Lake Tourism: An Integrated Approach to Lacustrine Tourism Systems

Citation

Dawson, J. (2007), "Lake Tourism: An Integrated Approach to Lacustrine Tourism Systems", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 93-94. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110710724215

Considering the enormous environmental and social value of water to all living things and the high proportion of human settlements built on or near water sources, it is exciting to see this book recognize lake tourism as an important and relevant research avenue in and of itself. The introduction and final chapter of this book do a wonderful job of conceptualizing tourism as part of a larger resource use system. As articulated in the title, tourism should be planned, utilized, and managed from an integrated approach. It is encouraging to see this perspective drawn out considering the complexity that exists within lacustrine environments.

The book is an excellent resource for its intended student audience and is appropriate for planners and conservationists, but may be somewhat limited for academics. The majority of individual chapters were focused and well written, providing interesting suggestions for future research directions. Other chapters, however, seemed to lack a clear focus on lake environments. In some cases interesting concepts were explored while the lake tourism theme seemed tacked on, making these chapters more suitable to a general tourism text.

The book provides an excellent discussion of diverse cultural values and perceptions related to lake tourism. However, it was surprising to see the absence of a section dedicated to environmental issues, such as shoreline development, water levels and quality, and invasive species. Several of these issues are however discussed throughout other sections/chapters. Overall, the book is a useful educational resource and serves as a benchmark for future work within lacustrine tourism systems.