Geographic concepts and the development of tourism research in Canada

Tourism research in Canadian Geography departments goes back to the early 1950s with R.I. Wolfe's impact studies of vacation destinations in Ontario. Prior to that, most studies were of an in house type, conducted by government agencies and private corporations having a stake in tourism-Parks Canada, the Canadian Office of Tourism and the Canadian Pacific Corporation.The geographic approaches and concepts applied to the study field range from holistic-environmental studies originating from the Parks Canada mandate to analyses of tourist-related service industry operations. A number of major interest areas can be identified in the more conceptual geographic evolution: carrying capacity, land use differentiation, destination area impact, spatial linkage application to tourist area development, regional historical research to mention some. This paper provides an interpretation of how such concepts emerged on the scene of Canadian tourism research, by presenting them in an evolutionary-historical framework of analysis.