THE EFFECTS OF NORTH-SEA-OIL DEVELOPMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM - THE CASE OF THE SHETLAND ISLES

There has been little study of the effects of major developments on the tourism industry of a region. This article examines the impacts of North Sea oil-related developments on a small but growing tourism industry in the Shetland Islands during the period from 1970 to the present. It notes that such development proved both beneficial to the tourism industry through improved infrastructure and guaranteed access to an affluent market, but negative to the pleasure element of the industry, which was displaced and ignored for over a decade. The last 11 years have seen a rejuvenation in traditional tourism, based on natural and cultural amenities, but the wreck of the oil tanker Braer in January 1993 illustrated dramatically the vulnerability of tourism destinations to external events.