- Email: [email protected]
Tourism analysis: A handbook
162
PUBLICATIONS
IN REVIEW
REFERENCES Books, John, and Charles Prysby 1988 Studying Contextual Effects on Political Behavior: A Research Inventory and Agenda. American Politics Quarterly 16(2):21 i-238. Gittell, Ross, and Nancy Kelley 1988 Civic Strategy for Local Economic Development. National Civic Review 77(3): 213-223. Jenne, Kurt, et al. 1988 Strategic Planning: Three North Carolina Communities. Popular Government (Summer):21-26. McN’ulty, Robert H., et al. 1985 The Economics of Amenity: Community Futures and Quality of Life; A Policy Guide to Urban Economic Development. Washington DC: Partners for Livable Places. Neu, Carl H., Jr. 1988 Strategic Governance: A Community Integration Process. National Civic Review 77(2):133-142. Richter, Linda 1983’Tourism Politics and Political Science: A Case of Not So Benign Neglect. Annals of Tourism Research (10): \ , 131-335. University of Missouri 1986 Tourism U.S.A.: Guidelines for Tourism Development. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Commerce. Assigned 9 February 1989 Revised versions submitted 17 April and 11 September Accepted 15 September 1989
l
1989
Book Reviews Tourism Analysis:
By Stephen L. J. Smith. Longman Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, UK) (maps, graphs, tables, appendices,
A Handbook
Scientific (Longman House, ISBN o-582-30150-5, 1989, indexes) $39.95 (cloth).
Burnt Mill, xii+312 pp
Charles A. Stansfield State College, USA
Glassboro
This is a very line book in many respects. It is also a charming book. “Charming” may seem an odd term to apply to such a practical elucidation of thirty-six quantitative methods especially useful to advanced students and practitioners of tourism research. Thanks to the author’s evident facility with language and his guiding concern, the book is truly useful. The standardized testing to which North American high school and college students must submit themselves, repeatedly, assumes that basic intellectual abilities are divided into verbal and mathematical skills categories. Conventional wisdom further assumes that an individual’s outstanding proficiency in one often is combined with but mediocre capabilities in the other. It is true often enough to perpetuate this “either/or” assumption which, in the case of all too many books on quantitative techniques, seems to take on the mantle of
PUBLICATIONS
IN REVIEW
163
natural law. Many times, authors whose mathematical abilities clearly were outstanding have managed to reinforce one’s expectations that their writing ability will prove inadequate. Commonly, the sentences between the abstract formulae, and underneath the intimidatingly complex graphs, seem both turgid and turbid and, worse yet, unrelated to the solution of practical problems. Many pioneering quantifiers seemed so bedazzled by the internal beauty of their statistical mechanisms that they paid scant attention to the everyday applicability of these techniques. It is a major strength of Tourism Analysis: A Handbook that Stephen Smith focuses on the practical utility of statistical techniques. It is the charm of Tourism Analysis that it is beautifully written. In this instance at least, the canard that mathematical genius is accompanied by verbal incompetance or, at best, mediocrity, is demonstrably untrue. Tourism Analysis is organized into ten chapters. Chapter One, “The Content, Challenge and Strategy of Tourism Research:’ offers an admirably clear, concise introduction to the field of tourism research. After documenting the fact that tourism has become the world’s largest single industry, with worldwide receipts over US$1.8 trillion in 1986, Smith goes on to note, “Professional standards for [tourism] industry operations, the responsiveness of governmental policy initiatives, the level of industry planning, and the opportunities for university-level education in tourism fall far short of that appropriate for such a large industry” (p. 1). Among the explanations for this situation are “a lack of credible information about the importance of tourism” (most tourism researchers will agree, having been frustrated by official inattention to collection and publication of statistics relevant to tourism studies) and also to, “a tradition in tourism that places little emphasis on the high-quality research that would produce the necessary credible information” (p. 1). The objective of this book is to provide tourism researchers with the appropriate statistical tools with which they can correct the lamented scarcity of “credible information” (p. 1). This book should be an outstanding success at meeting this worthy objective. Chapter Two, “Defining and Describing Tourism,” is a compact primer on the nature of tourism and tourism studies. The remaining eight chapters each present a major topic in tourism research: “Segmenting the Tourism Market,” “Understanding the Tourist: “Forecasting Tourism Demand and Market Trends,” “Selecting A Site for Business Development,” “Defining the Geographic Structure of the Industry,” “Describing Tourism Regions,” “Determining the Value of Public Resources Used in Tourism,” and “Estimating the Local Magnitude of Tourism.” The organization of each of these eight chapters is similar, illustrating both the author’s skillful writing and his underlying concern that this will be both a successful text and a true “handbook” - kept handy by all industry experts and consultants as an invaluable reference (it is sure to be). An introduction outlines definitions and goals of each statistical procedure. This description explains the types of problems which are appropriately addressed by these methods. There follows a detailed explanation of each procedure with an example. Finally, there is a candid discussion of the reliability and applicability of each method-what this procedure can do and fail to do in facilitating a successful research project. As noted above, a major asset of this book is its readability. It is clear and interesting without being “written down” in any sense. It is an academic book for academics, but it is free of jargon. As examples of the high quality of writing, consider these key sentences in the chapter on “Defining the Geographic Structure of the Industry”: “Regionalization is area1 classification. It is the defining of one or more areas on the face of the earth in order to identify them as separate entities . Regionalization provides a type of intellectual shorthand that simplifies and orders knowledge about diverse places. . Regions can be compared with each other to learn more about what relationships
164
PUBLICATIONS
IN REVIEW
and characteristics are important for tourism development . Unlike chemicals or species, tourism regions do not exist in themselves; they are created for, and only for some larger purpose” (pp. 161-162). This reviewer, a geographer with a strong interest in tourism research, can recall no clearer statement on the nature of regions in any other text or reference book. Examples utilize problems and data from Canada, United States, Europe and the Caribbean. Smith draws on his own considerable body of research projects, as well as those of many other currently active tourism researchers. End-of-chapter bibliographies are quite adequate; maps and graphs are of professional quality and easy to read. In summary, this book does exactly what it set out to do, and does it very well. It is the first of its kind and will almost certainly dominate the market for this type of book for years to come-not only a pioneer, but a classic. It has become a book review cliche that the volume reviewed will become a necessary addition to the personal libraries of everyone in the field, but this is inescapably true about Tourism Research: A Handbook. 0 0 Assigned 8 March 1989 Submitted 16 August 1989 Accepted 15 September 1989
Principles
of Tourism
By Alan Collier. Pitman Publishing (182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland New Zealand) ISBN 0-908575-67-X, 1989 xiv+450 pp (tables, figures, pendices, references, index) NZ634.95 (paper).
10, ap-
David G. Simmons Lincoln
University
College,
New Zealand
Principles of Tourism is a purpose-written text for the study of tourism in New Zealand and not, as the title might suggest, a general reader in tourism. The study was borne out of the frustration of a lack of adequate teaching resources for a general tourism course oriented to the New Zealand situation. To this end, Collier has been supported in his efforts by the government Tourist and Publicity Department and the New Zealand Tourist Industry Federation. The book is described as “an introductory book . designed essentially as a text for those studying the course ‘Principles of Tourism’ for the National Certificate in Business studies.” The book’s two themes, which are explored throughout, are to advance the notion of “an integrated tourism industry in New Zealand,” and the idea that the “tourism product” is “composite in nature and includes everything that tourists purchase, see, experience and feel from the time that they leave home until the time they return” (p. xii). Therefore, the concepts of service marketing, the nature of the tourism product, the need for tourism planning, and tourism’s impacts on its resource bases are important considerations for the text. Throughout the text, the format used briefly introduces worldwide trends and considerations and then presents a more detailed review of current New Zealand conditions. The first three chapters present an introduction to tourism. They include definitions and scope of tourism, its history and growth, and a review of the structure and classification of organizations involved in tourism. Chapters Four, Five, and Six present a review of the industry sectors most commonly associated with tourism. The first of these is transportation, which
