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ecognition of the severe impact of tourism at
many honey pot sites based upon both the natural
and the built heritage. Nonetheless, awareness of
these issues, the emergence of green tourism
initiatives and the adoption of good practice have
ameliorated some of the worst impacts. Social
consequences have been little researched. In areas
of heavy tourist demand, there has been a strong
local reaction, as in rural areas where demand for
second homes has acted to displace local people
and led to the decline in rural services.
Further reading
Boniface, B. and Cooper, C. �1994) The Geography of
Travel and Tourism, Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
�Provides detailed treatment of the
geography of UK tourism.)
Publications by the country tourist boards and the
British Tourist Authority provide the most
comprehensive set of reports and statistics
relating to tourism in the United Kingdom.
United States
CHRIS COOPER, AUSTRALIA
The thirty-fifth anniversary of the United States
Government's formal legislated involvement in
international travel and tourism occurred in
1996. Three entities responsible for serving as the
federal government's national tourism office have
come and gone during this period. The US
government agency for tourism emerged from a
1958 study, which concluded that tourism was a
unique instrument to promote economic advancement
and to contribute to friendly, peaceful
relations among nations. A small Office of International
Travel was set up in the Department of
Commerce to serve as the locus for tourism and as
a government±industry liaison. As the diplomatic
and monetary value of tourism increased, Congress
passed the International Travel Act of 1961, which
established the United States Travel Service within
the Department of Commerce as the national
tourism office mandated to promote international
tourism to this country. In 1970, with international
arrivals totalling 12.4 million and receipts totalling
United States 613
$2.7 billion, a National Tourism Policy Study was
established by the Senate Commerce Committee.
Completed in 1978, the four-year study recommended
the establishment of a national tourism
policy.
In 1980, congress passed the National Tourism
Policy Act, which was signed into law in 1981. This
act created the United States Travel and Tourism
Administration, to replace the previous one. The
new office was to implement broad tourism policy
initiatives, promote travel to this country as a
stimulus to economic stability, support the growth
of the tourism industry, reduce the nation's tourism
deficit, and foster friendly understanding and
appreciation of the United States abroad. The act
specifically mandated the establishment of two
important tourism policy bodies. An interagency
coordinating committee, the Tourism Policy Council,
was developed to ensure that the national
tourism interest would be fully considered in
federal decision making. The industry-based Travel
and Tourism Advisory Board advised the Secretary
of Commerce on implementation of the National
Tourism Policy Act and directed the Assistant
Secretary for Tourism Marketing regarding such
activity plans for the US Travel and Tourism
Administration.
In 1992, the Tourism Policy and Export
Promotion Act's passage set new objectives for
US government tourism policy. The first ever
White House Conference on Travel and Tourism
in October 1995 identified key policies and
recommended creation of a new national tourism
office. The US Travel and Tourism Administration
was abolished in April 1996. A month later,
Congress transferred its principal activities of
tourism policy, international marketing and
research to an interim office known as Tourism
Industries, located in the International Trade
Administration, Department of Commerce. The
United States Tourism Organisation Act of 1996
proposed a privately managed, federally chartered
United States National Tourism Organisation and
nine-member National Tourism Board. Until this
organisation is formed, Tourism Industries will
provide both government and industry with access
to important tourism policy information and
research. Key policy issues facing the present office
and the proposed organisation include