The 1990 Solomon Islands tourism plan: a critical discourse analysis

The 1991–2001 Solomon island Tourist Development Plan was prepared by the Tourism Council of the South Pacific (TCSP), an inter-governmental organization responsible for developing and promoting tourism in the South Pacific region and funded by the Economic Union. In many ways it is a model of the master planning approach used by governments, aid agencies and consultants. The paper presents a narrative underpinned by critical discourse analysis to unpick the plan and present an alternative reading of the content. This thick description (Geertz, 1973), along with the benefit of hindsight, reveals that in some ways the plan was flawed in both its approach (which was deterministic and narrowly visioned) and its recommendations (that did little to take account of the complexities of the modalities between clans, landowners and central government).