PUBLICATIONS
IN REVIEW
REFERENCES Books, John, and Charles Prysby 1988 Studying Contextual Effects on Political Behavior: A Research Inventory and Agenda. American Politics Quarterly 16(2):21 i-238. Gittell, Ross, and Nancy Kelley 1988 Civic Strategy for Local Economic Development. National Civic Review 77(3): 213-223. Jenne, Kurt, et al. 1988 Strategic Planning: Three North Carolina Communities. Popular Government (Summer):21-26. McN’ulty, Robert H., et al. 1985 The Economics of Amenity: Community Futures and Quality of Life; A Policy Guide to Urban Economic Development. Washington DC: Partners for Livable Places. Neu, Carl H., Jr. 1988 Strategic Governance: A Community Integration Process. National Civic Review 77(2):133-142. Richter, Linda 1983’Tourism Politics and Political Science: A Case of Not So Benign Neglect. Annals of Tourism Research (10): \ , 131-335. University of Missouri 1986 Tourism U.S.A.: Guidelines for Tourism Development. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Commerce. Assigned 9 February 1989 Revised versions submitted 17 April and 11 September Accepted 15 September 1989
l
1989
Book Reviews Tourism Analysis:
By Stephen L. J. Smith. Longman Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, UK) (maps, graphs, tables, appendices,
A Handbook
Scientific (Longman House, ISBN o-582-30150-5, 1989, indexes) $39.95 (cloth).
Burnt Mill, xii+312 pp
Charles A. Stansfield State College, USA
Glassboro
This is a very line book in many respects. It is also a charming book. “Charming” may seem an odd term to apply to such a practical elucidation of thirty-six quantitative methods especially useful to advanced students and practitioners of tourism research. Thanks to the author’s evident facility with language and his guiding concern, the book is truly useful. The standardized testing to which North American high school and college students must submit themselves, repeatedly, assumes that basic intellectual abilities are divided into verbal and mathematical skills categories. Conventional wisdom further assumes that an individual’s outstanding proficiency in one often is combined with but mediocre capabilities in the other. It is true often enough to perpetuate this “either/or” assumption which, in the case of all too many books on quantitative techniques, seems to take on the mantle of
PUBLICATIONS
IN REVIEW
163
natural law. Many times, authors whose mathematical abilities clearly were outstanding have managed to reinforce one’s expectations that their writing ability will prove inadequate. Commonly, the sentences between the abstract formulae, and underneath the intimidatingly complex graphs, seem both turgid and turbid and, worse yet, unrelated to the solution of practical problems. Many pioneering quantifiers seemed so bedazzled by the internal beauty of their statistical mechanisms that they paid scant attention to the everyday applicability of these techniques. It is a major strength of Tourism Analysis: A Handbook that Stephen Smith focuses on the practical utility of statistical techniques. It is the charm of Tourism Analysis that it is beautifully written. In this instance at least, the canard that mathematical genius is accompanied by verbal incompetance or, at best, mediocrity, is demonstrably untrue. Tourism Analysis is organized into ten chapters. Chapter One, “The Content, Challenge and Strategy of Tourism Research:’ offers an admirably clear, concise introduction to the field of tourism research. After documenting the fact that tourism has become the world’s largest single industry, with worldwide receipts over US$1.8 trillion in 1986, Smith goes on to note, “Professional standards for [tourism] industry operations, the responsiveness of governmental policy initiatives, the level of industry planning, and the opportunities for university-level education in tourism fall far short of that appropriate for such a large industry” (p. 1). Among the explanations for this situation are “a lack of credible information about the importance of tourism” (most tourism researchers will agree, having been frustrated by official inattention to collection and publication of statistics relevant to tourism studies) and also to, “a tradition in tourism that places little emphasis on the high-quality research that would produce the necessary credible information” (p. 1). The objective of this book is to provide tourism researchers with the appropriate statistical tools with which they can correct the lamented scarcity of “credible information” (p. 1). This book should be an outstanding success at meeting this worthy objective. Chapter Two, “Defining and Describing Tourism,” is a compact primer on the nature of tourism and tourism studies. The remaining eight chapters each present a major topic in tourism research: “Segmenting the Tourism Market,” “Understanding the Tourist: “Forecasting Tourism Demand and Market