Sustainable Tourism Planning and Transportation in Texas
Marcia Pincus, Clifford Perry, Newlove K. Dogoe, Heather Kinder and Eric Lindquist, Texas A&M University, August 1999, 164 pp. (167107-1)
Because transportation and its related infrastructure are important components of tourism, furnishing the primary means for the vast majority of travelers to get into, out of, and through a destination, poor transportation planning and inadequate infrastructure can dramatically reduce the economic “utility” of tourism to a community. This suggests a need to develop transportation planning frameworks to address tourism development within the broader context of community, regional, or statewide economic development goals. It is the objective of this study:
- To examine and better understand tourism-related transportation flows and infrastructure development/planning in selected regions of Texas; and
- To examine and better understand the interrelationship between sustainable development, transportation, and tourism.
Three regions within Texas are examined as part of this study: the Hill Country/Fredericksburg, the Gulf Coast/Port Aransas, and the Big Bend area. Researchers chose to examine regions and sites separately based on the understanding that each destination displayed one or more distinct types of tourism that fell within the following matrix: Data was collected initially through literature reviews and the Internet. This information was combined with firsthand visual data and interview information to obtain a multi-faceted picture of the extent to which transportation services and infrastructure hinder and/or enhance the tourism experience, and the extent to which tourism supports community or regional efforts for sustainable economic development.
Keywords: Tourism, Tourism Planning, Sustainable Tourism, Tourism and Transportation
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