This Handbook provides a critical analysis of the evolution of the contemporary niche tourism phenomenon. By framing discussions around sustainable development thinking, concepts and practical applications, each chapter provides specific reflections on niche tourism trends, successes and/or failures, and the challenges and opportunities that destinations that pursue tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development face around the world. The Handbook includes a blend of academic and practitioner contributors providing a balance of theoretical, conceptual and empirical elaborations on the topic, with case studies from across the globe. It covers a broad range of critical thematic areas, including: nature-based tourism, rural tourism, heritage and culture based tourism, dark tourism, spiritual, religious and wellness tourism, and social and inclusive tourism. Chapters also examine the latest developments in niche tourism, including the impact of Covid-19. This invigorating and comprehensive study of niche tourism will benefit sustainable tourism scholars, as well as tourism researchers and students more broadly. It will also be useful to policy makers and tourism practitioners seeking a better understanding of this increasingly important field.

In a world increasingly faced with, and divided by, regional and global crises, resilience has emerged as a key concept with significant relevance for tourism. A paradigmatic shift is taking place in the long-term planning of tourism development, in which the prevailing focus on sustainability is being enhanced with the practical application of resilience planning. This book provides a critical appraisal of sustainability and resilience, and the relationship between the two. Contributions highlight the complexity of addressing social change with resilience planning in a range of tourism contexts, from islands to mountains, from urban to remote environments, and in a range of international settings. Case studies articulate how tourism is both an agent of social change and a victim of larger change processes, and provide important lessons on how to deal with increasingly unstable economic, social and environmental systems. This is the first book to specifically examine social change and sustainability in tourism through a resilience lens. This much-needed contribution to the literature will be a key resource for those working in tourism studies, tourism planning and management, social geography, and development studies, among others.

This book delves into topics on pilgrimage travel and communities from a variety of perspectives through academic research based on the Middle East, Northeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Europe, where sacred sites have become of great importance for both international and domestic tourism. In particular, Europe and Asia possess a high volume of world-renowned pilgrimage sites that are currently being developed as tourism destinations in their respective countries, such as Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Lourdes (France), and Koyasan (Japan). This book includes studies on these two continents that harbor both a great history of pilgrimage tradition, as well as tourism development related to religious travel. The book importantly covers the role of the community in religious tourism, as well as the impact on the locals, which is comparatively an unexplored area. Whilst pilgrimage is seen as an effective tool to revitalize local economies, this book also reveals the different challenges to achieving this goal. Realizing the importance of the interrelationship of community and pilgrimage travel, as well as the lack of studies on it, this book seeks to address this research gap through 14 chapters divided into two parts, ‘Communities and Constestation’ and ‘Pilgrimage Shaping Communities’. To ensure diverse perspectives, case studies from different Eurasian countries, written by authors with expertise in the study of pilgrimage and religious travel, are included. Readers can expect to gain new perspectives by having a deeper comprehension of the ‘community side‘ of pilgrimage travel in Eurasia, and thus an integral understanding of contemporary pilgrimage

This comprehensive book focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic is transforming travel and tourism, globally. Despite the devastation caused by COVID-19, authors argue that within the ongoing crisis, there is also an opportunity to positively transform the tourism sector in ways that contribute to a more hopeful future for tourism practitioners, tourists and host communities. As the world emerges from the shadow of COVID-19 there will not be a return to the "normal". Rather, the volume shares a vision of global transformation that is driven at least in part by the changing ways people in the post-COVID-19 era may travel and encounter each other and their environments. Individual chapters explore topics such as: regenerative economies, transformational travel, critical perspectives on pandemics and tourism, sustainable development and resilience post-COVID-19, re-discovering and re-localising tourism, global (im)mobilities, transforming tourism management, as well as new value systems for travel and tourism including the chance to strengthen social equity and social justice as tourism returns after COVID-19. In this edited volume, a series of senior and emerging scholars engage with debates on how to best contribute to more substantial, meaningful, and positive planetary shifts within the tourism industry. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Tourism Geographies.

