Design Science in Tourism

Аннотация

The initial idea for the book was that it would be a very small and concise collection of readings related to the foundations of tourism design. However, it grew substantially over the past year as I read some remarkable research and discussed the topic with some outstanding researchers and learned so much more about the exciting area of tourism design. With this, I would like to first thank the tremendous contributions by the many authors who contributed to the book. I think their thoughtfulness and their ability to make some very complex ideas seem easy is inspiring. Of course, every idea is rooted in one’s past experiences. For me as a geographer and somehow an “accidental scholar” involved in tourism research, I have long admired Dr. Clare Gunn and appreciated the impact he has had on our field. Indeed, I had the opportunity to work with him, along with Drs. Carson Watt and Joanne Westphal, as a young researcher on a number of small projects at Texas A&M University where I witnessed their energy and creativity. As a member of the faculty, I was further challenged by Drs. John L. Crompton and Robert Ditton to somehow “to think big” and “to imagine a better future for ourselves and others.” While not really recognizing the huge impact they had on my life and my way of understanding, they helped set the foundation for the subsequent 30 years of research and teaching.