Niche tourism, also known as special interest tourism, refers to specialized tourism products offered to a small group of tourists. Examples include ecotourism, rural tourism, birdwatching tourism, dark tourism and motorcycle tourism. Regarded as the antidote to mass tourism, niche tourism has become particularly popular in recent years as a tourism developmental option that can address the problems caused by mass tourism including overtourism. It is commonly acknowledged that niche tourism fosters responsible tourism practices, minimizes negative tourism impacts and helps preserve the environment and culture of destinations; thereby, promoting sustainability in tourism. Likewise, niche tourism seems to be better equipped to address the needs and preferences of today's sophisticated and diverse tourist market. Despite these advantages, niche tourism development faces challenges such as overlap with mass tourism due to growing numbers of visitors, promotion of products that are not environmentally friendly and limited economic benefits being directed to the local community. This book is a collection of 12 conceptual and empirical chapters presenting niche tourism cases from around the world. It examines tourist behaviour and experiences, resident perspectives, implementation practices and future prospects, and contributes to the debate on tourism development and sustainability.

Researchers, students and tourism stakeholders.

About the Author
Anna Farmaki (Edited By) Anna Farmaki is Assistant Professor in Tourism Management at the Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus. She holds a doctorate (PhD) in marketing. She has worked for several years in private institutions of tertiary education in Cyprus and was course leader of the undergraduate hospitality and tourism management programme at the University of Central Lancashire (Cyprus). She has published extensively in reputable, peer-reviewed academic journals and has presented her work in various international conferences, seminars and workshops. Anna is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and a member of the Management Committee in several COST Actions. She has also been involved and/or led several nationally and internationally funded research projects. In addition, she is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Tourism Management Perspectives, Tourism Review and the Journal of Service Theory and Practice. Her research interests lie primarily in the areas of tourism planning and development with emphasis on sustainable tourism, and tourist behaviour. Pramendra Singh (Edited By) Pramendra Singh is currently working as an Assistant Professor in School of Hotel Management & Tourism, Lovely Professional University, India. He has a PhD in tourism & travel management and over seven years of teaching and research experience. Viana Hassan (Edited By) Dr Viana Hassan is actively involved in academic and research work in tourism and cultural management in Lebanon and Malta. She got her Ph.D. in this subject from Saint Joseph University, Beirut. She is an experienced lecturer with over 17 years of experience of teaching at several universities in Lebanon, Malta and the UK. Skilled in tourism management, customer service, branding, event management, and medical tourism, Dr Viana has participated in many international conferences.


Book Information
ISBN 9781800626645
Author Dr Anna Farmaki
Format Hardback
Page Count 168
Imprint CABI Publishing
Publisher CABI Publishing