Tourism and Economic Development

Tourism has been identified as one of the few potential growth sectors in mature economies. This up-to-date volume provides a detailed study of the industry and of its contribution to economic development in Western Europe, offering a wide range of examples of the potential and limitations of tourism as a vehicle for development, and of government policies for tourism. Together, the general review chapters and the 11 country case studies, provide a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of tourism in Western Europe. The case studies are modelled on similar formats and cover changes in domestic and foreign tourism, seasonal and regional concentration, the economic implications of tourism development, and tourism policies.

Author Biography

Allan M. Williams is Professor of Human Geography and European Studies Centre at Exeter University. His research interests include European Studies, Southern and Central European development and the economic evaluation of tourism. He is the author of The European Community: The Contradictors of Integration (1994), co-author of Critical Issues in Tourism (1994) and co-editor of European Tourism: Regions, Spaces and Restructuring (1995). Gareth Shaw is a Reader in Geography at the University of Exeter. His research includes work on marketing, urban and historical geography, and tourism. He is the co-author of Critical Issues in Tourism (1994), co-editor of The Rise and Fall of British Coastal Resorts (1997) and co-Director of the Tourism Research Group.