Geography of Tourism and Recreation

The fully updated third edition of this highly successful and acclaimed text continues to offer a comprehensive synthesis of the key issues associated with the area of tourism, leisure and recreation. It provides a cohesive overview of the landmark studies that exist within tourism, leisure and recreation. It not only explains how important tourism and leisure are in modern society, but outlines the key contributions made by geographers in the global growth of tourism and leisure.

The Geography of Tourism and Recreation highlights the inter-relationships between tourism, leisure and recreation. The revised edition, introduces the growing theoretical debates from the discipline of geography and the wider social science area to assess how new conceptualizations of tourism and leisure are advancing knowledge and understanding in this subject area. The evolving nature of geography and social science in leading the analysis of the leisure phenomenon underpins the book, as a living subject which has seen significant contributions made from the new cultural geographies of consumption and leisure as well as from social theory. These developments are introduced in a clear and crisp manner so that readers new to the subject area are given bite-sized introductions to these important issues.

The chapters within the book explore

• Introduction Recreation and tourism matters!
• the demand for recreation and tourism
• the supply of recreation and tourism
• the impacts of recreation and tourism
• recreation and tourism in urban, rural and coastal environments
• recreation and tourism in wilderness areas and national parks
• recreation and tourism policy and planning
• the future of recreation and tourism and the role of geography in applied research

Each theme is illustrated with a wide range of examples and maps and plates.

Whilst this third edition retains the successful format and structure of previous editions to make it attractive and user-friendly to students without being overwhelming, it is completely revised and redeveloped to accommodate new case studies, insights, summary points and learning objectives for students. The global focus of the text is retained, with a greater emphasis on North America as well as the importance of less developed countries and the critical issues of inequality, exploitation, underdevelopment and globalization as powerful forces affecting tourism and leisure.

This remains the only truly integrated and holistic approach to recreation and tourism which adopts a spatial approach to the analysis and understanding of the leisure phenomenon, building upon the 'geographical tradition' in leading the development of this subject area.