideologies of sustainability, and the local practices of ecotourism planning and management and sustainability. It was found, for example, that in villages where there was more cultural and society homogeneity the villagers were better placed to manage ecotourism and to promote more sustainable forms of development. It was also evident that in two of the villages there was a strong focus on environmental conservation in their activities, and this has subsequently attracted tourists to see their conservation practices and community forest work. In one of the villages commercial ecotourism led to environmental degradation, and it was then that conservation concerns were given more prominence. The village leaders were also seen to have an influential role, encouraged by Thai culture which accords respect and deference to people with higher social status. This had negative repercussions for ecotourism planning as villagers often had limited understanding of their potential for participation in ecotourism policy-making. It may also have encouraged a situation where local people often received less benefit from ecotourism than did external tour operators and where external government policies for ecotourism focused on economic returns rather than community development. The study concludes with an evaluation of the value of the conceptual framework for research on ecotourism planning, including consideration of its potential for use in other contexts and geographical areas.

This study compares tour operators and development organisations, by analysing their role in three differently funded and operated tourism projects in Ecuador. Additionally, the study identifies links between micro level livelihood outputs of the projects, the meso level operational contexts, and macro level influences. The study reviews general assumptions that the tourism private sector is not as capable of contributing to poverty reduction to the same extent that the development sector is. Guided by a political economy approach, whilst also considering Giddens' concept of structuration theory, the study examines whether traditional structuralist views of tourism development in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) are applicable within the context of three externally-led tourism projects. Elements of critical ethnography and livelihoods analysis were employed to gather primarily qualitative data, which was obtained by interviewing, observing, carrying out ranking exercises, and analysing documents. Results of the study revealed that the tour operator project was considerably more successful in contributing to the livelihoods of residents surrounding the project. The tour operator was well equipped to respond to operational challenges of the project, and well networked with a range of organisations which provided technical expertise, and small grants. The projects supported by development organisations had notable positive outputs, but failed to create adequate networks with the private sector to sell the projects, and hence were suffering from over-supply and lack of demand. The study showed that development organisations were more confined to operating within bureaucratic processes of head offices than tour operators, which also had detrimental effects on project outputs. Development organisation projects suffer from a lack of tourism expertise, and must adhere to strict regulations regarding project design and operations, echoing the power of institutional structures over agency. Although tour operators must comply with service and product standards to satisfy their international buyers, they appear to be more influential in altering traditional structures, such as networking between the private and development sectors, thus demonstrating the potential power of agency. The evidence concluded that tour operators are better equipped to fund and operate sustainable tourism projects which contribute to community development, and that development organisations would significantly benefit from enlisting the assistance of tour operators in project design, operations, and sales outlets.

The migration of East Indians to the Dominions was an unorganised exercise. Indian membership in the British Empire gave them the status of British subjects and Imperial citizens but the Dominions were opposed to coloured migrants. By 1900 Australia and New Zealand had established their immigration policies for 'Whites only'. Canada experienced the East Indian migration after 1900. It coincided with that of other Orientals, namely Chinese and Japanese. Meanwhile ideas of social Darwinism prevailed in the North American continent. There arose an organised labour movement on the Pacific Coast. These factors reinforced the anti-Oriental feeling which resulted in the outbreak of anti-Asiatic riots at Vancouver. Exclusion of East Indians was the basic policy of Imperial and Canadian leaders. But an open ban on Indians could create a difficult situation with the possibility of its exploitation by anti-British elements in India. Therefore, effective but indirect restrictions were imposed on East Indian immigration. However, at times, such prohibitory immigration regulations could not sustain the test in the law courts. The migration question reached its climax with the arrival of the Komagata Maru in Vancouver but the failure of this enterprise completely reversed the migration trend. In its repercussions it contributed to the eruption of anti-British unrest and a revolutionary movement in the Punjab. Demands for equal treatment of Indians echoed all over India, After the First World War restrictions on Indian wives and children to join their husbands and fathers in Canada became a focal point. This matter was settled under the arrangement of Reciprocity of Treatment made in the Imperial War Conference (1918), Restrictions on further migration from India remained in practice, With the granting of independence to India and Pakistan, Canada sensed the urgency of coming to an understanding and arrangement With them. India could use this excuse for leaving the Commonwealth. Canada agreed to accept a small fixed number of South Asian immigrants. By the 1960s Canadian economic needs for skilled manpower increased tremendously while ideas of social Darwinism waned. The arrival of a large number of Europeans from various parts of Europe changed the Canadian outlook. Economic prosperity and radical changes in Canadian commercial and industrial life set aside the Asiatic take-over fear. Characteristics of South Asian migrants changed to a very great extent. Worldwide development of rapid transportation and communication helped to create a better understanding. Canada decided to apply her immigration regulations without racial regard. This transformation of the Canddian immigration policy from complete exclusion to equal acceptance has economic and social reasons. It is a paradox of history to find East Indians being excluded when India was part of the British Empire and now being accepted when the Empire is part of history.

