Introduction-Chapter 1

This book analyzes key aspects of European tourism development in the twentieth century, focusing for this on the development of tourist destinations, as well as tourism policies that were created to shape these destinations. The book also examines the private sector, which has traditionally played a determining role in European tourism development. While doing so, this volume presents case studies of Western European and Eastern European countries, such as Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain and Yugoslavia. The aim of the book is to analyze, from a comparative perspective, important aspects of European tourism development in the twentieth century, focusing on the confguration of certain tourist destinations, especially before the emergence of mass tourism, and on the policies implemented by the administration to shape those destinations, while also taking into account the impact of the private sector, which has traditionally played a decisive role in the development of European tourism. The red thread running through the individual contents, organized chronologically and from the general to the particular of the cases examined, is the way in which the state, localities, or regions have dealt with moments of crisis or break at an economic and social level, such as wars, fnancial shortages, and how these have been a turning point for strengthening, improving, or changing or “inventing a tourist destination” through tourism destination policies, adapting, or being resilient to the transformations of the time