Overtourism and Cruise Tourism in Emerging Destinations on the Arabian Peninsula

This book provides insights into the emergence of mega-cruise tourism in the Arabian Peninsula and its impacts on local communities, spaces, cultures, identities, and tourist experiences. It offers a micro-sociological analysis and calls for holistic, participatory, and mindful approaches to tourism planning and development. It explores the sociocultural, economic, and spatial challenges faced in international tourism development and its power relations. The book is a valuable resource for academics, students, practitioners, and policymakers interested in the fast emergence and impacts of mega-cruise tourism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 246 pages
Publication date: 31 July 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Cruise tourism has experienced remarkable growth worldwide, and this book stands as a pioneering exploration into the emergence of mega-cruise tourism in destinations on the Arabian Peninsula. It delves into the profound impacts of this tourism phenomenon on local communities, their spaces, cultures, identities, and tourist experiences. This comprehensive work offers a micro-sociological analysis, advocating for holistic, participatory, and mindful approaches to reimagine current exploitative tourism planning and development. Recognizing its significant political, social, and economic importance within the context of globalization, the book draws upon a long-term field study in an under-researched region in Asia, which has recently ventured into large-scale tourism to diversify its economy. Through its insights, the book sheds light on the journey of destination development, from a state of continuous growth to a sudden decline caused by the global health pandemic. It explores the sociocultural, economic, and spatial challenges encountered in international tourism development, examining their power relations from various perspectives and across different time periods. The book delves into topics such as time-space compression, overtourism, urban tourism, nature-based tourism, enclavization, social capital, imaginaries, Cultural Ecosystem Services, slow tourism, and just tourism. By providing a comprehensive analysis of these issues, the book offers an innovative contribution to the planning and development of tourism destinations, communities, and the spaces in which tourism thrives. It appeals to academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of tourism and hospitality management, geography, sociology, anthropology, urban planning, and environmental sciences. Moreover, practitioners and policymakers worldwide will find this book invaluable, as well as anyone with an interest in the rapidly evolving world of tourism.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138354272