This chapter aims to introduce some of the key themes that inform the different case studies developed in this volume. The first section provides a brief overview of the critical traditions studying global tourism within the scope of neoliberal capitalism. The centrality of tourism to the urban economies of cities is, indeed, the focus of the next section. The third section introduces the notion of “ambiance” and argues about its relevance as a lens through which to study the impact of tourism on the urban environment. This paradoxical nature of tourism activities and its relationship to the local cultures is explored in the following section, approaching the notion of authenticity and its atmospheric resonances as an example. The fifth and final section then introduces the rationale and chapters of the book.

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