Michael Conlin and Tom Baum pre- sent us within this text.

Sevgin Akl~ Department of Economics

Eastern Mediterranean University Famagusta. North Cyprus

Tourist Destination Management Eric Laws Routledge London (1995) 208 pp £9.99

This is essentially a book for teachers and students of tourism studies. It summarizes concisely current thinking on what makes a tourism destination successful. It analyses and debates the often uneasy relationships between destination managers and tour oper- ators, developers and host popula- tions, public and private sectors. It looks at the benefits and disbenefits of tourism - economic, social, cultural and enviromnental - and looks for- ward to a wider understanding of these and how they might be better managed. The author suggests that "the goal of every organisation in- volved in the tourism industry must be to develop new forms of tourism which will bring the greatest possible benefit to visitors, the host population and tourism business, while minimis- ing any harmful consequences to the destination's ecology and culture', and he detects that 'a consensus is emerg- ing in favour of planning or part- nership approaches to destination de- velopment', involving dialogue be- tween agencies, tourism organizations and the local community, research and recognition of the benefits of a sys- tematic, planned but essentially flexi- ble approach.

The book is mainly concerned with the effects on tourism destinations of mass packaged holidays, characterized by charter flights and branded tour operations in a price-sensitive market. Ultimately, as the author rightly ack- nowledges, the choice lies with the tourists themselves, who are free agents and will go wherever they find most enticing, at a price they can afford, and to whichever destination appears most closely to match their various needs, so that market research and identification of the characteris-

tics and preferences of target market segments are paramount.

The text, which is highly condensed, is enlivened by brief case studies to illustrate particular points (Majorca, visitor management in Canterbury, tourism in Tonga, Western Samoa, Tibet and Antarctica, marketing South East England to the near Conti- nent, Nottingham and the Robin Hood theme [now, it seems, about t~ be dropped!], and tourism policies for the New South Africa). Finally, there is a much longer case study of tourism in Dubai, one of the success stories of recent years, and a destination which can afford to be selective. 'Two com- plementary objectives guide the de- velopment of Dubai's tourism: to give people what they want, but only to attract who we want.' Many destina- tions, including no doubt Canterbury, would like to be selective in this way but lack the powers to do so.

Not the most exciting read, but a useful addition to the body of teaching material available, and covering a topic of ever increasing global import- ance.

Stephen Mills Head of Development English Tourist Board

Thames Tower Black's Road

London 14/6 9EL, UK

Heritage, Tourism and Society D T Herbert (ed) Mansell London (1995) xii + 228 pp £4O. O0

Heritage tourism is now big business. In economic and entrepreneurial terms, it is one of the major success stories of recent years. At a time of declining industrial activity and rising unemployment in West- ern society, heritage tourism has provided an alternative form of enterprise, creating jobs and generating wealth for local econo- mies, (Herbert, from the preface)

Although the quotation sets the tone for this collection of readings, this book is not really about developing heritage tourism. Given its scope and orientation, it will be of greater value to the heritage manager than the tour- ism practitioner. The editor and au- thors are British (plus one Dutch)

Book reviews

academics and their approach relates mostly to exploration of the concept of heritage and its troublesome connec- tions with tourism. Much of the book's tone can be summed up in the follow- ing quotation from Ashworth (p 72):

In economic terms, tourism treats the past as a zero-priced, public good in inexhaus- tible supply whose existence within the production process is not reliant on pay- ments to it.

In that context it is inevitable that problems occur, and 'reckless overuse' of heritage resources is likely.

The authors examine 'built" herit- age, rather than natural heritage, and the emphasis is placed on the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent Europe. Given that Europe is consid- ered to be a heritage-orientated des- tination, much can be learned from these examples. The social and politic- al dimensions, however, are quite different throughout the world and it cannot be assumed that the British or European concerns about heritage and tourism are pertinent elsewhere. Indeed, North American readers might find the preoccupation with the meaning and politics of heritage to be peculiarly European. North Amer- icans and others tend to take a much more pragmatic approach to heritage and worry less about the deeper sig- nificance. This approach, of course, has its perils, and the book notes most of them.

The reader will learn that "heritage" is variously defined and that 'heritage tourism' has as many detractors as advocates. Much discussion covers the differences between conservation (ie restoration and recreation), preserva- tion (preserving in its original state) and exploitation (adaptive reuse) of heritage resources (p 11).

In 10 readings plus a concluding chapter the various authors examine a range of heritage and tourism-related issues, although the tourism connec- tions are sometimes minor and tenuous. David Herbert begins with an overview of 'Heritage places, lei- sure and tourism'. He deals with de- finitions, growth of the heritage tour- ism phenomenon, and its potential costs and benefits.

Frans Schouten examines 'Heritage

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