Tourism Planning in London: an exercise in spatial and seasonal management

Tourism management is becoming a necessary component of regional and local planning as the effects of mass tourism build up in host communities. Traditionally, two forces have been at work in tourist areas. On the one hand promotion of the industry by those who are concerned with maximizing its economic return and, on the other, agencies concerned with protecting the local area and its inhabitants from the pressures of tourism. It is the host community's public amenities which often form the nucleus of a tourist attraction and its residents who are expected to provide the hospitality upon which the industry depends. Thus, some form of management is needed if the industry is to develop in accordance with a community's aspirations and capacity. Sir George Young noted the need for balanced development in his seminal study, Tourism: Blessing or Blight? He called for tourist authorities to “act within the context of a national plan which identifies the role of tourism and which blends the requirements.”