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Tribe, J. Strategy for tourism, 2nd ed. Goodfellow Publishers Limited.

(www.goodfellowpublishers.com), 280 + vii. (figure, plates, references, index)
£34.99. Pbk. ISBN 978-1-910158...

Article  in  Annals of Tourism Research · June 2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2016.05.014

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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Annals of Tourism Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures

BOOK REVIEW

Strategy for tourism, 2nd edition

John Tribe. Goodfellow Publishers Limited. (www.goodfellowpublishers.com), 280 + vii. (figure,
plates, references, index) £34.99. Pbk. ISBN 978-1-910158-62-3.

As a professor who teaches a senior level strategy class in a School of Business, finding a suitable
text book has been difficult. A good text in this context has to have a foundation in business in a man-
ner that hospitality and tourism students will find engaging and push them towards a praxis level of
learning. This text achieves this balance nicely and provides a suitable reference guide for such a class.
The text is divided into four parts: (1) Strategic Purpose; (2) Strategic Analysis; (3) Strategic
Choice; and (4) Strategic Analysis. Each section is then broken into three chapters. The section on
Strategic Analysis, for example, contains the chapters: (1) The External Environment: PEST; (2) The
External Environment: Competition; and (3) The Internal Environment. This section is similar to what
can be found in many business texts like Sminia’s (2014) The Strategic Manager (2014). What is miss-
ing in this text is a strong critique of PEST like the one found in Smini’s text. This shortcoming is a
common problem throughout the text where concepts are delivered but deep critiques of the concepts
are not to be found. If one adopts this text, it would need to be supplemented by the type of material
covered by Smini. Further, this text does not provide much of the typically-found electronic supple-
mental material (such as an instructor website) found in other texts. This is not a particular problem,
though, because most of the models and supplemental lecture materials are easily found by using a
search engine.
The text is modelled into a traditional text book format where the basic concept is introduced; a
case study is given to illustrate the point; followed by the concept being broken down into subsec-
tions. The text is written in a manner consistent with many strategy texts from other disciplines in
the business world and it does an excellent job making the concepts applicable to hospitality and
tourism management. For example, Chapter 2 begins with a case study that describes Heathrow
Airport’s mission, stakeholders, and governance structure. By having the case at the beginning of
the chapter, students reading it can gain a practical orientation before deeper concepts are explored.
The case is then employed throughout chapter to illustrate points throughout the chapter. Further,
multiple smaller cases are also employed to illustrate concepts being presented. One suggestion
would be to revisit the cases that begin each chapter at the end in order to close the loop on the con-
cepts being presented. It would be interesting to tie together all of the concepts in the chapter to the
case.
Finding a textbook for a senior level strategy capstone class is difficult. There are few options that
balance the review of standard theoretical frames with challenging students to achieve a praxis level
of learning. For instance, I used Porter’s Five Forces Analysis in the chapter on The External Environ-
ment: Competition to examine the taxi industry. The case combined with the chapter materials lead to
an excellent discussion on whether the taxi industry was viable and what the industry could do to

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2016.05.014
2 BOOK REVIEW / Annals of Tourism Research xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

survive in a sharing-economy world. A instructor adopting this text has to use it as a base from which
to further develop course content. Indeed, one can easily use the text to create materials that support
assessment outcomes for deeper learning. As a reading in a capstone class in a business school, this
text may help students achieve a deeper understanding of management, international business, and
marketing concepts and applications that are often components of a standardized business school exit
exam.
Overall, this text is highly recommended as a book text that adopts basic business concepts and
applies them in a hospitality and tourism setting. The text is well-written and is formatted in a
tried-and-true style that works. As noted, there are no supplemental materials for either the professor
or student through supporting websites, which many instructors have come to expect. Still, the text
book’s content is solid and lays an excellent foundation for a course.

Reference

Sminia, H. (2014). The Strategic Manager.London: Routledge.

Wayne W. Smith
Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management,
College of Charleston,
Charleston, SC 29424, USA
Tel: +1 843 953 6663.
E-mail address: Smithww@cofc.edu

Assigned 2 March 2016. Submitted 10 May 2016. Accepted 12 May 2016.

Available online xxxx

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