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The Evolving Economic Impact Of Tourism On The Greater Smoky Mountain Region Of East Tennessee And Western North Carolina, L. Alex Tooman

Doctoral Dissertations

Tourism is evaluated in the Greater Smoky Mountain Region from the early 19th century to the present. During the modern era of the automobile - after the creation of the national park in the 1930s - the tourist industry has demonstrated itself to be a fairly complex agent of change, not only exhibiting various stages of development but also with a diversity of types and scale of operations.

By employing a composite approach this dissertation attempts a broad evaluation of the impact of tourism. The destination life-cycle approach developed by geographers, in which tourists destinations are viewed as evolving through …