Nature-based Tourism in Peripheral Areas provides a comprehensive examination of this form of tourism development as it occurs within alpine, forest, sub-polar, island, coastal and marine environments. This book goes beyond much of the debate surrounding ecotourism and the impacts of tourism in vulnerable environments to place nature-based tourism in a wider regional context, particularly when for many peripheral regions tourism remains one of the key opportunities for economic development. Therefore, a central theme that is present throughout many of the chapters is the role that nature-based tourism can play as the catalyst for larger regional development of regions. The book will serve as essential reading to senior undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in tourism and related degrees where the major focus is on tourism that occurs within peripheral regions. It will also serve as a key reference to researchers and professionals interested in the role of tourism as a regional development tool.

There has been little research on tourism in those European countries or regions which lie outside the continent’s main centres of production and population, even though tourism may be one of the few economic options open to them. This volume aims to fill a gap by presenting a range of case studies – including northern Sweden, the Orkneys, the tip of Norway and northern Cyprus – on tourism in the peripheral areas of Europe. Taking as a leitmotiv the paradoxes inherent in developing places whose very attraction may lie in their lack of development, the case studies investigate and illustrate both the opportunities and the threats that tourism presents to peripheral areas. Although they share certain similarities, the cases also demonstrate differing approaches to tourism development and varying outcomes over time. They suggest solutions for dealing with, for example, community participation as well as providing practical insights into visitor perceptions of peripheral areas and into ways of marketing such areas in a sensitive manner. Together they provide a picture of the needs of peripheral areas and of how far and how best tourism can fulfil those needs.

This book delves into the development opportunities for peripheral areas explored through the emerging practices of agritourism, wine tourism, and craft beer tourism. It celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of people living in peri-urban regions. Peripheral areas tend to be far from urban hubs, providing essential services but also typically suffering from marginalisation and remoteness, despite the access to environmental, cultural, and social resources. In this sense, this book investigates the linkages between local agency and tourism in peripheral areas, the role of existing policies, and the evolving bottom-up practices in fostering local development. The basic aim is to disestablish the dichotomies that often emerge when dealing with issues of rural–urban and/or centre–periphery relationships; innovation vs tradition; authenticity vs mise en scène; agency vs inertia; and social, cultural, economic mobility vs immobility; etc. With focused attention on the possible compliance or conflicting strategies of local actors with the existing policies, the book considers how local actors and communities respond to the implications of peripherality in areas often impacted by marginalising processes. Drawing upon case studies from North America and Europe, this book presents this connection as a global phenomenon which will be of interest to community and economic development planners and entrepreneurs.

In this timely new collection of essays, an excellent roster of contributors bring new insight to a wide spectrum of topics related to tourism in frontier areas. The book focuses on international case studies as it discusses the economic feasibility of frontier tourist development, the tourist development of rural and urban settings, and the expansion of tourism to remote borderlands. The contributors highlight the potential, as well as the environmental, economic, bureaucratic, and cultural difficulties of peripheral tourism. This innovative and thought-provoking approach-with its wealth of detail-makes Tourism in Frontier Areas essential reading for scholars in tourist development, regional development, and economic geography.

Tourist visits used to be a less common activity in the past. However, more people than ever now make leisure trips, making this an era of mass tourism. This drastic change in spatial behaviour is not only caused by economic prosperity, but the scale of this phenomenon means that it is able to generate economic growth, making tourism a key factor in regional development policy. One of the main challenges of current regional policy is to market the attractiveness of an area, thereby increasing tourist visits and subsequent revenue. In particular, regions are attempting this through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which offer information on interesting places, and efficient methods for organizing and booking trips. This book examines the interconnections between tourism, ICT and regional development. Bringing together a range of European case studies illustrating various ICT and policy innovations, it not only critiques current activity by regions in terms of tourism development, but also considers how this sector is likely to continue to grow.

Many countries rely on cultural sites and destinations to support their economies. However, they are faced with the ongoing challenge of sustaining tourist attractions and maintaining the equilibrium between the local community and tourist populations. Sustainable Tourism: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice features current research that takes an in-depth look at cooperative strategies and governance for conserving and promoting tourism within both developed and developing economies. Highlighting a range of topics such as tourism development, environmental protection, and responsible hospitality, this publication is an ideal reference source for entrepreneurs, business managers, economists, business professionals, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and graduate-level students interested in the latest research on sustainable tourism.

Limited land and resources, along with the overexploitation of tourism and multiple other factors, make peripheral and ultra-peripheral territories relevant cases for studying governance and sustainable development. This book presents case studies of European and Mediterranean regions to study regional development and territorial sustainability, strategic planning, and territorial management and governance. Written by experts in the field, the chapters contained herein provide the reader with a deep understanding, from several perspectives, of the dynamics, challenges, and opportunities of tourism in these specific territories.

The aim of this book is to enhance theoretical and practical understanding of quality management in tourism and hospitality. It provides a benchmark of current knowledge, and examines the range of research methods being applied to further develop tourism and hospitality service management research. It is hoped that this book will stimulate new research questions by highlighting tensions and challenges in the area.

Slum tourism is a globalizing trend and a controversial form of tourism. Impoverished urban areas have always enticed the popular imagination, considered to be places of ‘otherness’, ‘moral decay’, ‘deviant liberty’ or ‘authenticity’. ‘Slumming’ has a long tradition in the Global North, for example in Victorian London when the upper classes toured the East End. What is new, however, is its development dynamics and its rapidly spreading popularity across the globe. Township tourism and favela tourism have currently reached mass tourism characteristics in South Africa and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In other countries of the Global South, slum tourism now also occurs and providers see huge growth potential. While the morally controversial practice of slum tourism has raised much attention and opinionated debates in the media for several years, academic research has only recently started addressing it as a global phenomenon. This edition provides the first systematic overview of the field and the diverse issues connected to slum tourism. This multidisciplinary collection is unique both in its conceptual and empirical breadth. Its chapters indicate that ‘global slumming’ is not merely a controversial and challenging topic in itself, but also offers an apt lens through which to discuss core concepts in critical tourism studies in a global perspective, in particular: ‘poverty’, ‘power’ and ‘ethics’. Building on research by prolific researchers from ten different countries, the book provides a comprehensive and unique insight in the current empirical, practical and theoretical knowledge on the subject. It takes a thorough and critical review of issues associated with slum tourism, asking why slums are visited, whether they should be visited, how they are represented, who is benefiting from it and in what way. It offers new insights to tourism's role in poverty alleviation and urban regeneration, power relations in contact zones and tourism's cultural and political implications. Drawing on research from four continents and seven different countries, and from multidisciplinary perspectives, this ground-breaking volume will be valuable reading for students, researchers and academics interested in this contemporary form of tourism.

Annotation Second homes are an integral component of tourism in rural and peripheral areas. This volume represents the first major international review of second homes for over 25 years. The volume represents essential reading for those interested in rural regional development processes.