It is clear that tourism is playing an increasingly important role in the world economy. For example, international tourism receipts already comprise 7 percent of the value of world exports and this figure is expected to grow. Currently international tourism is second only to oil in world trade, and it has been forecast that by the turn of the century it will be the most important sector. Although the emphasis in this book is on international tourism management, a considerable number of the concepts and techniques discussed are equally applicable to domestic tourism. The scale of world domestic tourism far exceeds that of international tourism, both in volume and value terms. Total world receipts from tourism - international and domestic - exceed the GNP (gross national product) of any country in the world except Japan (where GNP is approximately equal to world tourism receipts) and the USA (where GNP is approximately twice the value of world tourism receipts).