The first tourist destinations were primarily consolidated in the early twentieth century. Since then, tourism has undergone significant changes in its economic and social components. Over time, many of these destinations have now come to represent 'mass tourism' and are the subject of many studies on the impacts of tourism and competitiveness policies. The conclusions of these studies point to the need for new perspectives and strategies ranging from adaptation to new contexts to a radical change in targets. Concepts such as 'sustainability', 'nature', 'biodiversity' or 'climate change' have now been added to the tourism industry with varying degrees of knowledge and skill. These offer a great opportunity to improve a model of tourism previously oriented towards business and the institutional rhetoric of "sustainability" - a fact now recognised by tourists as representing the negative effects of conventional tourism. Management of these innovations should include among its aims environmental education and orient visitors towards awareness and respect for sustainability even outside their leisure time.To this end, the tourist needs to be made aware of all those involved and their commitment to managing the destination, as enjoying the territory should be based upon minimising the socio-ecological impacts of tourism, and on motivating nature conservation and participation of local populations in both these goals, as well as in the economic benefits obtained. The challenge entails the destination finding a good balance between economic and cultural benefits, landscape conservation and tourist satisfaction. This fifth volume of the Tourism Today Series presents a collection of papers addressing the how to manage new opportunities in tourism at a variety of destinations and in multiple contextual realities. These papers address important issues related to tourism as a tool for development which will give a better understanding of some of the current challenges.

Yellowstone National Park spans the states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho in the USA. It is famous worldwide. Since their creation in 1872, most 'protected natural areas' have been considered as probably the greatest achievement of nature conservation. Many countries have such spaces within their territories and many visitors, native or foreign, use some of their free time to get to know them. In this sense these spaces undertake to conserve nature and educate society and give us a kind of cultural tourism that has grown considerably in recent decades. Cultural tourism today specifically includes, along with cities, museums, monuments and rural traditions, the aim of 'getting to know nature'. Protected natural areas are ideal for this. The tourism industry has realised this and so the value of the landscape and natural resources is becoming increasingly recognised. This is a welcome development and represents a challenge for tourism management, for environmental education and for dissemination of nature and conservation. This volume of the series Tourism Today considers the evolving relationship between tourism and protected natural areas.

A key feature of the tourism system is its ability to adapt to new demands while generating others. Tourism's capacity for renewal is based largely on a balance between competitiveness and opportunity to transform places and objects or even people into socioeconomic resources. The modern tourist has become more aware of the pitfalls of mass tourism, leading to a growing demand for variety. As a consequence of environmental awareness, tourism has been shown to be one of the economic activities that contribute most to the deterioration of the landscape. Today a reinterpretation of the negative effects of conventional tourism has emerged, resulting in the gradual appearance of prestigious tourism offers based largely on demand for authentic 'nature' and 'culture' experiences. This type of tourism is often associated with responsibility, participation and sustainability. Tourism planners are aware of this fact and have therefore adapted their products and destinations to new market demands. All this can affect the identity of the local people and the landscape of the destination; the challenge entails studying ways to preserve the natural and cultural heritage while avoiding the undesirable effects of new forms of tourism. The selection of papers presented in this book deal with cultural tourism, and comprises case studies and theoretical contributions. The volume addresses issues of cultural tourism management, demand analysis, post-tourism, new forms of tourism, cultural effects on destinations and products of sustainable cultural tourism.