Macroeconomics Resources

There are any number of good Macroeconomics texts no doubt in just about all the mother tongues spoken on LPHT. Please do not forget these: the basic principles of macroeconomics are very well covered in traditional sources you will find in your library.

The same is true of Tourism: there are a wealth of Tourism and Tourism Management textbooks in English and French. ‘For my money’ the three best of the best are the following:

1. Tourism Principles and Practice (2005 3rd Edition) . Cooper, Fletcher et.al. FT Prentice Hall.
2. The Business of Tourism (2006) Holloway,C. FT Prentice Hall
3. The Business of Tourism Management (2006) Beech,J & Chadwick,C. FT Prentice Hall

[No, I assure you, I am not on commission for FT Prentice Hall publishers! But these ARE really good books which cover any amount of the subjects you face on this programme and at quite a detailed level.]

Yes the www is a spectacular resource, but DO check out your sources: are they valid and reliable??? Not all web sources are, so be circumspect in what you choose to cite: old and unreliable sources are unlikely to be well received! You need to ask yourself where you may find reliable macroeconomic data: who is producing it and at what level. Here’s some examples:

The UN World Tourism Organisation is not a bad start – an organisation representing the interests of tourism at international and global level whose prime stakeholders are the nation states involved in Tourism.

At national level most states have a Department or Ministry with responsibility for Tourism – and ministers in such departments need quality information to enable them to take decisions, make policy and devote resources: they almost always share such information with the national industry. France does this through its Tourism Department within the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment (and it also has a Tourism Monitoring Website with a useful Resources Centre) as does England with its Tourism function within the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. HOWEVER, all sites produced by governments should come with an official ‘Government Health Warning’ as on packets of cigarettes warning you to be circumspect in how you ‘read’ the information contained therein.  Naturally you will tend to see figures ‘interpreted’ to say what governments would like them to say (i.e. a successful fulfillment of government promises and policy).  So don’t just repeat ministerial ‘mantras’ without looking at the facts and figures – you may find there to be an entirely different ‘story’ that needs telling!   You have been warned!   Whenever you quote something in an essay or report, ALWAYS reflect upon it and comment:

• is it 100% reliable?
• does it tell the whole story?
• is it balanced / unbalanced?

States often have centralised research units like the UK’s ‘Office of National Statistics‘ where national economic figures are produced and housed , sometimes on things as specific as international passenger surveys or as broad as surveys of social trends. Given the enormous cost of such research (which is often broken down into region / industry sector) borne by the state, it would be foolish of Tourism managers and businesses to neglect these vast sources of vital and cost-free information.

Also at national level are bodies such as National Tourist Offices, like ‘Visit Britain’ who also undertake research. You will often find that they have two sites: one for the consumer/holidaymaker and one for the trade. Clearly they will be putting the statistical research information and analysis on the latter, but they often allow access to this by bona-fide national industry or educational establishments upon request.

Moving on down to regional level, we encounter Regional Tourism Organisations, which, like their national ‘big brothers’, also tend to offer two sites. Taking Alsace as a case in point we have www.clicalsace.com, the ‘Tourism Observatory’, researching and transmitting vital information to the Tourism trade whilst at the same time Tourisme-Alsace does the promotion in the marketplace.

These are just SOME of the possible resources available to you! In addition you have me and the teaching team, your library, the local industry….and, of course, each other…