Small Island and Small Destination Tourism: Overcoming the Smallness Barrier for Economic Growth and Tourism Competitiveness

This unique and thoughtful book considers the tourism specialization, economic growth, and tourism competitiveness of a very specific type of tourism: small islands practicing warm water island tourism.

This new book thoroughly examines the phenomenon of why some small island destinations have been more successful than others. The main premise applied is that success and survival of small island tourism hinges on resolving the mystery regarding the relationship between competitiveness and quality of life. In addressing this question, the book reviews four relevant and interconnected concepts: tourism, competitiveness, quality of life, and scale (or size). In doing so, the book enhances understanding of the potential of tourism for the improvement of the quality of life of the residents of small islands.

In the last chapter of the book, the author assesses the impact of COVID-19 on tourism and specifically its ramifications for small island destinations. Whether small island populations can rise from beneath the COVID -19 burden that threatens their economic future is yet to be seen.

Small Island and Small Destination Tourism: Overcoming the Smallness Barrier for Economic Growth and Tourism Competitiveness is written from a sustainable perspective that combines tourism dynamics, development, competitiveness, quality of life, and business. As such, it is aimed at a broad but higher-level audience including graduate students, academicians and researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and international organizations.

Robertico Croes, PhD, is a Professor and the Associate Dean for Research and Administration at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida. He currently also serves as the Director of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies at the University in Central Florida. Dr. Croes is the author of five books. His other four books are on tourism and poverty reduction (Poverty Alleviation through Tourism Development), the challenges facing small island destinations (The Small Island Paradox and Tourism Management in Warm-water Island Destinations), and on the application of demand models to a small economy (Anatomy of Demand in International Tourism). Additionally, he is a contributor to more than a dozen books and has issued more than 100 published works and more than 30 industry reports. He has published articles in such journals as the Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Economics, International Journal of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and International Journal of Hospitality Management. He has also served on the editorial board of many journals. His research has been presented at the predominant industry and research conferences around the world, including those in South Africa, Hong Kong, Ireland, Turkey, Taiwan, and Trinidad and Tobago. Dr. Croes is the recipient of the 2018 and 2015 Thea Sinclair Award, the 2015 UCF Research Incentive Award (RIA), 2015 Best Graduate Student Research Paper, presented at the 32nd International Association of Hospitality Financial Management Education Research Symposium, New York University, 2015, and several other awards. His fields of interest include econometrics applications in hospitality, tourism demand analysis/forecasting, tourism economic impact, competitive and sustainable tourism in tourism development analysis, tourism development applied to poverty alleviation, human development, and tourism development in developing countries. Dr. Croes received his doctorate from the University of Twente, the Netherlands. His dissertation focused on quantitative modeling of tourism demand, tourism development, and government intervention.