In a world increasingly faced with, and divided by, regional and global crises, resilience has emerged as a key concept with significant relevance for tourism. A paradigmatic shift is taking place in the long-term planning of tourism development, in which the prevailing focus on sustainability is being enhanced with the practical application of resilience planning. This book provides a critical appraisal of sustainability and resilience, and the relationship between the two. Contributions highlight the complexity of addressing social change with resilience planning in a range of tourism contexts, from islands to mountains, from urban to remote environments, and in a range of international settings. Case studies articulate how tourism is both an agent of social change and a victim of larger change processes, and provide important lessons on how to deal with increasingly unstable economic, social and environmental systems. This is the first book to specifically examine social change and sustainability in tourism through a resilience lens. This much-needed contribution to the literature will be a key resource for those working in tourism studies, tourism planning and management, social geography, and development studies, among others.

This volume is an essential reference for designing, analysing and reflecting on field research. It advances the literature on gender by taking a specific focus on masculinities. The book is organised into four sections: hegemonic and heteronormative masculinities, performing heteronormative masculinities, situated masculinities and paternal masculinities. The chapters explore the question of what it means to be a 'man' and definitions of masculinities. These reflexive accounts of gendered field experiences further the call for gender positionality in research and will aid tourism researchers and other transdisciplinary scholars. It is a useful tool for supervisors, ethics committee members and researchers (male and female).

This book considers what the transition into the Asian Century means for some of the most urgent issues in the world today, such as sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, and environmental change. The book critiques Anglo-Western centrism in tourism theory and calls on tourism scholars to make radical shifts toward more inclusive epistemology and praxis. From the British Century of the 1800s to the American Century of the 1900s to the contemporary Asian Century, tourism geographies are deeply entangled in broader shifts in geopolitical power. In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of shifts in tourism geographies and the themes addressed in this volume are more urgent than ever. That the world faces increasing turmoil is abundantly clear. Yet, amidst the disruption to the everyday, it is hope and compassion, but also political-economic restructuring that is needed to reset the tourism industry in more sustainable, equitable, and ethical directions. In no uncertain terms, the pandemic has forever changed the tourism industry as the world once knew it. This book, therefore, sets out to collectively build on the momentum of the inclusive scholarship that Critical Tourism Studies-Asia Pacific is renowned for, while also asking readers to pause and reflect on the possibilities and challenges of tourism in a post-pandemic Asian Century. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Tourism Geographies.

This comprehensive book focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic is transforming travel and tourism, globally. Despite the devastation caused by COVID-19, authors argue that within the ongoing crisis, there is also an opportunity to positively transform the tourism sector in ways that contribute to a more hopeful future for tourism practitioners, tourists and host communities. As the world emerges from the shadow of COVID-19 there will not be a return to the "normal". Rather, the volume shares a vision of global transformation that is driven at least in part by the changing ways people in the post-COVID-19 era may travel and encounter each other and their environments. Individual chapters explore topics such as: regenerative economies, transformational travel, critical perspectives on pandemics and tourism, sustainable development and resilience post-COVID-19, re-discovering and re-localising tourism, global (im)mobilities, transforming tourism management, as well as new value systems for travel and tourism including the chance to strengthen social equity and social justice as tourism returns after COVID-19. In this edited volume, a series of senior and emerging scholars engage with debates on how to best contribute to more substantial, meaningful, and positive planetary shifts within the tourism industry. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Tourism Geographies.

Over the last decade, while many scholars have maintained their interest in the classical debate concerning the impacts of tourism, some have attempted new conceptualisations, while others have converged towards critical narratives promoted by a number of social movements, and have become involved in subsequent discussions on ‘overtourism’ and ‘tourismphobia’. The terms 'overtourism' and 'tourismphobia' have their genesis in the rapid unfolding of unsustainable mass tourism practices and the responses that these have generated amongst academics, practitioners, social movements and grassroots organizations concerned with the detrimental use of urban, rural and coastal spaces, among others, for tourism purposes. The renewed interest in the study of the adverse impacts of tourism, as implied in the term 'overtourism', is related to a variety of well-established causes. Travel and Tourism in the Age of Overtourism builds on existing knowledge and makes a theoretical and practical contribution the overtourism debate and the system dynamics underlining it. This collection suggests ways to address this from a tourism and planning perspective. It offers critical reflections on the contemporary evolution of tourism development and the implication of such processes on people, places and spaces. The chapters in this book were originally published as a Special Issue of the journal Tourism Planning & Development.

