Implications of Rural Change and the Use of Rural Tourism to Drive Economic Development: A Case Study Investigation into Westland District, New Zealand

Abstract

Rural areas play a critical role in the national economy. They often form the backbone of the export economy and house significant proportions of the national population. However, recent decades have seen rural areas across the developed world experience an era of significant change as they seek to renegotiate their place within the context of economic and social change unfolding nationally and internationally. The changes that have occurred in these areas have been poorly understood in literature, government policy, and the media regarding how they differ, the challenges they face, whether they can regenerate or respond to social and economic change and the specific needs of marginalised groups in rural areas like Māori communities.

The purpose of this research was to understand how specific economic activities have encouraged growth or exacerbated the decline in rural areas and understand how various organisations and agencies responded to these changes. The rural district of Westland, New Zealand was selected as an appropriate case study because it had undergone significant economic, social and political change in recent decades. A document analysis, questionnaires with the public and ten key informant interviews were carried out between local council, community groups and local Māori to comprehend these changes.

The study found that post-productive activities that are predominately market-led like tourism positively promote growth, Westland. While the uptake of tourism has been successful in attracting revenue and visitors to the district, the rapid and aggressive growth of tourism caused issues as the Westland District lacked the infrastructural requirements, significant investment, and the demographic make-up to stimulate significant economic growth sustainably. Various organisations and agencies were found to be responding to these issues. However, they operated in an ad-hoc manner that primarily focused on increasing revenue and improving the visitor experience. This promoted growth and marginalisation of communities and the exacerbated the inevitable decline of those rural communities that have failed to market their point of difference. Furthermore, the relationships that have been established between local government and local rūnanga was tokenistic and failed to uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The key lessons that this case study has for other rural areas are needing to manage and monitor growth and decline of rural communities effectively and collaborate with organisations operating in the development sphere to establish meaningful partnerships that not only have good economic outcomes but social ones too.