The History and Evolution of Tourism

This book provides an overview of the history and evolution of tourism to the present, and speculates on possible and probable change into the future. It discusses significant travel, tourism and hospitality events while referring to tourism-related notions and theories that have been developed since the beginnings of tourism. Even so, its scope moves beyond simply a detailed historical account of facts and events from the past and attempts to bridge these with contemporary issues, challenges and concerns, so that readers can connect tourism past with the present and future, which helps with decision making and even the development of new theories.

Despite its academic orientation, the book is written in an approachable style enabling a clear and solid understanding of how tourism has evolved through the centuries. It uses several practitioner-linked, real-life examples and case studies derived from organizations and enterprises across all aspects of the tourism, travel and events industries.

This book will be of great interest to academics, practitioners and students from a wide variety of disciplines, including tourism, hospitality, and events, sociology, psychology and human geography.