Abstract

Lakes are an essential element of some of the world's most popular tourism destinations. However, increased pressure from visitors and the tourism industry as well as from other, sometimes competing, land and water uses has made the sustainable development of lakes increasingly problematic. This book represents the first attempt to bring together some of the key elements of lake tourism within a single volume in order to present the urgent need for an integrated approach to lacustrine tourism systems management.The book presents comprehensive overviews of lake tourism including branding and marketing, visitor management and planning, historical and cultural dimensions, and environmental quality. The volume is international in scope with cases from Europe, North America and Oceania. The book concludes by noting that tourism needs to be established as a complimentary land and water use at a time when lakes and their watersheds are facing challenges in the form of climate and environmental change, increasing numbers of visitors as well as an overall increase in competing demands for water.

This is a 'must read' collection of essays for anyone interested in lake tourism. It is the first book to pay sustained attention to the relations between lakes, tourism and other activities affecting lake environments. It effectively demonstrates the value of broadly conceived and integrated approaches to the topic.

This book thus represents without doubt the most comprehensive volume about tourism and recreation in lacustrine areas yet. It perfectly complements the increasing body of literature on marine and coastal tourism.

C. Michael Hall is a Professor in the Department of Tourism, School of Business, University of Otago, New Zealand and Docent, Department of Geography, Oulu University, Finland. Co-editor of the journal Current Issues in Tourism he has wide-ranging interests in human mobility, international business, regional development and environmental history with recent work focusing on environmental, rural and gastronomic change.

Tuija Härkönen is an Education Planner and Project Coordinator at the Savonlinna Institute for Regional Development and Research, University of Joensuu, Finland where she works in the fields of tourism education and research and development. She has extensive experience in project management and planning in relation to lake and nature-based tourism in the European context.

The book outlines the importance of lakes in the historical and cultural context. It examines the significance of ecology from various different angles as the cornerstone of lacustrine tourism and opens visions to the future and the development possibilities of lake tourism. The volume is based on extensive research and integrates exquisitely the inputs of numerous international researchers into a compact entity.

Lacustrine tourism has, to a certain extent, been neglected by tourism researchers, despite the fact that inland waters are a very important attraction and entertainment resource in many countries. This book will be of great use to scholars who want to open windows to this lesser known area of tourism studies. 

The issues and case studies presented in this book are interesting, diverse, and relevant to a much broader audience than only those interested in lake-based tourism and recreation.