Tourism Islanding Effect: A Conceptual Framework

Based on the study of previous theoretical literature and the practical phenomena related to the tourism islanding effect, this paper tries to establish a conceptual framework for a systematic analysis of tourism island phenomena including its concepts, categories, characteristics, forming causes etc. The paper considers that a tourism island refers to some specific geographic areas that are dominated by the tourism industry and developed in isolation from surrounding communities. According to the study, the tourism islanding effect can be divided into four specific categories. The paper also finds out that the tourism islanding effect exhibits some features which can be described as monopoly, spatial closure, self-circulation and exclusion/extrusion. The paper also discusses the impact of the islanding effect and gives some suggestions for regulations.