Challenges faced by world tourism cities – London’s perspective

Abstract

World tourism cities perform multiple functions and exhibit various characteristics that influence tourism development within their boundaries. They are the main gateway for tourists visiting a country and their success has a direct impact on the visitor economy of that destination. London, the focus of this research, has been one of the world’s top tourism cities for many years, and a key gateway for domestic and international visitors. But despite the important role tourism plays in the economy of the city, there is limited research on the development of this activity in the capital. Using London as an exploratory case study, this paper contributes to better understanding the challenges faced by policy makers when planning and managing tourism in world cities. The adopted research method offers the advantage of gathering insightful information using multiple data collection techniques. Examining this new evidence contributes to expanding the knowledge on the particularities of tourism development in one of the top world cities, which could help policy makers in their efforts to better prepare for potential challenges faced by these complex but important destinations.

Keywords:

• world tourism cities
• challenges
• urban tourism
• tourism planning and management
• London

Notes

1. As stated on the GLA website, ‘A Business Improvement District is a geographical area within which the businesses have voted to invest collectively in local improvements to improve their trading environment. […] such as extra safety, cleaning and environmental measures.’