Critical Issues in Tourism: A Geographical Perspective (The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers Studies in Geography)

Critical Issues in Tourism: A Geographical Perspective (The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers Studies in Geography)

by Gareth Shaw (Author)

Synopsis

Few industries have expanded faster over the last fifty years than tourism. Tourism has brought employment to millions, frequently in the poor and more remote parts of the world, and given pleasure, variety, rest and recreation to countless numbers of travellers and holiday-makers. It has at the same time destroyed and polluted pristine environments, threatened local cultures, and in doing so, frequently devalued just those characteristics of a place that had made it a desirable tourist objective. The issues that tourism raises are of critical and vital importance throughout the world: this book provides a much-needed geographical perspective upon them. The authors focus on both the production and consumption of tourism, and show that it is this interrelationship which holds the key to understanding the ways in which tourism shapes, and reshapes, human and physical environments. They analyze the key features of the tourism and leisure industries, and place them in the context of changing social, political and economic structures and behaviour. The argument is illustrated throughout by illustrative case studies, drawn from a wide range of countries, including both the developed and developing economies.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell
Published: 04 Nov 1993

ISBN 10: 0631181318
ISBN 13: 9780631181316

Media Reviews
This admirable addition to the tourism literature is of particular value to the large number of geography students who choose specialist options in tourism. In Focus A very valuable contribution to the tourism literature. Geography Should certainly be recommended to students, not only of geography but of social science generally. The text is well illustrated and there is a good, up-to-date bibliography. Above all else, the book is well written and should stimulate readers to further research many of the issues, critical or otherwise, raised in the different chapters. Applied Geography Shaw and Williams are to be commended not only for the range of critical issues they raise, but also for the wealth of interest that will be generated in the geography of tourism. Institute for Geography .. . provides the most comprehensive analysis of social and economic tourism research. The Canadian Geographer This new edition is particularly valuable for its erudite and succinct discussion of theoretical developments in the study of tourism and leisure. The empirical examples are wide ranging and the book will be a key text for students from a wide range of disciplines who wish to understand the many social and environmental challenges arising from contemporary tourism and leisure activity. Professor Andrew Church, University of Brighton.
Author Bio
Gareth Shaw and Allan M. Williams are joint directors of the Tourism Research Group at the University of Exeter, and Senior Lecturers in the Department of Geography.