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Developing metropolitan tourism on the fringe of central London
Author(s) -
Maitland Robert,
Newman Peter
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international journal of tourism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.155
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1522-1970
pISSN - 1099-2340
DOI - 10.1002/jtr.496
Subject(s) - amenity , tourism , metropolitan area , entertainment , consumption (sociology) , locality , geography , regional science , economic geography , section (typography) , marketing , advertising , business , political science , sociology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , law , finance
The paper examines the growth of a ‘new tourism area’ in Islington, north London — a locality that lacks a large attraction, acknowledged distinctive heritage and has not been planned as a destination. We review supply side changes and link them to the recent literature on economic and spatial trends in cities, particularly the role of amenity. We report on a survey of Islington visitors that shows they are drawn by distinctive qualities of place rather than particular attractions. The visitors have characteristics that distinguish them from visitors to London as a whole, but we speculate that they have similarities to Islington workers and residents in their search for amenity, entertainment and high‐level consumption services. In the final section of the paper we explore the consequences of our findings for understanding the growth of urban tourism. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.