Trends,” “Selecting A Site for Business Development,” “Defining the Geographic Structure of the Industry,” “Describing Tourism Regions,” “Determining the Value of Public Resources Used in Tourism,” and “Estimating the Local Magnitude of Tourism.” The organization of each of these eight chapters is similar, illustrating both the author’s skillful writing and his underlying concern that this will be both a successful text and a true “handbook” - kept handy by all industry experts and consultants as an invaluable reference (it is sure to be). An introduction outlines definitions and goals of each statistical procedure. This description explains the types of problems which are appropriately addressed by these methods. There follows a detailed explanation of each procedure with an example. Finally, there is a candid discussion of the reliability and applicability of each method-what this procedure can do and fail to do in facilitating a successful research project. As noted above, a major asset of this book is its readability. It is clear and interesting without being “written down” in any sense. It is an academic book for academics, but it is free of jargon. As examples of the high quality of writing, consider these key sentences in the chapter on “Defining the Geographic Structure of the Industry”: “Regionalization is area1 classification. It is the defining of one or more areas on the face of the earth in order to identify them as separate entities . Regionalization provides a type of intellectual shorthand that simplifies and orders knowledge about diverse places. . Regions can be compared with each other to learn more about what relationships
164
PUBLICATIONS
IN REVIEW
and characteristics are important for tourism development . Unlike chemicals or species, tourism regions do not exist in themselves; they are created for, and only for some larger purpose” (pp. 161-162). This reviewer, a geographer with a strong interest in tourism research, can recall no clearer statement on the nature of regions in any other text or reference book. Examples utilize problems and data from Canada, United States, Europe and the Caribbean. Smith draws on his own considerable body of research projects, as well as those of many other currently active tourism researchers. End-of-chapter bibliographies are quite adequate; maps and graphs are of professional quality and easy to read. In summary, this book does exactly what it set out to do, and does it very well. It is the first of its kind and will almost certainly dominate the market for this type of book for years to come-not only a pioneer, but a classic. It has become a book review cliche that the volume reviewed will become a necessary addition to the personal libraries of everyone in the field, but this is inescapably true about Tourism Research: A Handbook. 0 0 Assigned 8 March 1989 Submitted 16 August 1989 Accepted 15 September 1989
Principles
of Tourism
By Alan Collier. Pitman Publishing (182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland New Zealand) ISBN 0-908575-67-X, 1989 xiv+450 pp (tables, figures, pendices, references, index) NZ634.95 (paper).
10, ap-
David G. Simmons Lincoln
University
College,
New Zealand
Principles of Tourism is a purpose-written text for the study of tourism in New Zealand and not, as the title might suggest, a general reader in tourism. The study was borne out of the frustration of a lack of adequate teaching resources for a general tourism course oriented to the New Zealand situation. To this end, Collier has been supported in his efforts by the government Tourist and Publicity Department and the New Zealand Tourist Industry Federation. The book is described as “an introductory book . designed essentially as a text for those studying the course ‘Principles of Tourism’ for the National Certificate in Business studies.” The book’s two themes, which are explored throughout, are to advance the notion of “an integrated tourism industry in New Zealand,” and the idea that the “tourism product” is “composite in nature and includes everything that tourists purchase, see, experience and feel from the time that they leave home until the time they return” (p. xii). Therefore, the concepts of service marketing, the nature of the tourism product, the need for tourism planning, and tourism’s impacts on its resource bases are important considerations for the text. Throughout the text, the format used briefly introduces worldwide trends and considerations and then presents a more detailed review of current New Zealand conditions. The first three chapters present an introduction to tourism. They include definitions and scope of tourism, its history and growth, and a review of the structure and classification of organizations involved in tourism. Chapters Four, Five, and Six present a review of the industry sectors most commonly associated with tourism. The first of these is transportation, which