Statutory smoking bans and tourism destinations: Opportunity or threat?

The impact of statutory smoking bans on hospitality and restaurant organizations is an ongoing focus in both academic and popular debate. Indeed recent Irish legislation and current discussion within both the UK, and the EU, suggest that the issue will remain topical. This commentary focuses on the less discussed issue of how such anti-smoking initiatives impact on tourism destinations. A number of positive and negative marketing issues are highlighted and suggestions for empirical research are presented.