Subtopic: Importance of Tourism Geography
– Study of travel and tourism industry
– Covers environmental impact, leisure economies, and sociology of tourism
– Deals with travel’s impact on places
– Tourism is geographical in nature
– Physical geography essential for understanding tourism places
Subtopic: Approaches to Studying Tourism Geography
– Varying concerns lead to different study approaches
– Quantitative methodology common in tourism management literature
– Considers tourist origin, destinations, and their relationships
– Cultural geography provides diverse theoretical approaches
– Sociology of tourism examines travel in everyday lives
Subtopic: Key Authors in Tourism Geography
– Dean MacCannell and John Urry are notable authors
– “The Tourist” and “The Tourist Gaze” are classic works
– Their contributions have influenced the field
– Their works delve into sociological aspects of tourism
– Important for understanding the tourist experience
Subtopic: Related Concepts in Tourism Geography
– Cultural tourism explores cultural aspects of travel
– Ecotourism focuses on environmentally responsible travel
– Geotourism emphasizes geological aspects of destinations
– Heritage tourism involves visiting historical sites
– Hospitality management studies address service industry in tourism
Subtopic: Further Reading in Tourism Geography
– Explore tourism journals for in-depth research
– Understand the sociology of leisure in tourism context
– Learn about different tourism regions and their characteristics
– Consider the impact of tourism on cultural heritage
– Delve into the complexities of managing leisure activities
Tourism geography is the study of travel and tourism, as an industry and as a social and cultural activity. Tourism geography covers a wide range of interests including the environmental impact of tourism, the geographies of tourism and leisure economies, answering tourism industry and management concerns and the sociology of tourism and locations of tourism.
Tourism geography is that branch of human geography that deals with the study of travel and its impact on places.
Geography is fundamental to the study of tourism, because tourism is geographical in nature. Tourism occurs in places, it involves movement and activities between places and it is an activity in which both place characteristics and personal self-identities are formed, through the relationships that are created among places, landscapes and people. Physical geography provides the essential background, against which tourism places are created and environmental impacts and concerns are major issues, that must be considered in managing the development of tourism places.
The approaches to study will differ according to the varying concerns. Much tourism management literature remains quantitative in methodology and considers tourism as consisting of the places of tourist origin (or tourist generating areas), tourist destinations (or places of tourism supply) and the relationship (connections) between origin and destination places, which includes transportation routes, business relationships and traveler motivations. Recent developments in human geography have resulted in approaches such as those from cultural geography, which take more theoretically diverse approaches to tourism, including a sociology of tourism, which extends beyond tourism as an isolated, exceptional activity and considering how travel fits into the everyday lives and how tourism is not only a consumptive of places, but also produces the sense of place at a destination. The Tourist by Dean MacCannell and The Tourist Gaze by John Urry are classics in this field.