Tourism in Asian Cities Contemporary Geographies of Leisure, Tourism and Mobility Series

This timely and significant book explores the characteristics and complexities of Asian urban tourism, considering the extent to which Western paradigms can be transferred to Asian settings and the striking contrasts that exist within the region.

In an era of unprecedented urban expansion in Asian cities, this book comes at a time of great urgency, illuminating the possible problems and opportunities that arise when a destination emerges as a tourism hotspot. Split into three parts; introducing Asian urban tourism and urbanization, the management and marketing of Asian cities, and emerging trends and issues associated with Asian urban tourism, the book offers a range of varying and vibrant perspectives from international and interdisciplinary experts in the field. Chapters include studies on a wide range of destinations such as Hong Kong, Macau, Cambodia, Phuket, Kolkata, Busan, Delhi, and Sri Lanka among many others, and explore crucial contemporary themes such as overtourism, urbanization and administrative challenges, world heritage, smart cities and the use of technologies such as VR in urban tourism experience creation.

It will be a vital resource for upper-level students, researchers, and academics in tourism, city tourism, Asian studies, development studies, cultural studies, and sustainability, as well as professionals in the field of tourism management.

Introduction. Part 1 Urban tourism precincts in Asia: An introduction 1. Tourism in cities: Asian perspectives 2. Urbanization and urban tourism in Sri Lanka 3. Feel the urban warmth…tourism in ASEAN urban areas, morphologies, and practices 4. Eat, play, visit: Tianjin’s former western concessions as new hubs for creative cultural tourism 5. Urban heritage tourism alongside the bank of Hugli: carrying forward the legacy of "Little Europe in Bengal," India Part 2 Management and marketing of Asian cities6. The role of buildings archaeology in promoting urban tourism in Kolkata 7. Pre and post-Tsunami, urban tourism development in Phuket 8. Marketing Ulaanbaatar as a dynamic city with a nomadic soul 9. Neon lights in ancient cities: thematic tourism, Disneyization, and world heritage in Cambodia 10. Tourists' perception of food trucks in Asia: A Hong Kong case study 11. Considering tourism and religion in Asian cities 12. Branding Indian cities as smart tourism destinations. Part 3 Emerging paradigms of Asian city tourism 13. Walking with the Little Prince in Busan: Paradoxes of culture making and place identity in a tourist slums 14. Managing overtourism in Asian Cities 15. Impact of augmented and virtual reality on the value co-creation of visitor’s tourism experience: A case of heritage sites in Delhi 16. Urban tourism at a crossroads: diversification and transformation in Macau

Saurabh Kumar Dixit, Ph. D. is an Associate Professor and founding Head of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong (Meghalaya) India. His research interests include Consumer Behavior, Gastronomic Tourism, Service Marketing, Experience Management, and Marketing in hospitality and tourism contexts. He has worked for more than twenty years in several Indian universities / educational institutes. He has 12 books to his credit, including The Routledge Handbook of Consumer Behaviour in Hospitality and Tourism (2017), The Routledge Handbook of Gastronomic Tourism (2019), and The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Experience Management and Marketing (2020). He can be contacted at saurabh5sk@yahoo.com.