The Economics of Tourism Destinations

Norbert Vanhove (PhD in economic sciences, Erasmus University, Rotterdam) started his career in tourism at WES Research & Strategy (Bruges) and is co-founder and honorary president of TRC (Tourism Research Center). He is one of the founding fellows of IAST (International Academy for the Study of Tourism) and has been vice-president of Association Internationale d'Experts Scientifiques du Tourisme (AIEST) for over ten years. He has been visiting professor (1967-2001) and later treasurer at the College of Europe. Since 2002, he has been part-time professor at KU Leuven (Tourism). In the years 1979-2000, he was general director of the Regional Development Authority of West-Flanders and of WES Research & Strategy.

Revised and updated, the fourth edition of The Economics of Tourism Destinations provides a guide to the economic aspects of tourism for students and practitioners to decipher the methods of measurement of supply, demand, trends and impacts as well as the role of tourism in development strategy for destinations and regional development.

Each chapter combines theory and practice, and international case studies are provided. New to this edition:

• Three brand new chapters on overtourism, terrorism and pandemics, and sustainable development, covering the importance of risk management and sustainable strategy in relation to tourism management.
• New content on climate change, Airbnb, the impact of events and sustainable tourism development.
• Pedagogical features: new case studies, discussion questions and student activities to show theory in practice and encourage reflection on the content.
• Updated data throughout and reference to important new literature.

Combining macro and micro aspects of economics to the tourism destination, this book is an invaluable resource for students studying this topic.

Revised and updated, the fourth edition of The Economics of Tourism Destinations provides a guide to the economic aspects of tourism for students and practitioners to decipher the methods of measurement of supply, demand, trends and impacts as well as the role of tourism in development strategy for destinations and regional development.

1 The economic characteristics of the tourism sector; 2 Measuring tourism; 3 Tourism demand; 4 Overtourism; 5 Tourism's vulnerability: terrorism and pandemics; 6 Tourism supply; 7 Pricing and taxation; 8 Competition and the tourism destination; 9 Forecasting tourism demand; 10 Tourism as a development strategy; 11 Tourism export-led growth; 12 The economic impact of tourism; 13 Micro-evaluation of projects in the tourism and hospitality industry; 14 Macro-evaluation of projects in the tourism and hospitality industry; 15 Tourism and sustainable development