Doctoral Dissertation Research: Transforming Corporate Mass Tourism: A Case Study of Sandals Resorts International in Jamaica

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During recent decades, tourism has been one of the most rapidly growing segments of the world economy. The total number of international tourists was estimated at nearly 700 million people in 2000, with the estimated $476 billion in tourist-related transactions constituting about a tenth of the global GNP. Although the tourism industry frequently has been criticized for fostering environmental harm, a growing number of firms are seeking to adopt and adapt alternative-tourism policies that are more ecologically and culturally responsible. This doctoral dissertation research project will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of alternative-tourism policies and practices by conventional mass-tourism corporations through a case study of the Sandals Resorts International corporation, which is headquartered in Jamaica. Sandals is the largest and most successful all-inclusive mass-tourism corporation operating in the Caribbean. In 1998, Sandals transformed its Negril facility by creating economic, cultural, and environmental programs that mimic those of alternative-tourism developments. In so doing, Sandals Negril became the first all-inclusive hotel in the world to be certified to the Green Globe 21 Standard for its environmental policies and management. This study will investigate Sandals Negril's economic, cultural, and environmental programs and practices in order to understand the difficulties a traditional mass-tourism corporation faces in implementing policies of sustainability as well as the corporate rationale lying behind such transformations. The study will focus on the decisions behind Sandals Resorts' move to "mass ecotourism," and it will investigate how the corporation develops, implements, and evaluates programs of sustainability. Sandals' five other Jamaican resorts, all of which have retained their mass-tourism character, will serve as a baseline for comparison, as will one alternative-tourism site located on the island. The bulk of the research will consist of an organizational ethnography of Sandals, with inquiries ranging from the highest levels of corporate management in Montego Bay to waste-management workers in the Negril facility. Interviews also will be conducted with government tourism officials and with people living in proximity to each of the resorts.The study will be the most comprehensive analysis of an international tourism corporation in a less developed country. Sandals is central to Jamaica's economy and to Caribbean tourism more generally. An industry leader, Sandals is a potential harbinger of changes underway in tourism. The transformation of Sandals Negril is widely recognized as one of the more important changes in the industry, with widespread implications for the further development of new resorts and for intra-industry competition. If mass-tourism corporations begin to more widely adopt the characteristics of alternative-tourism resorts, there will be pervasive effects on the economic, cultural, and environmental footprints of tourism facilities. Furthermore, these transformations in the mass-tourism industry will also affect the future of alternative-tourism development in other contexts throughout the world. Methodologically, the research will contribute a much-needed corporate case study to the literature on tourism development in less developed countries. As an organizational ethnography, the research will also offer a model for similar investigations into the restructuring of corporations. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.