3
published as multiple vignettes as chapters and/or journal papers, rather than in a longer monograph form with more intricate and meticulous argumentation. It is encouraging, though, that more tourism theses are being published in fuller forms, and that comm- ercial and scholastic considerations allow this. In this respect, Pergamon in this series and its series editor are to be applauded for providing a platform for fresh, original and innovative research. Long may it continue. Tim Coles Department of Management, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2004.09.001 L. Lumsdon, S.J. Page (Eds.), Tourism and transport: issues and agenda for the new millennium, Elsevier, Oxford, ISBN 0-08-044172-6, 2004 180pp Tourism and transport is an area of study attracting more widespread attention amongst researchers from both academic areas, as illustrated by the Association of European Transport’s attempt to establish a programme stream in tourism at their annual conference and the Journal of Sustainable Tourism’s planned special edition in transport. Lumsdon and Page have produced a timely and very valuable addition to the literature in this field. As the authors point out in the Preface, the principal academic journals in transport and those in tourism have largely remained compartmenta- lised and there are very few articles in transport journals that make specific reference to tourism and likewise there are few references to transport in tourism journals. The book, therefore, sets itself an ambitious objective to re-evaluate some of the key issues which face the tourism–transport interface and to promote interdisciplinary approaches to further re- search in this field. This edited text consists of 12 chapters from a wide range of contributors (15 in total). The opening chapter, written by the two editors, sets out to review the progress to date of research into the transport and tourism interface and suggest a future research agenda. The authors argue that tourism trips are sufficiently distinctive from transport trips for other purposes to warrant independent study. However, it would be useful for the authors to define ‘tourism transport’ or discuss a range of definitions in more detail as in subsequent chapters contributing authors adopt differing criteria. Some chapters imply that tourism transport is limited to transport for holiday or leisure purposes whilst others include the more widely accepted definitions of tourism incorporating travel for all purposes including business travel. The opening chapter does establish a framework for analysis. It distinguishes between ‘transport for tourism’ and ‘transport as tourism’. The former looks at the role of transport as a derived demand, an essential compo- nent of the tourism product to move tourists from places of origin to destination zones, whereas the latter explores where transport itself becomes the attraction. Whilst this framework is valuable, it is only really utilised by one of the following chapters, by Les Lumsden & Rodney Tolley, which incorporates a case study of cycle tourism, although clearly the chapter on cruise ships by Robert Wood is a study of transport as tourism. There is scope for this opening chapter to develop additional frameworks. A number of chapters focus on the role of transport in carrying a tourist from places of origin to destination zones, the main function of transport in the tourism product, whilst others consider the need for tourists to use transport for mobility in the destination area itself. A distinction between these two functions of tourism transport would have been valu- able. The subsequent chapters also include analysis of all elements of the transport system. The majority focus on the role of the transport vehicle in the provision of services for the tourist, but issues concerning the provision of ‘the way’, the physical route over which the vehicle operates and ‘the terminal’ where the tourist accesses transport are also covered. A review of the transport–tourism interface comparing the differing influences on each of these elements may have added context for the subsequent chapters. The opening chapter highlights a number of key themes, issues and trends including constraints on tourist travel (terrorism and political factors), the rise of low-cost carriers in the airline sector, the need for interdisciplinary research with a parti- cular focus on ‘health and travel’, role of service quality and security in attracting more travellers to public transport, ARTICLE IN PRESS Book reviews / Tourism Management 27 (2006) 350–359 357

L. Lumsdon, S.J. Page,Editors, ,Tourism and transport: issues and agenda for the new millennium (2004) Elsevier,Oxford 0-08-044172-6 180pp

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Page 1: L. Lumsdon, S.J. Page,Editors, ,Tourism and transport: issues and agenda for the new millennium (2004) Elsevier,Oxford 0-08-044172-6 180pp

ARTICLE IN PRESSBook reviews / Tourism Management 27 (2006) 350–359 357

published as multiple vignettes as chapters and/orjournal papers, rather than in a longer monographform with more intricate and meticulous argumentation.It is encouraging, though, that more tourism thesesare being published in fuller forms, and that comm-ercial and scholastic considerations allow this. Inthis respect, Pergamon in this series and its series editorare to be applauded for providing a platform for

fresh, original and innovative research. Long may itcontinue.

