Introduction : islandscapes and tourism : setting the scene

The links between islandscapes and tourism are unassailable. The essential nature of islandscapes, particularly their backdrop, lends them to touristification in the contemporary globalised context. 'Getting away from it all' is central to tourists' selection of an island as a holiday destination-it is this that is fundamental to making islands favourably predisposed for tourism development. In seeking to inform and shape the islandscapes agenda, the selection of perspectives herein showcases the interactions between islands and the evidently diverse encounters with tourism. On small islands, dotted across the globe, tourism looms large, yet as geographer Stephen Britton forewarns, it holds enormous promise, but can also unravel delicately poised islandscapes. For many small island developing states, their reliance on tourism is well known, yet this very dependence echoes Britton's assertions, and highlights the vexed articulations that tourism tends to raise, and what this anthology appraises extensively.