Tourism Management 33 (2012) 721729

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Tourism Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman

Book Reviews
Tourism and Political Change, R. Butler, W. Suntikul (Eds.). Goodfellow, Oxford (2010). 229 pp., 50.00 (hbk), ISBN: 978-1906884-11-6 The past quarter century has witnessed some of the most dramatic geopolitical changes in modern history. The collapse of communism and state socialism in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America brought about democratic reforms in many parts of the world that for many years were under totalitarian political control. Likewise, traditional strict communist states have become more relaxed in their policies to the point where several now operate as communist states with capitalist economies (e.g. China, Vietnam, Cambodia). The destabilization and eventual collapse of state socialism in some countries invigorated existing secessionist movements in Eastern Europe and Africa. New countries were born as old nations and peoples that were bound together by communism, superimposed boundaries drawn by outsiders or other autocratic controls, asserted their own desires for self governance, resulting in several large countries disintegrating into smaller independent nation-states (e.g. USSR into 15 independent countries; Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Yugoslavia into seven independent countries). Likewise, several separatist entities won their crusades for independence (e.g. Eritrea from Ethiopia; Namibia from South Africa; Timor Leste from Indonesia). During the same period, at least two partitioned states were reunied (e.g. North and South Yemen; East and West Germany), and global terrorism, drug-related hostilities, widespread corruption, coups detat and wars fought against ideological extremism rather than between countries, have become the normative geopolitical landscape of the twenty-rst century. All of these events and patterns have had profound implications for international travel, tourism development, modernization and economic growth throughout the world. Given the complexity of the worlds political milieu in the twentieth century, this book, Tourism and Political Change, is a welcome contribution to the growing literature on this subject. It provides valuable insight and lends clarity to many political challenges facing tourism today. Following two introductory chapters that set the tone of the book, the remaining work is divided into ve sections, which parallel many of the issues noted in the rst paragraph above: unication/reunication, increasing autonomy, normalization/opening, political unrest, and changes in political relations. Within each section are 34 chapters that provide empirical examples and case studies of these ve types of political change. The arrangement of chapters into these sections is well done and logical, and helps the ow of ideas and concepts. Chapter 2 provides a nice conceptual overview of politics and change. Chapters 35 focus on German reunication, the growth of the European Union, and the reunication of Macau with China. The second section provides case studies of Scotlands efforts to move towards independence from the UK, the dissolution of the USSR, and the carving of Nunavut out of Canadas Northwest Territories. Under the topic of opening, section three is underscored by cases from Cuba, Libya and South Africa. Political unrest, the focus of part four, is highlighted in the contexts of Maoist rebels in Nepal, coups in Fiji and the Islamic revolution in Iran. The nal section, changes in political relations, contains three chapters on the role of tourism in promoting more amicable relations between the two Koreas and the two sectors of Cyprus, as well as the political and legal framework of tourism in Antarctica. For this reviewer, the most important contribution of these case studies is the chronological assessment of before, during and after the change. The authors do a good job of providing comparisons of tourism before the changes and afterwards. The tome provides nice global coverage with empirical material from all corners of the world, and the authors represent a wide array of nationalities, lending yet additional and more indigenous perspectives to the discussion of political change. Not everything with this collection of essays is rosy, however. There is an imbalance between chapters in terms of those that are more conceptually rich and those that are simple descriptions. Halls overview in chapter 2 and the chapters on Cyprus and the Korean DMZ are among the most conceptually rich because they draw from the existing literature to contextualize their case studies in current knowledge. Linked to this issue, while a few chapters alluded to the notions of supranationalism, sovereignty, borders and the political uses of tourism, none of these was dealt with at great length, which is quite surprising given that the book is about political change. Of all these crucial concepts, only border was listed in the index, and scant mention was made of these concepts throughout the text. In addition, there are considerable numbers of typographical errors and mistakes. Spelling, spacing and grammatical errors are scattered throughout the book and should have been corrected by copy editors and typesetters. Some inaccuracies are fairly obvious, such as 1999 being marked as Hong Kongs handover back to China (was actually 1997) on page 47 and an insinuation on page 35 that all Schengen states are also members of the European Union. These concerns aside, Butler and Suntikul should be commended for putting together the rst book of this kind to examine systematically global political changes and tourism. This volume is enlightening, and its biggest strength is its role as a collection of empirical essays that highlight regional problems, political changes through time and how tourism was affected before, during and after the changes. While these types of books have the potential to become outdated rather quickly from an empirical perspective, the ideas forwarded in this collection are timeless, and the chapters elucidate some of the most noteworthy cases in the world that will remain relevant for generations to come. Despite the large number of typographical errors, the volumes production quality is good. Its contents are useful and timely, and it makes an important

722

Book Reviews / Tourism Management 33 (2012) 721729

contribution to the growing literature on the politics of tourism. I would recommend the book for students and scholars involved in the social science of tourism. Dallen J. Timothy Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA E-mail address: dtimothy@asu.edu 11 May 2011 doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2011.05.007

