ABSTRACT

Tourism is quickly becoming the world’s largest industry and more people are traveling now than ever before. Most basic definitions of tourist include some element of traveling away from one’s home environment. When operationalized in this way, tourism almost always involves the crossing of some political boundary. Sub-national boundaries, such as those between provinces and counties, may have significant implications for tourism, especially in terms of planning, promotion, and taxation. International boundaries, however, influence tourism in many more ways. The flow of tourists, their choice of destinations, planning and the physical development of tourism, and the types and extent of marketing campaigns are all affected by the nature of political boundaries.