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Handbook of Niche Tourism
This Handbook provides a critical analysis of the evolution of the contemporary niche tourism phenomenon. By framing discussions around sustainable development thinking, concepts and practical applications, each chapter provides specific reflections on niche tourism trends, successes and/or failures, and the challenges and opportunities that destinations that pursue tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development face around the world.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
This Handbook provides a critical analysis of the evolution of the contemporary niche tourism phenomenon. By framing discussions around sustainable development thinking, concepts and practical applications, each chapter provides specific reflections on niche tourism trends, successes and/or failures, and the challenges and opportunities that destinations that pursue tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development face around the world.
The Handbook includes a blend of academic and practitioner contributors providing a balance of theoretical, conceptual and empirical elaborations on the topic, with case studies from across the globe. It covers a broad range of critical thematic areas, including: nature-based tourism, rural tourism, heritage and culture based tourism, dark tourism, spiritual, religious and wellness tourism, and social and inclusive tourism. Chapters also examine the latest developments in niche tourism, including the impact of Covid-19.
This invigorating and comprehensive study of niche tourism will benefit sustainable tourism scholars, as well as tourism researchers and students more broadly. It will also be useful to policy makers and tourism practitioners seeking a better understanding of this increasingly important field.
The Handbook includes a blend of academic and practitioner contributors providing a balance of theoretical, conceptual and empirical elaborations on the topic, with case studies from across the globe. It covers a broad range of critical thematic areas, including: nature-based tourism, rural tourism, heritage and culture based tourism, dark tourism, spiritual, religious and wellness tourism, and social and inclusive tourism. Chapters also examine the latest developments in niche tourism, including the impact of Covid-19.
This invigorating and comprehensive study of niche tourism will benefit sustainable tourism scholars, as well as tourism researchers and students more broadly. It will also be useful to policy makers and tourism practitioners seeking a better understanding of this increasingly important field.
Critical Acclaim
‘Tourism is now more dynamic than ever across markets and products globally as we move beyond disruptions. While the context has changed, the opportunities are many. This Handbook is not only a vital contribution to our understanding of tourism nuances, but a motivator for renewed creativity and innovation. Whether reading individual chapters or from cover to cover, this is not only a key contribution to our understanding of niche tourism, but also a call to action with relevant forward-focused insights.’
– Hannah Messerli, The World Bank, US
‘This Handbook provides a welcome addition to tourism scholarship. The niche tourism experiences outlined are largely owned and operated locally, which is something that those of us wanting to see more local control over tourism (especially after the “overtourism” crisis pre-pandemic) and more local benefits from tourism, are seeking. This Handbook is thus well placed to inspire other researchers engaging with ideas around the desire for more sustainable and mindful travel post-pandemic.’
– Regina Scheyvens, Massey University, New Zealand
‘The tourism “product” has, in recent decades, become remarkably diversified; destinations offer and tourists now seek an enormous variety of tourism attractions and experiences that collectively comprise an increasingly significant sector of the overall market – niche tourism. This Handbook makes a vital contribution to our knowledge and understanding of this sector. In particular, its critical perspective, necessarily exploring the problems and prospects of numerous forms of niche tourism within the contemporary context of sustainability, makes it essential reading for those with an interest in tourism development.’
– Richard Sharpley, University of Central Lancashire, UK
– Hannah Messerli, The World Bank, US
‘This Handbook provides a welcome addition to tourism scholarship. The niche tourism experiences outlined are largely owned and operated locally, which is something that those of us wanting to see more local control over tourism (especially after the “overtourism” crisis pre-pandemic) and more local benefits from tourism, are seeking. This Handbook is thus well placed to inspire other researchers engaging with ideas around the desire for more sustainable and mindful travel post-pandemic.’
– Regina Scheyvens, Massey University, New Zealand
‘The tourism “product” has, in recent decades, become remarkably diversified; destinations offer and tourists now seek an enormous variety of tourism attractions and experiences that collectively comprise an increasingly significant sector of the overall market – niche tourism. This Handbook makes a vital contribution to our knowledge and understanding of this sector. In particular, its critical perspective, necessarily exploring the problems and prospects of numerous forms of niche tourism within the contemporary context of sustainability, makes it essential reading for those with an interest in tourism development.’
