The third edition of Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies provides a vital framework for analysing the complexity of cultural tourism and its increasing globalization in existing as well as emergent destinations of the world. It focuses in particular on the need for even more creative tourism strategies to differentiate destinations from each other using a blend of localized cultural products and innovative global attractions.

The book explores many of the most pertinent issues in heritage, arts, festivals, indigenous, ethnic and experiential cultural tourism in urban and rural environments alike. Since the second edition of this book there have been many important developments in this field and this third edition has been completely revised and updated to include:

New content on: demand and motivation for cultural tourism, sustainable cultural tourism, and ethnic cultural tourism
New and updated case studies from an even wider global perspective
A revised, up-to-date framework for global cultural tourism studies in the light of recent research, publications, and industry developments.
New pedagogical features within the text to aid understanding and critical thinking including: questions at the end of case studies and a further reading section.

At the interface between the global and the local, a sustainable and people-centred approach to cultural tourism planning and development is advocated to ensure that benefits are maximized for local areas, a sense of place and identity are retained, and the tourist experience is enhanced to the full. The text is unique in that it provides a summary and a synthesis of all of the major issues in global cultural tourism, which are presented in an accessible way using a diverse range of international case studies. It is essential and valuable reading for all tourism students.

Melanie K. Smith