SOME NOTES ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF TOURISM: A COMMENT

In his article ‘Some notes on the geography of tourism,’ Britton raises a number of interesting issues about this relatively new branch of geography. Certainly he makes a thoughtful contribution to the discussion of the concepts, viability, and tasks of the geography of tourism, but there are points on which I disagree with him. I will address them through two main themes: the costs and benefits of tourism, and the conceptual questions of the geography of tourism.     

Major foreign policy challenges for the next US President

President Obama has been elected to office in the United States during a crisis of confidence in America's capacity to exercise effective leadership in world afairs. National self-indulgence, greedy financial irresponsibility and an unnecessary war have discredited that leadership, a situation that has been compounded by the current global economic crisis. Added to these self-inflicted wounds, this article suggests, are two transformational developments on the world political scene. First, the 'global political awakening' to issues such as climate change, health and social inequality; and second, a shift in the distribution of global power from the West to the East. However, although this shift is occurring, it is a slow process and in the foreseeable future there is no state, or combination of states, that can replace the role America plays on the international scene. What is also clear is that without an American recovery, there will be no global recovery. The American recovery will be a monumental task. But four small, telling words—unify, enlarge, engage and pacify—summarize the essence of the needed response. There needs to be an effort to re-establish a sense of unity between America and Europe; an enlarged coalition of principal players is necessary to promote more effective global management; dialogue engaging a wider circle of partners key to global geopolitical stability should be promoted and maintained; and a deliberate effort not to get bogged down politically and militarily in the Middle East is essential.     

Fragmentation of Bird Bones in Food Remains of Imperial Eagles (Aquila heliaca)

Fragmentation of bird bones in pellets and uneaten food remains of imperial eagles (Aquila heliaca) was studied. The degree of fragmentation was higher than that produced by owls and lower than that in gyrfalcons. There were significant differences between pellets and uneaten remains in the survival of bones and their fragmentation. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol., 7 : 165–171 (1997) No. of Figures: 0. No. of Tables: 5. No. of References: 21.     

THE TOURISM CLIMATIC INDEX: A METHOD OF EVALUATING WORLD CLIMATES FOR TOURISM

In this essay a method of computing tourism climatic indices (TCIS) is described. These indices represent a quantitative evaluation of world climate for the purposes of international tourism. A series of rating systems is developed to provide a systematic basis for assessing the climatic elements that most affect the quality of the tour- ism experience. The problem of weighting climatic variables in the TCI formula is also discussed. Monthly TCIS have been computed for 453 meteorological stations throughout the world, and the results have been generalized in 12 monthly world maps.
L' article offre une méthode pour calculer des indices climatoogiques touristiques (ICT), qui représentent une évaluation quantitative des climats mondiaux, destinée aux besoins du tourisme international. On développe une série de systèmes d' évaluation d' éléments climatologiques, fournissant ainsi une base systématique pour évaluer lesquels de ces derniers influencent le plus la qualityé de l' expérience touristique vécu. L'article souléve aussi les problhes réliés aux valeurs relatives, soient les poids, des variables qui entrent dans la formule de l' ICT. Des valeurs mensuelles ont été compilées pour 453 stations météorologiques à travers le monde, et les résultats sont présentés, en forme généralisée sur une base mensuelle, dans douze cartes mondiales.