Prospects in tourism history: Evolution, state of play and future developments

The field of tourism history has been developing rapidly, especially since the 1980s. It is important not only in its own right, but also as a contributor to wider understandings of issues and processes in tourism studies and tourism management more generally. This article offers a critical examination, on a global scale and from an interdisciplinary perspective, of the development and ramifications of tourism history, with special reference to coverage of the period since the eighteenth century. It assesses the current state of play in this emergent sub-discipline and suggests some avenues for its future development. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.