The post-moratorium condition: contemporary interactions between tourism and the surplus population of labour in a rural Newfoundland town

Cooney, David Stephen (2012) The post-moratorium condition: contemporary interactions between tourism and the surplus population of labour in a rural Newfoundland town. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Newfoundland's cod moratorium was an ecological, social and economic shock so grand that its reverberations continue to be felt today. Seventeen years after the fishery collapse, many rural residents maintain their struggle to find meaningful and stable work, and as a result, poverty remains a pervasive issue across the province. To mitigate these negative effects, all three levels of government, in cooperation with local organisations, have promoted and developed a tourism industry. While this tertiary sector has no doubt brought economic relief to the countryside, questions remain surrounding its benefits and drawbacks. Based on three months of participant observation, interviewing and a literature review, the following dissertation provides a grounded study of Bonavista, a northeastern town that was devastated by the cod collapse and has turned to tourism for support. It focuses on the relationship between residents who continue to struggle as a result of the cod moratorium, and the newfound tourism sector that was developed to help deal with the surplus population of labour. The results show that the provincial and federal governments are significantly involved in the funding of tourism, while many of the workers that this funding employs have become dependant on this type of work to survive.

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