The pink tourism dollar is now recognized as a highly profitable niche of the tourism market. Gay Tourism: Culture and Context critically investigates the emergence of a commercial gay tourism industry for male clients, the way it is organized, and how the tourism industry promotes cities, resorts, and nations as 'gay' destinations. This careful examination critically questions the social, political, and cultural implications regarding relationships between gay tourism, Western gay male culture, the erotic, sexual politics, and sexual diversity.

The gay tourism industry—a progressive social force or a pull towards an oppressive status quo? The pink tourism dollar is now recognized as a highly profitable niche of the tourism market. Gay Tourism: Culture and Context critically investigates the emergence of a commercial gay tourism industry for male clients, the way it is organized, and how the tourism industry promotes cities, resorts, and nations as ’gay’ destinations. This careful examination critically questions the social, political, and cultural implications regarding relationships between gay tourism, Western gay male culture, the erotic, sexual politics, and sexual diversity. Gay Tourism: Culture and Context begins by detailing how travel often enabled the expression of Western same-sex male desire in the nineteenth century and then charts the emergence of a Western gay tourism industry in the late twentieth century. A critical analysis is given of gay guidebooks and erotic videos that help to establish and maintain destinations as seemingly gay utopias, including Hawaii and the Greek island Mykonos. Carefull consideration as to debates about how the gay tourism industry operates in the context of questions regarding the globalization of sexuality, sexual citizenship and place-marketing of (homo)sexualised cities. The text includes an extensive bibliography plus several photographs, charts, and figures to clearly present concepts and ideas. Topics in Gay Tourism: Culture and Context include: the history of gay travel and tourism the effect of HIV/AIDS on gay tourist destinations gay travel writing sustaining same-sex fantasies about popular gay tourist destinations analysis of the socio-political ramifications of gay tourism the sexual politics of a heterosexual nation gay tourists as an “invading force” of corruption the economic rationale for the (homo)sexualized city the concept of “gay villages” the role of special events and festivals in gay tourism and many more! Gay Tourism: Culture and Context is enlightening reading for tourism policymakers, tourism planners, tourism managers, and teachers and students in the fields of tourism studies, gay studies, social and cultural geography, and sociology.

This unique introductory resource provides a broad foundation of knowledge on the gay and lesbian market segment. Topics and themes are illustrated by interviewing the top professionals in gay travel and gay media who share their experience, tips for success and future predictions. Packed with best case examples and practices of existing gay tourism initiatives and campaigns, this engaging text provides analysis and context that addresses some of the burning questions in this area, including the potential negative consumer and stakeholder reaction, and strategies to educate the local hospitality community.

This book examines the emerging and shifting issues in the field of gay tourism, how these relate to significant societal and technological changes and the implications of these changes for theory, policy and practice. It addresses the political and sociocultural discourses evident within gay tourism consumption and explores the conceptualisations of gay tourism within the contexts of tourist profiles and identities. While gay travel research has been dominated by Western perspectives and traditions, this book incorporates voices from non-Western perspectives and cultures. The volume investigates the value of gay tourism that facilitates our engagement with tourism experiences, leisure opportunities and pleasure. It will be a useful resource for students, lecturers and researchers in tourism, human geography, cultural studies and sociology.

Cultural tourism is not only a major industry but also a support for national identity and a means for preserving heritage. Interdisciplinary explorations of cultural tourism, with essays about tourism between globalization and authenticity, township tourism in Soweto, South Africa, tourism in the culturally regenerated city, the new tourism areas in London, cultural routes, in the footsteps of Goethe, Humbert and Ulysses, tourism in inland Spain, indicators and qualitative observatories of heritage tourism, ecotourism and religious tourism in the North of Portugal, the festivalization of society, the consequences of the European Capitals of Culture, the economic impact of festivals, the future of cultural tourism: grounds for pessimism or optimism? Review in: Journal of cultural economics. 32(2008)3(.231-236).

Tourism is the fourth biggest industry in the world. What are the key concepts in Tourist Studies? This essential resource for students of tourism contains concise and authoritative entries on: • Planning Tourism • Sustainable Tourism • Festivals and Events • Cultural Tourism • Economics of Tourism • Regeneration • The Experience Economy • Urban Tourism • Sex Tourism Shrewdly judged to suit the needs of the modern student, the book offers the basic materials, tools and guidance for making sense of tourism and gaining the best results in essays and exams.

To research this book, the authors traveled to six continents, interviewed nearly a hundred industry experts, and analyzed multiple emerging trends among LGBT travelers. The Handbook of LGBT Tourism and Hospitality is an easy-to-read, practical, and relevant guidebook with a simple goal: to help marketing professionals, business owners, and allied professionals compete in the increasingly competitive global LGBT travel and hospitality industry.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Tourism presents a collection of readings that represent an essential and authoritative reference on the state-of-the-art of the interdisciplinary field of tourism studies. Presents a comprehensive and critical overview of tourism studies across the social sciences Introduces emerging topics and reassesses key themes in tourism studies in the light of recent developments Includes 50 newly commissioned essays by leading experts in the social sciences from around the world Contains cutting-edge perspectives on topics that include tourism’s role in globalization, sustainable tourism, and the state’s role in tourism development Sets an agenda for future tourism research and includes a wealth of bibliographic references

Providing a unique analysis of current multidisciplinary research on the complex relationships between tourism and the imaginaries of tourist destinations, this book traces the links between tourism imaginaries and their religious (heaven) and political (utopia) antecedents. The substantive chapters are organised into three main thematic sections, the first explores the touristic production and consumption of place imaginaries, the second analyses the way places are practiced through imaginaries and the role imaginaries play in the tourist experience and the final section explores the way images and the media participate in the creation of tourism imaginaries.