Tourism Geography

Tourism geography is a subdiscipline of human geography that studies travel and its effects on locations.

The Milky Way above Lost Canyon in The Needles district, Canyonlands National Park. Photo: NPS/Emily Ogden.

Where to View the Milky Way in the United States

Julian Marks

Wilderness areas and national parks, particularly in the western half of the United States, are excellent places to observe the night sky.

Book cover for Under the Wave a Waimea

Review | Under the Wave at Waimea

G.T. Dempsey

Set in Hawaii and with a champion surfer as its central character, "Under the Wave at Waimea" introduces us to the global geography of surfing.

Book cover for "Lure of the Beach"

Review | Lure of the Beach: A Global History

G.T. Dempsey

Robert C. Ritchie guides readers through a comprehensive history of mankind’s love affair with the beach.

The horseshoe bend in the New River from one of the overlooks along the Grandview Rim Trail. Photo: NPS /Kevin Daley, public domain.

West Virginia’s First National Park

Caitlin Dempsey

West Virginia's New River Gorge National Park and Preserve became the latest national park when it was designated as such by the U.S. Congress in December of 2020.

A view of the larger lagoon at Big Spring Park with the friendship bridge in the foreground. Photo: Marques Hayes.

Huntsville’s Enduring Spring

Marques Hayes

Big Spring is a karst spring located in Huntsville, Alabama.

Review | The Best American Travel Writing 2020

G.T. Dempsey

Travel writing as it should be – we are invited to learn from the setting of lessons by the learned and the observant.

Most Tourists Don’t Stray Far From the Road When Taking Photos in National Parks

Caitlin Dempsey

Cartography students mapped out 800,000 geotagged photos posted to Flickr to analyze how far those pictures were taken from a road.

Review | The Best American Travel Writing 2019

G.T. Dempsey

The 'Best American Travel Writing 2019' features pieces on either dangerous places or the pursuit of the exotic as well-informed as they are well-written. 

African elephant, Madikwe Game Reserve. Photo: flowcomm, CC BY 2.0

Are Safaris the Best Answer for Elephant Conservation?

Geo Contributor

Tourism can be a great conservation tool as long as it is monitored closely.

A person holding a camera up to the screen.

Geography of the Film Industry

Mark Altaweel

Human geographers have studied how the film industry has developed in different countries and regions within countries.

This gravity hill makes water appear to drain uphill, Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick. Photo: Water appearing to run uphill at Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick by Laurie Piskun, under license CC BY-SA 3.0, MediaWiki Commons.

What are Gravity Hills?

Elizabeth Borneman

There are hundreds of gravity hills around the world and they are characterized as places where a geographical optical illusion has been created.

New Tourism Geography Book on Destination Competitiveness and Sustainability

Caitlin Dempsey

A new book in the CABI Series in Tourism Management Research has been released.

Arriving in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Photo: Arriving Pyongyang by Clay Gilliland, https://flic.kr/p/oWzGuu, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Tourism in North Korea

Elizabeth Borneman

More and more people are flocking to the tightly controlled state for a peek into one of the most mysterious nations on Earth.

Rock carving, on the Romanian side of the Danube River, depicting the Dacian King Decebalus (r. A.D. 87-106), who fought the Romans in the early 2nd century but was ultimately defeated. He is considered a Romanian national hero. The carving, made between 1994 and 2004, is 42.9 m (141 ft) tall and 31.6 m (104 ft) wide and is the tallest rock relief in Europe. Photo: CIA, public domain.

Top Five Things to Do in Romania

Geo Contributor

The true beauty and authenticity of Romania, its wild and pristine natural environment, the rich cultural heritage and many more advantages are drawing more travelers than ever.

What is Tourism Geography?

Geo Contributor

By the 1950s, tourism geography began to be accepted as its own domain, especially in scientific works from USA and Germany.