PATH DEPENDENCY
and the
DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM REGIONS
Challenges of Change in Mature European Destinations
Professor Henrik Halkier
Aalborg University, Denmark
halkier@cgs.aau.dk
PATH DEPENDENCY
and the
DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM REGIONS
Challenges of Change in Mature European Destinations
1.
Regions and destinations: Path dependency and change
2.
Reconceptualising tourist destinations
3.
4.
Maturity and beyond? The case of North Jutland, Denmark
Conclusion: Maturity, thinness and economic change
Professor Henrik Halkier
Aalborg University, Denmark
halkier@cgs.aau.dk
PATH DEPENDENCY AND CHANGE
Regions and destinations
From path dependency as (negative) lock-in…
 System of institutions maintaining direction

Firms, regulation, actor behaviour, discourse
 Sudden change, from outside system

(Martin/Sunley 2006, Howlett/Rayner 2006)
(Martin/Sunley 2014, Martin 2010, Mahoney 2000)
Changes in demand and competition
… towards less rigid paths
 Co-existence of institutions in regions
 Plasticity of institutions
(Martin/Sunley 2014, Hassink 2010)
(Strambach 2010, Strambach/Halkier 2013)
 Path creation as contextualised strategic action
Henrik Halkier – halkier@cgs.aau.dk
(Karnøe/Garud 2012)
PATH DEPENDENCY AND CHANGE
Regions and destinations
Importance of accounting for:
 Development of individual institutions
(drift/conversion)
 Complex interaction of institutions
(Butler 1980)
(layering/displacement)
 Role of agency/actors in continuity and change
(Mahoney/Thelen 2010,
Martin 2010, Hassink
2010)
(Schneiberg 2007,
Karnøe/Garud 2012)
(Ma/Hassink 2013, based on Martin 2010)
Henrik Halkier – halkier@cgs.aau.dk
RECONCEPTUALISING
TOURIST DESTINATIONS
Actor groups and institutions
in destination development.
Source: Henrik Halkier & Anette
Therkelsen: Breaking out of Tourism
Destination Path Dependency? Exploring
the Case of Coastal Tourism in North
Jutland, Denmark, German Journal of
Economic Geography, 57, 1-2
Henrik Halkier – halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Seaside maturity in North Jutland, Denmark
TIES THAT BIND
Families with kids,
nature-based, seasonal,
Commercial
overnight stays
neighbouring
markets
in holiday homes in North Jutland
3000000
Automobile,
2500000
self-catering,
week-based
2000000
Marketing
1500000
Domestic
International
1000000
Civil ownership/co-use,
life-style entrepreneurs,
500000
monopolitistic rental
0
bureaus
Multi-level sectoral
policy network,
uneven local priority
National ownership,
planning restrictions
Henrik Halkier – halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Seaside maturity in North Jutland, Denmark
TOWARDS A NEW PATH?
No-kid high-spenders,
+culture, short breaks
LAYERING:
Flying in?
LAYERING:
Re-branding
Cross-sectoral networks,
new transport links?
Henrik Halkier – halkier@cgs.aau.dk
1: More dull, reinforcing
1. CONVERSION:
Flexible planning
2. DRIFT:
Innovation and
coordination
2: Uneven local change
CONCLUSION
Maturity, thinness and economic change
Case study conclusions
 Continued dominance of existing institutions
 Civil ownership of accommodation
 Visitor perceptions of ‘a summer place’
 ‘Thinness’ of innovative initiatives
Wider perspectives
 Usefulness of evolutionary perspective for study of tourism destinations
 Underlines role of cultural values/institutions in regional development
 Need for continued conceptual debate about less rigid paths
Henrik Halkier – halkier@cgs.aau.dk