Several chapters in this book concentrate on different aspects of these developments. Crises and disasters The tourism industry has a history of being highly reactive to short-term local and international events. It is nevertheless an extremely resilient industry. A further hugely significant influence on tourism is therefore the occurrence of disasters and crises. Very recent examples were the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in the UK, the SARS outbreak and the war in Iraq. Chapter 19 highlights some of the disasters and crises that affect tourism and explores the potential for developing effective crisis management plans in tourism destinations.

Tourism can greatly influence a country’s balance of payments. Money spent by tourists overseas acts as an invisible on the balance of payments account of the country visited and a debit against the home country account. Any money spent overseas is an import to the generating country and an export to the receiving country (Holloway, 1994). The social and environmental impacts of tourism are now very well documented, as are suggestions for the minimisation of the negative consequences of tourism.

Complex product. The tourism product is often said to be complex. This stems from the fact that there is input from various service suppliers into the total tourism product. An overseas holiday, for example, may consist of services provided by a number of different suppliers both in the home country and the destination to be visited, such as a travel agent, a national or local tourist office, a handling agent, a transfer company, an airline, rail or coach company, an airport, coach or railway station and an accommodation provider, as well as restaurants, shops and so on.