Tim ColesDepartment of Management, University of Exeter,

Exeter, UK

E-mail address: [email protected]

doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2004.09.001

L. Lumsdon, S.J. Page (Eds.), Tourism and transport:

issues and agenda for the new millennium, Elsevier,

Oxford, ISBN 0-08-044172-6, 2004 180pp

Tourism and transport is an area of study attractingmore widespread attention amongst researchers fromboth academic areas, as illustrated by the Association ofEuropean Transport’s attempt to establish a programmestream in tourism at their annual conference and theJournal of Sustainable Tourism’s planned specialedition in transport. Lumsdon and Page have produceda timely and very valuable addition to the literature inthis field. As the authors point out in the Preface,the principal academic journals in transport andthose in tourism have largely remained compartmenta-lised and there are very few articles in transportjournals that make specific reference to tourism andlikewise there are few references to transport intourism journals. The book, therefore, sets itself anambitious objective to re-evaluate some of the key issueswhich face the tourism–transport interface and topromote interdisciplinary approaches to further re-search in this field.

This edited text consists of 12 chapters from a widerange of contributors (15 in total). The opening chapter,written by the two editors, sets out to review theprogress to date of research into the transport andtourism interface and suggest a future research agenda.The authors argue that tourism trips are sufficientlydistinctive from transport trips for other purposes towarrant independent study. However, it would be usefulfor the authors to define ‘tourism transport’ or discuss arange of definitions in more detail as in subsequentchapters contributing authors adopt differing criteria.Some chapters imply that tourism transport is limited totransport for holiday or leisure purposes whilst othersinclude the more widely accepted definitions of tourismincorporating travel for all purposes including businesstravel.

The opening chapter does establish a framework foranalysis. It distinguishes between ‘transport for tourism’

and ‘transport as tourism’. The former looks at the roleof transport as a derived demand, an essential compo-nent of the tourism product to move tourists from placesof origin to destination zones, whereas the latterexplores where transport itself becomes the attraction.Whilst this framework is valuable, it is only reallyutilised by one of the following chapters, by LesLumsden & Rodney Tolley, which incorporates a casestudy of cycle tourism, although clearly the chapter oncruise ships by Robert Wood is a study of transport astourism.

There is scope for this opening chapter to developadditional frameworks. A number of chapters focus onthe role of transport in carrying a tourist from places oforigin to destination zones, the main function oftransport in the tourism product, whilst others considerthe need for tourists to use transport for mobility in thedestination area itself. A distinction between these twofunctions of tourism transport would have been valu-able.

The subsequent chapters also include analysisof all elements of the transport system. The majorityfocus on the role of the transport vehicle in theprovision of services for the tourist, but issuesconcerning the provision of ‘the way’, the physicalroute over which the vehicle operates and ‘theterminal’ where the tourist accesses transport are alsocovered. A review of the transport–tourism interfacecomparing the differing influences on each of theseelements may have added context for the subsequentchapters.

The opening chapter highlights a number of keythemes, issues and trends including

constraints on tourist travel (terrorism and politicalfactors), � the rise of low-cost carriers in the airline sector, � the need for interdisciplinary research with a parti-

cular focus on ‘health and travel’,

� role of service quality and security in attracting more

travellers to public transport,

Page 2: L. Lumsdon, S.J. Page,Editors, ,Tourism and transport: issues and agenda for the new millennium (2004) Elsevier,Oxford 0-08-044172-6 180pp

ARTICLE IN PRESSBook reviews / Tourism Management 27 (2006) 350–359358

challenges for the future—a range of issues are brieflydiscussed ranging from horizontal and verticalintegration, deregulation, global alliances and vulner-ability to economic factors, � the role of transport in sustainable development.

However, the link between the opening chapter andthe subsequent contributions is not entirely clear. Whilstsome of the identified themes such as low-cost carriersand sustainability emerge strongly, others are notdeveloped. On balance the reviewer did not fullyappreciate the structure of the volume or the logicbehind the sequence of the following chapters, whichcould have explained this more fully in the openingchapter. It may have been helpful to have divided thebook into thematic sections.

The content of the subsequent chapters incorporatesan appropriately wide range of material and ap-proaches. Some chapters are mode specific. Forexample, there are three chapters devoted to aviation.Each of them adopts a significantly different approach.Brian Turton’s case study of aviation services to/fromZimbabwe offers a valuable insight into the role of airservices in the development of tourism in a developingcountry. In addition to highlighting the problems asmall carrier has competing with larger airlines on longhaul routes it also explores the wide-ranging impact ofinadequate terminal facilities at Harare on the tourismindustry and identifies the lack of infrastructure in theform of regional airports as a major barrier to openingup new areas such as the Nyanga National Park in theeastern highlands. In contrast, Paul Freathy’schapter focuses on the terminal by examining thechanging environment for successful airport operation.David Brigg’s chapter explores the relationshipbetween airlines and tourism development. It does seemillogical, however, for these chapters not to be groupedtogether.