Consumer loyalty has been under investigation for over 40 years, most commonly the research has been conducted in the retail or banking environment. Most researchers agree that 'true' loyalty is a multidimensional construct and ideally the measurement of loyalty should incorporate both behavioural as well as psychological components. However, the psychological measurement has proven elusive and what can be concluded from consumer loyalty research is that there are a large number of operational measures used and there is limited comparability between studies. With regard to consumer loyalty towards holiday destinations, there have been few attempts to measure it. The key problem for destination loyalty research is the infrequent holiday buying behaviour and lack of destination loyalty conceptualisation. This study focuses on loyalty as a behaviour and part of personality. Psychology is used to explain why some individuals have a higher propensity to become loyal towards destinations. The research process evolved through two separate pilot studies and the final study used a triangulation of optimum stimulation level instrument called arousal seeking tendency (AST-I), a revised tourist's inherent loyalty tendency scale (rTILTS) and primary behavioural measure (based on the subject's five-year travel career). In so doing, the inherently loyal tourists could be separated from variety seeking tourists. This also opens direct marketing opportunities for the independent businesses within a destination. This study identified a positive correlation between AST-I and rTILTS. Furthermore, these psychological measures were also predictive of behavioural outcome. The findings lead to the conceptualisation of inherent destination loyalty. The key finding of this study is that the loyal segment for holiday destination is substantial; 60% of the respondents spent three or more holidays in the same destination over the five-year survey period. Furthermore, the positive attitude towards destination results in expressions of self-confidence, suggesting that this attitude is strong (outcome of repeater personal behaviour) and centrally held.

This study examines the patterns and processes of policy making involved in tourism development and management for the major tourism city of Hangzhou in China. It is considered that these policy-making features are the result of dialectical interactions between structure and agency. More specifically, the social actions involved in policy making are regarded as the consequence of the dialectical interplay between the knowledgeable behaviour or agency of varied actors and their structural contexts. The dynamics of the tourism policy-making processes are examined through a relational approach that combines an actor-oriented perspective on social change with the analysis of policy networks. Three conceptual frameworks - at the macro-, micro- and also meso-scales - are developed in the study in order to understand the co-evolution of structure and agency within the tourism policy-making processes. The macro-scale focuses on the "external" environments that affect actors' perspectives and the policy making processes, the micro-scale explores the regular practices and experiences of actors, and the meso-scale relates to the dynamics of the policy networks that result from interplay between the macro- and micro-scale processes. The varied actors affected by tourism policies engage in social interactions, draw on their differing interests, express views based on differing discourses and knowledge frameworks, and engage in conflicts and compromises based on their power configurations, and from these processes emerge various policy outcomes. These actors are strongly affected by structural constraints in the policy environment, but they also have involvements in actively constructing that environment. These frameworks are applied to assessments of tourism policy processes in Hangzhou. This city was chosen as a case study because it is in the vanguard of steps taken by the national government to encourage greater decentralization of governance in China and because of the importance of tourism for the local economy. Two stages of fieldwork were conducted in the city, both involving semi-structured, in-depth interviews with actors with an interest in tourism policy making. They explored the involvement of these actors in the policy processes, their interests and relations with other policy actors, and their influence on policy outcomes. The second fieldwork stage focused on understanding these processes for a specific tourism project in a heritage district of the city, this being the West Lake Protection Project. It was found that there was considerable continuity in the actors most involved in tourism policy-making for the city as a whole and for the West Lake Protection Project. While Hangzhou had gained considerable tourism decision-making powers from central government, the extent of decentralized decision-making within the city itself was still very limited. The influence of the Communist Party was still notable, there was only a very small involvement by the private sector in policy activity and local communities had only limited influence on decisions affecting their lives. When there were conflicts between environmental and development issues the most influential actors favoured economic development. The overall analysis illustrated the potential value of a relational or dialectical perspective on agency and structure for assessments of tourism policy relations and networks.

The study examines agritourism, rural development and related policy initiatives in two case study areas: Rayong and Samut Songkhram provinces in Thailand. It develops and applies an integrative conceptual framework to understand agritourism as a form of rural development and reproduction in the developing world, and also related government policies to encourage agritourism development. While the framework is applied to the case study areas, consideration is also given to its potential relevance more widely in Thailand, in other developing countries and in developed world countries. The framework adopts political economy and agency approaches and it was developed for application and subsequent evaluation in the two case study provinces. Consideration is given to agritourism development and agritourism policy initiatives, and to their relationships with the arenas of production and consumption, the processes of state deregulation and state re-regulation, and the interactions among actors and networks around rural development and the application of agritourism policies. Importantly, it was argued that there is very little existing research in the tourism field using this combined approach. The fieldwork combines varied sources, including in-depth interviews, with these being used to understand the views of actors on agritourism development and the application of government agritourism initiatives in the two case study areas. The collected data were analyzed, interpreted and reported using thematic analysis, which was influenced by the study's conceptual framework and also by issues emerging from the data. Agritourism development in the case study areas was affected by restructuring in their local economies, involving growing economic difficulties for the agricultural sector, new investment in residential development and tourism, and growth in alternative income sources for the rural population. The government's agritourism initiatives were affected by a changing national political and policy context. These interventions assisted the agricultural sector to survive the economic restructuring, providing supplementary income and local markets for their farm produce and crafts. There were gaps between the support required by agritourism operators and the support actually provided, and there were deficiencies in the application of the agritourism policies. The interactions between agritourism operators could be important for business survival, but some groups were set up largely to secure government funds and did not provide each other with substantial support. Agritourism could bring economic benefits for wider rural communities, but it could also encourage community conflicts. Deficiencies in the government's agritourism initiatives sometimes arose from there being so many agencies involved, often in different ministries, and from a lack of coordination.