Synopsis This book forms part of ‘environment and society’. The particular emphasis of this book is upon the interaction that exists between the environment and tourism. Its main purpose is to provide an introductory text for students to the concepts and themes that govern this interaction.

Two simple words, ‘tourism’ and ‘environment’, but in the following 70,000 words it is only possible to introduce the reader to the complex issues that lie behind these two terms. Both ‘tourism’ and the ‘environment’ represent complicated concepts, and both can be interpreted as intricate systems, where actions taken in one part of the system have consequences for its other component parts. This book takes a holistic approach, in trying to understand the complexity of both tourism and the environment, and the relationship that exists between them.