– Richard Sharpley, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Contributors
Contributors: António Abreu, Cristina Abreu, Manisha Agarwal, Joanne Ailwood, Clive Allanso, Simona Azzali, Martine Bakker, Maria Pia Bernardoni, Ernest Cañada, Joseph M. Cheer, Jaeyeon Choe, Fabio Corbisiero, Claudia Dolezal, Cassie Perpetua Forsythe, Carla Fraga, Francesc Fusté-Forné, Maria Gebbels, Ulrike Gretzel, Jayni Gudka, Tracy Harkison, Stefan Hartman, Jasper Heslinga, Jesper Holm, Montserrat Iglesias, Grzegorz Iwanicki, Lee Jolliffe, Adam Jones, Zilmiyah Kamble, Balvinder Kaur Kler, Heather Kennedy-Eden, Joanna Kosmaczewska, Joanna Kowalczyk-Anioł, Viltė Kriščiūnaitė, Magdalena Kubal-Czerwińska, Josef Kunc, Lea Kužnik, Dominic Lapointe, Alison McIntosh, Claudia Milano, Salvatore Monaco, Marina Novelli, Markéta Novotná, Daniel H. Olsen, Robert Pawlusiński, Rosaria Pereira, Senthilkumaran Piramanayagam, Enrico Porfido, Yash Prabhugaonkar, Rasa Pranskūnienė, Ricardo Nicolas Progano, Helena Reis, Tanja Ostrman Renault, Áurea Rodrigues, Anthea Rossouw, Dionisia Russo Krauss, Emmanuel Salim, Partho Pratim Seal, Kathleen Smithers, Marta Soligo, Andrzej Stasiak, Fred Tardieu, Faye Taylor, K Thirumaran, Jane Widtfeldt Meged, Ben Wielenga, Paul Williams
Contents
Contents:
Introduction to niche tourism – contemporary trends and development xxiii
Marina Novelli, Joseph M. Cheer, Claudia Dolezal, Adam Jones and Claudio Milano
PART I NATURE-BASED TOURISM
1 Astro-tourism in the Czech–Polish Izera Dark Sky Park 2
Grzegorz Iwanicki
2 Glacier tourism and climate change in Switzerland 14
Emmanuel Salim
3 Architourism in nature areas: a ‘Bilbao effect’ in the bush? 25
Ben Wielenga, Stefan Hartman and Jasper Hessel Heslinga
4 Conservation tourism in Pangatalan island, Palawan UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve 38
Cristina Abreu, Frédéric Tardieu and António D. Abreu
5 Urban ecotourism and regime altering in Denmark 49
Jane Widtfeldt Meged and Jesper Holm
6 In focus 1 – geocaching tourism in Poland 65
Joanna Kosmaczewska
PART II RURAL TOURISM
7 Experiential tea tourism in Asia 69
Lee Jolliffe
8 Agritourism and the Prosecco Route of Italy 84
Marta Soligo
9 Culinary tourism: artichoke from land to table in Spain 99
Francesc Fusté-Forné
10 Astro-tourism in Portugal’s rural areas 111
Áurea Rodrigues and Helena Reis
11 Rural festival and event tourism in Albania 124
Enrico Porfido
12 In focus 2 – Koh Phi Phi Thailand: an icon of backpacker culture,
victim of film tourism and devastated by crisis 140
Faye Taylor
PART III HERITAGE AND CULTURE-BASED TOURISM
13 Personal heritage tourism 144
Heather Kennedy-Eden and Ulrike Gretzel
14 Communist heritage tourism in Poland 158
Robert Pawlusiński, Joanna Kowalczyk-Anioł and Magdalena
Kubal-Czerwińska
15 Railways and niche tourism developments in Brazil 172
Carla Fraga
16 Industrial tourism and ceramics-led tourism in Stoke-on-Trent, UK 186
Paul Williams
17 ‘Escape rooms’ and cultural tourism in Poland 200
Andrzej Stasiak
18 Language tourism 218
Montserrat Iglesias
19 In focus 3 – contemporary arts tourism in West Africa 232
Marina Novelli, Maria Pia Bernardoni and Clive Allanso
PART IV DARK TOURISM
20 Battlefield tourism: the legacy of Sandakan in Malaysian Borneo 236
Balvinder Kaur Kler and Cassie Perpetua Forsythe
21 Cold War Museum in Lithuania 250
Rasa Pranskūnienė and Viltė Kriščiūnaitė
22 Cemetery tourism in Slovenia 262
Lea Kužnik and Tanja Ostrman Renault
23 In focus 4 – fine dining in a prison: The Clink restaurants in the UK 278
Alison McIntosh, Maria Gebbels and Tracy Harkison
PART V SPIRITUAL, RELIGIOUS AND WELLNESS TOURISM
24 Faith, new age spirituality and religious tourism 282
Daniel H. Olsen
25 Babymoon travel in India 300
Senthilkumaran Piramanayagam and Partho Pratim Seal
26 Pilgrimage tourism and the Shugendō programs in Japan 316
Ricardo Nicolas Progano
27 In focus 5 – religious tourism in the urban setting of Varanasi in India 328
K Thirumaran, Simona Azzali, Zilmiyah Kamble, Yash Prabhugaonkar and
Manisha Agarwal
PART VI SOCIAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM
28 Social tourism in Brazil 332
Ernest Cañada
29 Developmentourism and school tours in Zimbabwe 345
Kathleen Smithers and Joanne Ailwood
30 Gay tourism and sustainable rainbow tourist destinations 357
Fabio Corbisiero and Salvatore Monaco
