Fundamentals of Tourism

The number of people travelling for tourism purposes has more than doubled in the last two decades and is still growing. Over a billion globetrotters are now contributing vast sums, both directly and indirectly, to the gross domestic products of countries all over the world. However, planning for tourism development requires knowledge and insight into who tourists are, their characteristics and preferences, and how many are taking which tourism trips. Poorly conceived and executed ventures can result in unintended and negative socio-cultural, environmental and economic consequences. Fundamentals of tourism is an introduction to what tourism actually is, how its economic value chain unfolds and how it can be exploited to maximum benefit for all parties. Fundamentals of tourism balances cognitive and effective outcomes, providing an understanding of the basic concepts while encouraging interest and increased participation in tourism-related discourse and activities. It makes use of South African, southern African and African case studies to illustrate the practical application of each concept and offers discussions and scenario testing to trigger interest, reflection and engagement.