BOTM_C01.

QXD 26/9/05 4:12 pm Page 3

Chapter 1
Introduction – the unique evolution of
tourism as ‘business’
John Beech and Simon Chadwick
Coventry Business School; Birkbeck College, University of London

Learning outcomes

On completion of this chapter the reader should be able to:

■ outline the development of tourism, and mass tourism in particular;
■ explain the significance of tourism in an economic context;
■ identify the key factors which need to be present for mass tourism to emerge;
■ identify the scope of the business of tourism and of tourism businesses, and
the main tourism flows;
■ identify the main business factors which are relevant to the management of
tourism organisations;
■ identify the main contents of this book.

Overview

This chapter provides both an overview and an introduction to the business of

tourism management. It begins by establishing the historical context of today’s mass
tourism and explains how mass tourism emerged from an earlier era of tourism, one
in which tourism was a pastime of the rich. As the development of tourism is
tracked, key types of tourism are identified, as are the major tourism flows of the
last century. The development of UK mass tourism is presented as an exemplar, and
parallel developments in other parts of the world are discussed.
Next the main business dimensions of tourism are established and various appli-
cations of management theory which are specific to the study of tourism are
outlined. This framework of management theory is used to establish the framework
of the rest of the book.

Early travel
Early man was nomadic and by definition his lifestyle involved travel. Generally his
wandering was confined to a clearly identifiable area, typically that in which he could
hunt for the animals which formed a major part of his diet. Such a nomadic lifestyle
could not be termed tourism in any modern sense of the word, as tourism presupposes a
process of travel away from some form of home and a return to that home – until soci-
eties were based around a ‘home’, tourism could not be said to exist.