Tourism and Political Change

Tourism is a vital tool for political and economic change. Calls for boycotts by tourists of countries with undesirable political regimes, the use of tourism to initiate political discussions, increased pressure for fair trade, and the use of tourism for economic transformation all reflect the huge impact that tourist activity and the tourism industry has on political change. Tourism and Political Change addresses these issues of great current relevance and importance focussing on events and their impacts. The effects of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the implications of political fragmentation on tourism, such as in the former Soviet republics, the acceptance of tourism in China, the end of Apartheid and the effects on tourism in South Africa and the implications and effects of religion on tourism in Islamic countries amongst others, are used as a lens to discuss the past, present and future of the tourism industry. With international contributions from an esteemed list of experienced individuals, the book is subdivided into seven sections, two thematic (Introduction and Conclusion) and five thematic with original chapters which between them, cover a variety of political changes in many different parts of the world at different scales.