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Mass tourism

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Encyclopedia of Tourism

Mass tourism refers to the movement of a large number of organized tourists to popular holiday destinations for recreational purposes. It is a phenomenon which is characterized by the use of standardized package products and mass consumption. Conceptually, this type of tourism features standardized leisure products and experiences packaged for mass tourists (Poon 1993).

History and development

The beginning of mass tourism is largely related to various changes, which occurred in the industrial societies in the second half of the twentieth century. In fact, the history of mass tourism began in 1851 when Thomas Cook led a mass of tourists to the Great Exhibition in London (Page 2012). The growth of leisure travel and its importance were a result of the increased spending power, personal mobility, development of public transport, and internationalization in modern communities (Bramwell 2004). The emergence of paid holidays, increased leisure time, and the development of railway networks...

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References

  • Bramwell, B. 2004 Mass Tourism, Diversification and Sustainability in Southern Europe’s Coastal Regions. In Coastal Mass Tourism: Diversification and Sustainable Development in Southern Europe, B. Bramwell, ed., pp.1-31. Clevedon: Channel View.

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  • Manera, C., L. Segreto, and M. Pohl 2009 The Mediterranean as a Tourist Destination: Past, Present, and Future of the First Mass Tourism Resort Area. In Europe at the Seaside: The Economic History of Mass Tourism in the Mediterranean, L. Segreto, C. Manera and M. Pohl, eds., pp.1-11. Oxford: Berghahn.

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  • Page, S. 2012 Tourism Management: An Introduction . Oxford. Butterworth-Heinemann.

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  • Poon, A. 1993 Tourism, Technology and Competitive Strategies. London: CABI.

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  • Weaver, D. 2007 Towards Sustainable Mass Tourism: Paradigm Shift or Paradigm Nudge? Tourism Recreation Research 32(3):65-69.

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Correspondence to Nikola Naumov .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Naumov, N., Green, D. (2016). Mass tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01384-8_378

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