Tourism Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences

This collection of key articles from the most influential journals and books in the field examines what social scientists mean by the term tourism, and what it means to be a tourist. Carefully selected and introduced by the editor, this material charts the sociological changes that have occurred in tourism, and the change from the upper-class grand tours of the late nineteenth-century to the mass tourism of the present day. The collection also assesses the economic impacts of tourism on local economies, environmental considerations, and whether the growth of tourism is sustainable in a post-September 11th world.

"Tourism: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences" is an accessible and comprehensive resource designed for academics and scholars researching in tourism, globalization, and human geography.

Examining exactly what social scientists mean by the term tourism, and what it means to be a tourist, this collection charts the sociological changes that have occurred in tourism, as well as the shift from the upper-class ‘grand tours’ of the late nineteenth-century to the mass tourism of the present day. With an astonishing breadth and range of content, these fascinating volumes assess the economic impacts of tourism on local economies, the environmental considerations to take into account, and whether the huge growth in tourism is sustainable in a post-September 11th world. Tourism: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences is an accessible and comprehensive resource that is invaluable for academics and scholars researching tourism, globalization and human geography.

Volume One: The Nature and Structure of TourismThe articles in this volume explores the fundamental ideas that have informed our understanding of the nature and organisation of tourism, including the meanings and representations of tourism, tourist motivations and values, theories of tourism supply and demand, market segmentation and typologies of tourists and tourism, the organization of tourism.Volume Two: The Experience of TourismVolume two brings together papers that consider the experience of tourism, both from the perspective of the tourist and that of the host communities that tourists visit. It focuses on tourist behaviours and experiences, democratisation and the emergence of mass tourism, theories of cultural and social impact of tourism, issues of authenticity and commodification.Volume Three: Tourism, Development and SustainabilityThe focus of this volume is tourism, development processes and the quest for sustainability. The principal themes explored are resort formation and development, tourism and economic development processes, tourism development and environmental impacts, principles and approaches to sustainable tourism.Volume Four: New Directions and Alternative TourismThe final volume looks towards the emergence of alternative forms of tourism and the restructuring of tourism within a globalized economy. The papers discuss the notion of new directions in both a spatial, but more importantly, a sectoral sense, together with the degree to which new forms of tourism and tourist identities are now emerging.