`Comprehensive... in reading through the author's analysis of these tourisms and the industry that has emerged to serve them, one has the feeling of being brought up to date on all the latest developments... regardless of their theoretical predilections, readers should find something of value in this forward-looking book'
- Tourism Management
`For tourism researchers and professionals alike this book is a fascinating read - one that should not be missed if tourism's future marketing message is to be effectively formulated and targeted' - Regional Studies
`The book is written in a very accessible style that would serve as a good point of entry for anyone interested in leisure, tourism, and cultural change in contemporary societies. The scope of Urry's book is breathtaking, one is left with a feeling of coming to terms with the complex set of social relations that are tourism, both in their production and consumption' - Planning Practice and Research
`It is a readable and stimulating account of many aspects of the sociology of contemporary tourism. For anybody interested academically or professionally in tourism this book is well worth reading. It should give you lots of ideas, challenge several of your preconceptions, and help keep you up to date with intellectual fashions' - Environment and Planning
`Provides a number of interesting perspectives that amount to more than an introduction to the sociology of tourism' - Annals of Tourism Research
`Urry is primarily concerned with the construction of the tourist perspective and the way in which places are appropriated for experience and communication by different social groups in different epochs. In this he is eminently successful' - Area
`There is much to be applauded here...this is an engaging and thought provoking book which should be read by those interested in advertising and the changing nature of contemporary culture' - Contemporary Sociology
`This is a good sociological study with valuable specifics on British seaside resorts, the marketing of `friendliness' by airlines, and other topics.' - Canadian Literature No. 131
