The ‘new tourism’ revolution

Abstract

The author argues that the standardized mass tourism of the 1960s and 1970s is being superseded by a ‘new tourism’ driven by advances in technology, greater sensitivity in consumer tastes and deregulation and concentration in the industry. Such tourism offers an opportunity both for increasing the sustainability of the product and for the creation of wealth in previously vulnerable destinations but, to succeed in this new environment, firms will have to sharpen their competitive strategies. These should include putting consumers and the environment first, strengthening their position within the industry's value chain and strengthening distribution channels in the market-place.