The other modal-specific chapter is Robert Wood’sreview of the fast growing cruise industry. Wood reviewsthe size and structure of the industry and goes on tofocus on the global nature of the market and how theuse of Flags of Convenience underpins the economics ofthe industry by reducing costs and diluting the regula-tion and control of the market—a process he calls‘deterritorialized’. He also focuses on the trend forvessels to get larger, which has changed the nature of theproduct. It has influenced the degree to which con-sumers perceive the vessel as opposed to the ports-of-callas the destination.

Another group of three chapters focuses on thetransport requirements of tourists in the destinationarea. Aylin Orbasli and Steve Shaw examine thetransport issues in historic cities with a review ofexisting studies, although, perhaps surprisingly, thechapter only makes brief reference to the use of ‘park

and ride’ policies, which have been tried widely in thisenvironment. Les Lumsden and Rodney Tolley high-light the merits of non-motorised transport for thedestination area and include a wide-ranging review ofthe potential of cycling by the tourist. The final chapteron this theme is a case study of the Green Key Initiativein the Snowdonia National Park. This interesting casestudy demonstrates the huge difficulties of introducingmeasures that limit or restrain car use with the supportof different groups of stakeholders.

The important themes of sustainable transportand sustainable tourism are discussed in separatechapters by Derek Hall and William Black. DerekHall’s chapter explores the guest/host relationshipand the potential areas of conflict. It includesan interesting discussion on the equity of some transportinfrastructure projects that may highlight guest–hostinequalities or exclude some areas from touristvisits. William Black on the other hand looks at thepotential conflicts of sustainability and mobility, in-dicating that as economies grow and transport facilitiesimprove and increase mobility they will also increase theuse of scarce resources. He seeks to identify goodpractice by developing a system of measuring ‘sustain-able mobility’. Sustainability emerges as an importantconsideration in several other chapters including theimpacts of cruising, airlines and airports on theenvironment as well as in all three chapters on touristmobility in the destination area.

The chapter by Bruce Prideaux explores the interfacebetween transport and destination development. Thiscontribution shows the importance of transport infra-structure on tourism development with a detailedcase study of North Queensland. He discusses in turnthe impact of the arrival of a rail link in the 1920s,the construction of an all-weather highway in the late1940s and the development of an international airportin the 1980s and tracks the development of the regionfrom a local tourist destination to a regional centre, anational centre and finally an international touristdestination.

Given the wide range of subject matter, it is in myview surprising that the editors did not take theopportunity to write a concluding chapter, to drawtogether some of the key findings and major themes thathave emerged. This would in my view have added to theoverall structure and cohesion of the volume.

Inevitably, given the breadth of the subject areaand the ambitious objectives of the book there aresome gaps in the topic coverage. There is relativelylittle on the impact of specialist transport servicesdeveloped solely for tourists except of course the chapteron cruising. The tourism–transport interface, at anoperational level exploring their interdependence, isanother broad area worthy of more coverage. Themanagement actions of tourist organisations such as

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ARTICLE IN PRESSBook reviews / Tourism Management 27 (2006) 350–359 359

accommodation providers will change the patterns oftransport demand.

Nevertheless, a major benefit from the book is thewealth of case study material it provides from a widerange of international examples (Queensland to Zim-babwe). Virtually, all the chapters include very compre-hensive bibliographies which are themselves a valuableresource. The book is appropriate for undergraduateand postgraduate students and active researchers and isa must read for students undertaking a transport unitwithin the framework of their tourism degrees, agrowing phenomena. It will also inform tourismplanners and transport operators to understand moreclearly their interdependence. The editors are to be

congratulated on a thoughtful volume, which makes avaluable contribution to stimulating further research inthis field, and I hope it is the first in a series of suchcontributions. It will be on my list of essential readingfor students.

Derek RobbinsSchool of Services Management,

Bournemouth University,

Talbot Campus,

Fern Barrow, Poole,

Dorset BH9 3EE, UK

E-mail address: [email protected]

doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2004.09.002