Research themes for tourism, Peter Robinson, Sine Heitmann, Peter Dieke (Eds.), CAB International, Wallingford (2011). 300 pp. USD97.00 (Hbk), ISBN: 978-1-84593-684-6 It is generally agreed that tourism is a social phenomenon, which comprises a wide range of disciplines and themes. Despite the huge amount of efforts that the tourism researchers have been, and will likely be, devoting to nd a commonly agreeable denition of what tourism is, it is unlikely such an objective can be achieved in the near future. As such, the debate on the fundamentals of tourism still goes on. The timely introduction of the book Research Themes for Tourism, edited by Robinson, Heitmann, and Dieke, partly helps provide answers to the questions that are related to the fundamental nature of tourism. Authored by 21 scholars, the book consists of 20 chapters which can be broadly classied into two parts. Part I contains six chapters that provide a broad introduction and background of major issues in tourism. The 16 chapters in Part II cover a wide range of topics (or themes) in modern tourism. With a consistent format of presentation, the book aims to provide readers in general, and undergraduate students in particular, a basic understanding of contemporary as well as classic themes in tourism. Although the authors are afliated with different institutes, most of them have had substantial professional experiences in the industry. This, in turn, brings a wealth of valuable experiences to their chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the concepts of mass tourism and niche tourism, and evaluates the relationship between these two major types of tourism. The chapter also evaluates the basic concepts such as tourism system, tourism lifecycle, and multiplier effect. These concepts, together with the ongoing changes of travelers sophistication and demand, necessitate the introduction of specialized tourism products for different markets. Based on the assumption of shift from mass tourism to niche tourism, the chapter introduces other chapters in the book. Looking at different aspects of tourism development in less developed countries, Chapter 2 identies the major deciencies which potentially limit growth in these countries. The chapter then discusses the role that tourism plays to improve the situation. Practical suggestions are then offered for these countries to become competitive in global tourism. Although this chapter aims at less developed countries, some considerations are actually applicable to developed countries. Chapter 3 presents different theories of tourism motivation and tourist behavior. The chapter provides an overview of the stages that are involved for travel decision making, various types of travelers and their personality, as well as the unequal size, intention, and motives of different travelers. Knowing the needs and motivations for specic groups of consumers to travel, the industry can then cater for their needs by providing the right services and products. Chapter 4 introduces the concept of authenticity, and then moves on to its implications on tourism. The author states that it is authentic if something is produced or enacted by local residents

following the traditional culture or origin. Cases are subsequently provided to link authenticity with tourism in different tourist destinations. After that, Chapter 5 provides an overview of the semiotics in tourism over the years. The chapter is of use for marketing different tourism destinations using their own signs and images. For instance, the Great Wall would be a sign for China and sushi largely relates to Japan. Focusing on sustainable and alternative tourism, Chapter 6 analyzes different issues and prospects for sustainability and advocates its importance in tourism. The chapter also introduces different major types of alternative tourism, and their relationship with sustainable tourism. Community tourism is discussed in Chapter 7. In this chapter, the authors dene various terms that are related to community tourism. The role of different stakeholders in a community and their interests are further analyzed in the chapter. After that, Chapter 8 focuses on rural tourism, with a particular emphasis on the concept of countryside. With the demonstration of many case studies, the chapter states the importance of policies for the success of rural tourism. As a rarely investigated theme, slow activities and their linkages to sustainable tourism are discussed in Chapter 9. The chapter states the importance of being slow, which can largely keeps the originality and being environmentally friendly. Chapter 10 then explores the role of events, festivals, and arts in tourism. While events and festivals are closely related, it is somewhat unusual to group arts in the same discussion. Chapter 11 then moves on to explore sport and adventure tourism, a niche section of special interest tourism. In this chapter, different types of sport and adventure tourism are dened and described. The potential benets and drawbacks of sport and adventure tourism are also discussed in the chapter. The concepts of culture and access are introduced in Chapter 12. The chapter also examines their relationship with tourism. According to the author, cultural tourists visit a destination to look for originality and authenticity. As such, it is important that a culturally rich destination should maintain the nature of its culture if this destination wants to attract cultural tourists. As a specic type of cultural tourism, heritage tourism is explored in Chapter 13. In the chapter, denition of heritage, examples of heritage sites, and the primary aims of world heritage are provided. Chapter 14 focuses on lm tourism, an emerging theme in contemporary tourism. The chapter discusses the recent development of lm tourism, and the role of lm in promoting a destination. Despite the relatively small market segment at present, the chapter offers some good suggestions for potential contributions of lm to tourism. Similarly, Chapter 15 focuses on dark tourism, a niche and a small market segment in the industry. The chapter denes dark and presents how dark sites can be used to as attractions for destination promotion. The topic of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) tourism is discussed in Chapter 16. The history of LGBT tourism and popular LGBT destination are introduced for this growing niche market. As a major component of tourism, food is always enjoyed by tourists during their trips. Chapter 17 thus analyzes the relationship between gastronomy and tourism. The chapter also presents the relationship among food, culture, and consumption in the context of travel. After that, Chapter 18 examines different issues that are pertained to religious tourism. Although good cases are provided in the chapter, these cases remain largely unknown to international readers who are not familiar with the stated European destinations. Chapter 19 then moves on to explore the theme of health and medical tourism. The reasons for travelers to visit other places, such as cost and shortage of organs, are analyzed. As well, the related ethical issues are discussed in this chapter. Chapter 20 considers cruise tourism and the cruise industry, one of the most prominent sectors in tourism. The chapter presents the historical changes of the cruise industry, and management of cruises in the present globalization era. Usually not found in other edited books,