The Civic Tourism subtitle, "The Poetry and Politics of Place," represents a two-fold approach to the subject. The "poetry" of place is its product, its story, often called "sense of place," which has become increasingly popular among tourism professionals because of the associated financial benefits.

A good deal of Civic Tourism's research focuses on what "place" is and what it means; and anyone who has tried to do that knows it's not easy. Place-making is conceptually opaque and fraught with issues of power, identity, and money.

That leads to the "politics" of place — the process, how place gets articulated, and who participates in that activity.

Hence, Civic Tourism focuses on the product and process of place-making within a tourism context.