Specialist Accommodation: Definition, Markets Served, and Roles in Tourism Development

This anicle defines specialist accommodation facilities and reviews their role in tourism development. The growth of specialist accommodation establishments is discussed in the contert of recent trends in the tourism market. Drawing from a broad range of inter national research studies, the article reviews the role of specialist accommodation in rural development and in meeting the needs of special-interest markets. Taking an international perspective, it also compares specialist accommodation guests with those of traditional accommodation establishments using data from a national survey of U.S. travelers. Differ ences in the sociodemographic and travel characteristics of the two types of accommoda tion guests are highlighted. Suggestions for future research on specialist accommodation establishments are provided.