Resort Destinations: evolution, management and development

Destinations and resorts are key building blocks in the development and operation of the global tourism system. Their viability, sustainability and long term management are critical to a healthy global tourism system. While much has been written on aspects of destinations and resorts, including their development, management, sustainability, marketing, history and so forth major gaps remain. The aim of this book is to examine some of these gaps with a specific emphasis on future sustainability in its broadest sense in a rapidly changing world where the future will be redefined in ways that are not yet obvious but which must be speculated on and planned for. Climate change and the enormous cost of providing food and shelter for a future global population that according to the UN is likely to be 50% higher in 2050 than today will present enormous challenges to the global political system and strain global markets to provide the basics of life. The most recent news on the climate front is that the IPCC's (2007) forecast of sea level changes are significantly underestimated and that a rise of 1 meter of more is now more likely than not. This has significant implications for coastal tourism and the 50% of the global population who live in coastal zones. The reordering of global markets in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis may see a fundamental shift from neo-liberal free market economics to a more regulated global economy. All of these forces and many more discussed in this book will create a new world in which tourism will continue to thrive but within constraints that take into account the impact of climate change and the need to achieve a new level of sustainability that recognizes there are limits to growth. Destinations will need to adapt to these new realities. It is my hope that tins book goes at least some way to contributing to the debate we need to have on how the gathering storm of climate change and declining global sustainability will be confronted at the destination level