Over the last decade, while many scholars have maintained their interest in the classical debate concerning the impacts of tourism, some have attempted new conceptualisations, while others have converged towards critical narratives promoted by a number of social movements, and have become involved in subsequent discussions on 'overtourism' and 'tourismphobia'. The terms 'overtourism' and 'tourismphobia' have their genesis in the rapid unfolding of unsustainable mass tourism practices and the responses that these have generated amongst academics, practitioners, social movements and grassroots organizations concerned with the detrimental use of urban, rural and coastal spaces, among others, for tourism purposes. The renewed interest in the study of the adverse impacts of tourism, as implied in the term 'overtourism', is related to a variety of well-established causes. Travel and Tourism in the Age of Overtourism builds on existing knowledge and makes a theoretical and practical contribution the overtourism debate and the system dynamics underlining it. This collection suggests ways to address this from a tourism and planning perspective. It offers critical reflections on the contemporary evolution of tourism development and the implication of such processes on people, places and spaces. The chapters in this book were originally published as a Special Issue of the journal Tourism Planning & Development.

In recent years, resilience theory has come to occupy the core of our understanding and management of the adaptive capacity of people and places in complex social and environmental systems. Despite this, tourism scholars have been slow to adopt resilience concepts, at a time when the emergence of new frameworks and applications is pressing. Drawing on original empirical and theoretical insights in resilience thinking, this book explores how tourism communities and economies respond to environmental changes, both fast (natural hazard disasters) and slow (incremental shifts). It explores how tourism places adapt, change, and sometimes transform (or not) in relation to their environmental context, with an awareness of intersection with societal dynamics and links to political, economic and social drivers of change. Contributions draw on empirical research conducted in a range of international settings, including indigenous communities, to explore the complexity and gradations of environmental change encounters and resilience planning responses in a range of tourism contexts. As the first book to specifically focus on environmental change from a resilience perspective, this timely and original work makes a critical contribution to tourism studies, tourism management and environmental geography, as well as environmental sciences and development studies.

The links between islands and tourism as sights of pleasure is embodied in the touristification of sun, sand, and sea. Islandscapes are central to the tourist imaginaries that shape islands as touristified places -- curated, designed, and commodified for both mass tourism and more niche inclined versions. Yet while islands are parlayed for touristic pleasure seekers, islands are also home to longstanding communities that have variously battled with the tyranny of distance from metropolitan centers, as well as the everyday challenges of climate change effects, and benefitted from their isolation from modern-day pressures. To what extent are islandscapes resilient to rapidly changing utilities, significances, and ways of life wrought by tourism expansion? The vulnerability-resilience duality remains firmly entrenched in the discourse on islands where tourism has become prominent. Although tourism provides some resiliency, overall, islandscapes remain subject to externally driven fast and slow change that exercises an overwhelming influence. This anthology of articles previously published in the journal Shima explores emergent themes that describe how island peoples adapt and respond in localized cultural islandscapes as a consequence of tourism expansion. It is aimed at researchers in island studies, tourism, sustainability, human geography, cultural studies, sociology, and anthropology. The anthology will also be of interest to those with an abiding interest in the trajectories of islands and their peoples, particularly where tourism has come to shape islandscapes.

Orphanage tourism is where tourist interactions with 'orphaned' children are central to traveller itineraries and experience making in less-developed contexts. While appealing to the desire of tourists and volunteers to 'do good' while travelling, underlining orphanage tourism is the fact that the vast majority of children (over 80%) in orphanages and allied care institutions are not orphans. Instead, children are often placed in institutions due to poverty and hardship, and as victims of human trafficking. In some cases, orphanages can be for-profit enterprises, where the commodification of good intentions begins and becomes embedded in the tourism supply chain. Children are becoming tourist attractions and the focus of tourist consumption, leading to orphanages as sites of tourism production and consumption. The first of its kind, this book highlights exploratory research that examines the links between modern slavery practices and orphanage tourism. Contributors include academics and practitioners with a long engagement in advocacy for the rights and protection of children and research into sustainable and responsible tourism. Written in an accessible manner that appeals to a broad audience. This book will appeal to researchers interested in the areas of tourism, human geography, development studies, childhood studies, law and social justice, as well as those interested in responsible and sustainable travel. Practitioners, policy makers and civil society groups working at the vanguard of tourism expansion and communities in less-developed contexts - particularly where labour rights transgressions, human exploitation and trafficking are prevalent - will also find the book insightful. Royalties from the sales of this book will be donated to Save the Children Australia and the Forget Me Not Foundation.