Travel Reference
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it published two relevant articles in 2008 (McNeill, 2008), including the fi rst of three progress
reports on the geographies of tourism by Gibson (2008) representing the fi rst time a system-
atic review of tourism has been provided by the journal. Interestingly, Gibson (2008: 407)
comments, 'Although not taken seriously by some, and still considered marginal by many,
tourism constitutes an important point of intersection within geography, and its capacity to
gel critical, integrative and imperative research appears to be increasingly realised.'
Therefore, in one sense tourism geography may fi nd itself at a peripheral intersection of
the social sciences despite the major contribution it has made to the establishment and devel-
opment of knowledge in tourism studies. However, despite such a sanguine possibility it is
nevertheless clear that geographers have made a substantial contribution to the study of
tourism in recent years, even if, in some cases, the wider fi eld may not even recognise them
as 'geographers' or their conceptualisations as 'geographical'. For example, McKercher's
(2008b) analysis of the most frequently cited tourism scholars indicated that nine of the 25
most cited tourism scholars from 1970 to 2007 have graduate qualifi cations in geography
(names and rankings: Michael Hall [3], Richard Butler [5], Geoff Wall [8], Douglas Pearce
[10], Don Getz [13], Greg Ashworth [15], Allan Williams [19], Martin Oppermann [22],
Stephen Page [23]) and seven of the 25 most cited in the period from 1998 to 2007 (Michael
Hall [1], Allan Williams [5], Stephen Page [12], Nigel Morgan [15], Bob McKercher [18],
Gareth Shaw [22], Dallen Timothy [23]).
Furthermore, as noted above, it is perhaps as inappropriate to talk of a 'tourism geography' -
even though there are linking concepts of space, place and environment to such a fi eld - as it is
to talk of a single approach to tourism. Instead, while institutional geographical collectivities
exist there are in fact a range of tourism geographies marked by differences not only in subject
but also in philosophy, method, scale and funding. The remainder of the chapter therefore seeks
to identify some of the main developments with respect to the various tourism geographers'
outputs, primarily in relation to tourism management, since the earlier reviews by Pearce
(1979), Mitchell and Murphy (1991) and Butler (2004) fi nish in 2003, to identify some of
the main contributions and contributors as well as issues and directions since these earlier
reviews. Given that entire topics have been devoted to trying to provide an overview of the
fi eld, it must of course be acknowledged that space clearly does not permit inclusion of
all worthy publications, while the primary focus is also on literature published in English.
Explaining spatialities
Arguably one of the most well-known contributions by a geographer to the tourism fi eld is
that of Butler's (1980) Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) (see Butler
, Chapter 3 o
f t h i s volu me ) .
Despite criticisms that tourism is undertheorised (Franklin and Crang, 2001), usually by
people whose theoretical positions have not been taken up in the broader tourism literature
as much as their proponents would have wished, the TALC remains a clear indicator of the
importance of theory in tourism research. As Oppermann (1998: 180) noted: 'Butler's model
is a brilliant example of how scientifi c progress could and should work. . . . [having] been
scrutinised in many different contexts with modifi cations suggested to fi t specifi c situations
and circumstances.' The TALC is one of the most well-cited articles in tourism, if not
the most cited (Hall, 2006a). It is not the intention to cite all articles that reference the Butler
paper over the past decade but instead to note the signifi cance of the publication of a two-
volume edition on TALC applications and concepts edited by Butler (2006a, 2006b).
The discussions on the TALC by the various contributors to the two volumes indicate the
importance of understanding the diffusion of ideas, not only within disciplines but also
