Global Tourism

The purpose of this book is to allow readers to examine critical issues and problems facing the tourism industry. The problems are complex and interwoven and they suggest a variety of crises such as: overcrowding of tourist attractions; resident-host conflicts; over-use and destruction of natural resources; loss of cultural heritage; increased crime and prostitution; inflation and escalating land costs; and the host of other political, socio-cultural and economic problems that may be brought about or exacerbated by tourism development. The three features of the book are the presentation and analysis of the philosophical and directional difficulties which face the tourism industry, the essential issues of raison d'etre and the importance of social issues and ills affecting current and future tourism practice, and the basic forces that are shaping society and generating questions about the purpose of tourism.