Former Director Co-Edits Book on Adapting Tourism in a Changing World

Concerns over vanishing destinations such as the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, and the ice cap on Mt. Kilimanjaro have prompted some travel operators and tour agencies to recommend these destinations to consumers before they disappear. This travel trend has been reported as: 'disappearing tourism,' 'doom tourism,' and most commonly 'last chance tourism' where tourists explicitly seek vanishing landscapes or seascapes, and disappearing natural or social heritage.

Despite this increasing form of travel there has been little examination in the academic literature of last chance tourism phenomenon.

Last Chance Tourism: Adapting Tourism Opportunities in a Changing World, is a timely and multidisciplinary volume featuring contributions from leading scholars in the fields of leisure, tourism, anthropology, geography, and sociology. Edited by Dr. Harvey Lemelin, Lakehead's SSHRC Research Chair in Parks and Protected Areas, Dr. Jackie Dawson, Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa and a Lakehead alumna, and Dr. Emma J. Stewart, a Senior Lecturer in Parks and Tourism at Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand, the book draws on a range of international case studies that highlight this form of tourism in different regions, and in different contexts.

For the first time, global change and pressures of visitation on tourism destinations are empirically examined and evaluated. Last Chance Tourism develops a conceptual definition for "last chance tourism" and examines the ethics surrounding this type of travel. With chapter titles like Last Chance Birding: Twitching to See it First or Last? and Seeing it Off: Last Chance Tourism Opportunity Shagged by Rare Parrot!, the book provocatively discusses world venues that are in imminent danger of becoming spoiled or vanishing altogether.Last Chance Tourismexamines current trends, discusses escalating challenges, provides management strategies, and highlights future tourism and research opportunities.

"In the past, most of the discussion about tourism challenges have pertained to the physical aspects of climate change," says Lakehead professor Dr. Harvey Lemelin. "What we are trying to do in this book is highlight the physical as well as the various historical, social, and political dimensions of climate change. Unlike previous works, we also discuss the resiliency of some of these destinations, and the potential positive aspects brought about through these changes."

The book also features contributions from Lakehead faculty and graduate students including:Firsts and Lasts in Arctic Tourism: Last Chance Tourism and the Dialectic of Change by Dr. Margaret Johnston (Lakehead University), Dr. Arvid Viken (Tromso University), and Dr. Jackie Dawson (Ottawa University); and Last Chance Tourism? Public Sector Views of Marketing Endangered Tourism Destinations in North America by Dr. Daniel H. Olsen (Brandon University), Dr. Rhonda L. Koster (Lakehead University), and Nicki Youroukos (Lakehead University).

Last Chance Tourism: Adapting Tourism Opportunities in a Changing World
Edited by Harvey Lemelin, Jackie Dawson, Emma J. Stewart
Published November 28, 2011 by Routledge – 240 pages
Series: Contemporary Geographies of Leisure, Tourism and Mobility

Please visit the Routledge website for more details or to purchase the book:http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780203828939/