Right of Way: Cruise Tourism in Fiordland, New Zealand

Abstract

Coastal cruises to the spectacular fiords and the UNESCO World Heritage Area of Fiordland are an emerging market within the sector of cruise tourism to New Zealand. The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) is the governing legislation for the allocation of access rights in New Zealand. In many regards, the RMA is seen as an example of Habermasian ideals of communicative action in practice, as it includes requirements for open and transparent public participation in decisions. This thesis explores the power relations within the decision-making process for the allocation of access rights of a common-property resource in a case study of cruise tourism in Fiordland. A Foucauldian analysis has indicated a matrix of power relationships among the decision-making elite, through their legitimised and accepted role as planners in governmental organisations. This matrix has resulted in an alternative to a resource consent for cruise companies wanting access to Fiordland's internal waters, an Environmental Partnership, Deed of Agreement between the New Zealand Cruise Industry and Environment Southland. While the Deed of Agreement appears to follow sustainable management guidelines, the negotiation did not follow the process of public participation intrinsic in the RMA.