Hubbing for Tourists

Book excerpt: Dubai International Airport (DXB), Emirates Airlines, and the Burj al-Arab. Changi International Airport (SIN), Singapore Airlines, and Marina Bay Sands. Chek Lap Kok (HGK), Cathay Pacific, and The Peninsula Hotel. Kingsford Smith (SYD), Qantas Airlines, and the Wentworth Hotel. What do these collective entities have in common? Not only do they link global air hubs with city-centric long-haul airlines and destination-worthy hotels, but they are the product of a distinct strategy to boost tourism development through the synergies created by aviation development. This volume explores the evolution of tourism development through synergies created by airline, airport, and hotel development in the Persian Gulf (namely Dubai); Southeast Asia (primarily Singapore); and East Asia (mainly Hong Kong) during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These "hubs" included, but went beyond traditional models of hotel development as models for economically viable tourism programs, particularly after World War II. The book also examines how such systems integrated travelers, airlines, and airports in Australasia and Europe, while at the same time competing with imperial systems of airport and airline development. This book illuminates the strategies behind and competition between cities during the current century for air traffic, tourists, and airlines transiting between Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australasia.