Tourist Organizations Book

(Today's society is very much an organizational one. The activities and impacts of organizations of various forms and sizes influence and impinge on virtually all aspects of everyday living and all sectors of society and the economy. The tourism industry is no exception. With over half the population in most developed countries taking annual holidays tourism ranks as a leading economic sector and item in international trade. Many books exist on the study of tourism in general, but there has been comparatively little research on tourist organizations as a topic in their own right. Tourist Organizations by Douglas Pearce fills this gap in the literature. It provides the first comprehensive and systematic treatment of tourist organizations describing their function, how they operate and why. Chapter One provides a conceptual introduction to tourist organizations and discusses their activities. This is followed by a series of detailed case studies drawn from the USA, Hawaii, Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand, through which Douglas Pearce describes the structure and roles of national, regional and local destination organizations and the ways in which they interact with each other in larger networks. The activities of these organizations are set within the context of tourism in each country, with an overview providing an up-to-date synthesis of tourism patterns, trends and policies as well as describing the broader political and geographical influences. The book closes with a discussion of the findings, highlighting the general characteristics of organizations relating to scale, function and funding and the role of interorganizational networks. This approach allows for a comparison to be made with tourist organizations elsewhere enabling all who work in and with the tourist organizations and those studying tourism to fully understand their dynamics and structure)Read More