31 The ‘albergo diffuso’ and tourism revitalization in Southern Italy 371
Dionisia Russo Krauss
32 In focus 6 – the ‘Wasteland – Graced Land’ story of Melkhoutfontein,
South Africa 383
Anthea Rossouw
PART VII LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN NICHE TOURISM
33 South Korean ‘one-month stay’ travellers 388
Jaeyeon Choe
34 Unseen Tours’ virtual ‘Not-in-a-Pub’ quizzes: social inclusion and
empowerment in times of COVID-19 401
Claudia Dolezal, Jayni Gudka and Dominic Lapointe
35 In focus 7 – hot air ballooning in the Czech Republic 422
Markéta Novotná and Josef Kunc
36 In focus 8 – flights to nowhere 425
Martine Bakker
Index 427
Introduction to niche tourism – contemporary trends and development xxiii
Marina Novelli, Joseph M. Cheer, Claudia Dolezal, Adam Jones and Claudio Milano
PART I NATURE-BASED TOURISM
1 Astro-tourism in the Czech–Polish Izera Dark Sky Park 2
Grzegorz Iwanicki
2 Glacier tourism and climate change in Switzerland 14
Emmanuel Salim
3 Architourism in nature areas: a ‘Bilbao effect’ in the bush? 25
Ben Wielenga, Stefan Hartman and Jasper Hessel Heslinga
4 Conservation tourism in Pangatalan island, Palawan UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve 38
Cristina Abreu, Frédéric Tardieu and António D. Abreu
5 Urban ecotourism and regime altering in Denmark 49
Jane Widtfeldt Meged and Jesper Holm
6 In focus 1 – geocaching tourism in Poland 65
Joanna Kosmaczewska
PART II RURAL TOURISM
7 Experiential tea tourism in Asia 69
Lee Jolliffe
8 Agritourism and the Prosecco Route of Italy 84
Marta Soligo
9 Culinary tourism: artichoke from land to table in Spain 99
Francesc Fusté-Forné
10 Astro-tourism in Portugal’s rural areas 111
Áurea Rodrigues and Helena Reis
11 Rural festival and event tourism in Albania 124
Enrico Porfido
12 In focus 2 – Koh Phi Phi Thailand: an icon of backpacker culture,
victim of film tourism and devastated by crisis 140
Faye Taylor
PART III HERITAGE AND CULTURE-BASED TOURISM
13 Personal heritage tourism 144
Heather Kennedy-Eden and Ulrike Gretzel
14 Communist heritage tourism in Poland 158
Robert Pawlusiński, Joanna Kowalczyk-Anioł and Magdalena
Kubal-Czerwińska
15 Railways and niche tourism developments in Brazil 172
Carla Fraga
16 Industrial tourism and ceramics-led tourism in Stoke-on-Trent, UK 186
Paul Williams
17 ‘Escape rooms’ and cultural tourism in Poland 200
Andrzej Stasiak
18 Language tourism 218
Montserrat Iglesias
19 In focus 3 – contemporary arts tourism in West Africa 232
Marina Novelli, Maria Pia Bernardoni and Clive Allanso
PART IV DARK TOURISM
20 Battlefield tourism: the legacy of Sandakan in Malaysian Borneo 236
Balvinder Kaur Kler and Cassie Perpetua Forsythe
21 Cold War Museum in Lithuania 250
Rasa Pranskūnienė and Viltė Kriščiūnaitė
22 Cemetery tourism in Slovenia 262
Lea Kužnik and Tanja Ostrman Renault
23 In focus 4 – fine dining in a prison: The Clink restaurants in the UK 278
Alison McIntosh, Maria Gebbels and Tracy Harkison
PART V SPIRITUAL, RELIGIOUS AND WELLNESS TOURISM
24 Faith, new age spirituality and religious tourism 282
Daniel H. Olsen
25 Babymoon travel in India 300
Senthilkumaran Piramanayagam and Partho Pratim Seal
26 Pilgrimage tourism and the Shugendō programs in Japan 316
Ricardo Nicolas Progano
27 In focus 5 – religious tourism in the urban setting of Varanasi in India 328
K Thirumaran, Simona Azzali, Zilmiyah Kamble, Yash Prabhugaonkar and
Manisha Agarwal
PART VI SOCIAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM
28 Social tourism in Brazil 332
Ernest Cañada
29 Developmentourism and school tours in Zimbabwe 345
Kathleen Smithers and Joanne Ailwood
30 Gay tourism and sustainable rainbow tourist destinations 357
Fabio Corbisiero and Salvatore Monaco
31 The ‘albergo diffuso’ and tourism revitalization in Southern Italy 371
Dionisia Russo Krauss
32 In focus 6 – the ‘Wasteland – Graced Land’ story of Melkhoutfontein,
South Africa 383
Anthea Rossouw
PART VII LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN NICHE TOURISM
33 South Korean ‘one-month stay’ travellers 388
Jaeyeon Choe
34 Unseen Tours’ virtual ‘Not-in-a-Pub’ quizzes: social inclusion and
empowerment in times of COVID-19 401
Claudia Dolezal, Jayni Gudka and Dominic Lapointe
35 In focus 7 – hot air ballooning in the Czech Republic 422
Markéta Novotná and Josef Kunc
36 In focus 8 – flights to nowhere 425
Martine Bakker
Index 427
