"Building on the insight that markets rest on political foundations, this volume of highly perceptive studies asks how tourism has become increasingly prominent on the urban scene and how this has affected urban dwellers, positively as well as negatively. Fascinating, provocative, unexpected, never simplistic, this book gives us the state of the art on this timely subject." John Mollenkopf, Distinguished ... Read moreProfessor of Political Science, CUNY Graduate Center "This book stands out in what is a rapidly growing literature on tourism by attempting a systematic empirical examination of major trends and components of urban tourism. It moves from global trends to the particular ways in which these become concrete economic, social, cultural conditions in specific cities. And it moves from detailed empirical analyses to broader interpretive framings of what it all means." Saskia Sassen, editor of Global Networks/Linked Cities "The book is coherent, the chapters are consistent and the introduction and conclusion are well-written.....it will serve well the global economists who are interested in relationship between the global trends and tourism dynamics at the local level." Journal of American Planning Association Show Less