Abstract

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on tourism and water. It is the first book to thoroughly examine the interrelationships of tourism and water use based on global, regional and business perspectives. Its assessment of tourism’s global impact along with its overviews of sectoral and management approaches will provide a benchmark by which the water sustainability of tourism will be measured for years to come. In making a clear case for greater awareness and enhanced water management in the tourism sector, it is hoped that the book will contribute to the wise and sustainable use of this critical resource. The book is interdisciplinary in coverage and international in scope. It is designed as essential reading for not only students of tourism but also practitioners.

Stefan Gössling is Professor at Lund University and Linnaeus University, Sweden and Research Coordinator at the Western Norway Research Institute. His research focuses on tourism and resource use, climate change, tourism and development, mobility studies, transport psychology, low-carbon tourism and climate policy.

C. Michael Hall is Professor at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and is also affiliated to the University of Oulu, Finland and Linnaeus University, Sweden. His main areas of research are tourism, regional development, social marketing, conservation and environmental change, gastronomy and sustainable consumption.

Daniel Scott is Professor and Research Chair at the University of Waterloo, Canada. His research interests include the human dimensions of global environmental change, sustainable tourism and climate and society interactions.

Stefan Gössling, C. Michael Hall and Daniel Scott offer what is by far the most comprehensive account on the complex interplay between the tourism supply chain and its direct and indirect impacts on water resources. A quintessential addition to the sustainable tourism literature and certainly one which is to become a primer for students and researchers interested in the topic. 

Gössling, Hall, and Scott offer a balance of theoretical and practical knowledge that is ideal for students or entry-level practitioners who have limited knowledge of about the current state of tourism and water.

This book covers not only the problems but the solutions and the gaps in current knowledge in our understanding of the water-tourism nexus. The up-to-date review of the present state of water management knowledge includes historic, scientific and policy contexts, illustrative case studies and entirely new material such as novel water management indicators. The concluding chapter should scare all stakeholders to take water security challenges more seriously.

This is a well-written and extremely informative book on issues of water management sustainability in tourism and hospitality. It serves its aim to be a ‘guide’ and provide benchmarks in water management as a well-grounded text that provides practitioners and students with a better understanding of the operational aspects of water use and management, as well as creating a bigger picture of interrelationships between water, tourism and other sectors of the economy, highlighting the plight of water sustainability within the wider context.

The aim of the series “Tourism Essentials” by Channel View Publications is to publish books based on state of the art research that offer a succinct but comprehensive introduction to a relevant issue in the field of tourism. Tourism and Water by Stefan Gössling, C. Michael Hall and Daniel Scott perfectly fits with this aim. Tourism and Water is grounded in the authors’ intimate knowledge of sustainable tourism in general and water management in tourism in particular. By bringing together information that till now was rather dispersed Tourism and Water offers a true contribution to these fields.