ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the nature and the key characteristics of Cuba's transition and to assess the role played by tourism in the country's institutional and economic restructuring. It addresses the context of the research and reviews the literature concerning urban tourism and development in the socialist State. The book examines the changing role of tourism within transitional countries and introduces the case study of Cuba. It explores the main political and economic reasons for the intervention of governments in the sector, with a special emphasis on the Cuban context. The book also addresses the main hypotheses and arguments used as part of the work. It argues that the tourism re-development of the Special Period is responsible for the broad re-emergence of patterns of duality in Havana.
