The Economic Geography of the Tourist Industry

This text bridges the gap between tourism research and economic geography by bringing together contributions from academics in geography, planning and tourism. The authors explain tourism's definitions and examine whether tourism can be categorized as an industry. They provide detailed analysis of sectors, such as tour operators, airlines and the hotel industry from a broad international perspective. The book also explores issues such as business cycles, labour dynamics, entrepreneurship and the role of the state in tourism and concludes that the production of tourism-related services has characteristics commonly associated with "harder" production sectors, such as manufacturing and producer services.

Introduction - exploring the economic geography-tourism nexus. Part A Conceptual and definitional issues - barriers to theory: the tourist industry and economic geography - missed opportunities; tourism as an industry - debates and concepts; the tourism production system and the logic of industrial classification. Part B The demand side: the determinants of tourism demand - a theoretical perspective. Part C Neo-fordism and flexibility - a sectoral approach: neo-fordism and flexible specilization in the travel industry - dissecting the polyglot; distribution technologies and destination development - myths and realities; tour operators - the gatekeepers of tourism; the airline industry and tourism; continuity and change in the hotel industry - some evidence from Montreal. Part D Global-local nexus:place commodification, entrepreneurship and labour: the institutional setting - tourism and the state; tourism and economic development policy - the case of US cities; entrepreneurship, small business culture and tourism development; tourism in the third Italy - labour and social-business networks. Part E Cycles and innovations: economic business cycles and the tourism cycle concept. Conclusion: conclusion - synthesis and new directions.