The Mobile Core: Perpetuating Tourism Leakage Through the Socioecological Fix in South Korea

ABSTRACT By adopting the socioecological fix concept, this study aims to examine the spatial dynamics of tourism leakage. An ethnographic examination of an ecotourism project on Jeju Island, South Korea was conducted for 18 months from 2011 to 2013. Findings indicate that the simultaneous spatial reconfiguration of tourist capital and discursive production of nature resulted in perpetuating class inequalities. Particularly, this study identified a peculiar mode of capitalist production: the ‘moving core’ in tourism leakage. Overall, the study advocates for multi‐scalar, spatial and longitudinal approaches in examining the complicated social relationships embedded in nature‐based tourism leakage. For tourism projects to ensure effectiveness in improving the livelihoods of the marginalised, close attention must be paid to not only how the tourism facilities are established but also how nature is ‘spatially’ constructed in discursive and material ways such that the tourism benefits are ultimately channelled to the intended parties.