The aim of this Special Issue – Tourism Communication and Information System - is to discuss how and to what extent may communication and information have influence on tourists’ decisions behavior when planning/experiencing their trip as much as on their way of looking at the destination.

In the present special issue, we have focused on the health and medical tourism. Medical tourism is a high-growth industry being driven by globalization and rising healthcare costs in developed countries Medical tourism is also regarded as the most promising industry in 21st century, which was based on medical care, sickness and health, rehabilitation and recuperation (Chung, 2014).

We encourage researchers to submit their original articles, in which new, innovative and evaluable works have been performed, by both numerical and experimental techniques. Specifically, we are interested in researches that could be proposed in health tourism, medical tourism, consumer attitude toward medical tourism services, medical tourism management, medical tourism supply chain, medical tourism and social medial etc.

From ancient civilisations to this day, the Balkans have been a region of dynamic developments, diversity of lifestyles, replete with conflicts, disputes and reconciliations. The region has been a home to great civilisations (pre-history, Ancient Greece, Byzantium, Ottoman Empire, the Slavs, Austro-Hungarian Empire) and to a number of lesser states. It was in this region that different religions, cultures, lifestyles, dynamics and visions of development converged and conflicted. The Balkans are still a very underdeveloped region and unstable, in the political, economic and socio-cultural sense. The burning topics of everyday life in the Balkans are full of remnants of tradition and streaks of modern lifestyle. The Balkans are full of contradictions, not only because of a number of widely diverse political, economic, military, confessional and cultural options of development, but also because of expectations that the world community has from the Balkans. There are traces of ancient cultures in the Balkans, diverse wildlife and landscapes, large modern cities, but also completely underdeveloped and underconstructed villages; there are modern seaside regions with developed infrastructure, but also inaccessible sites of untouched nature. Everyone wishes to aid the development of the Balkan region, the solution of its conflicts, the rule of peace, the discovery of its forgotten history... What do the Balkans do to deserve it and what is it to blame for? However, let us turn our focus on tourism.What is the current image of the Balkans in the world? From the aspect of tourist demand, such image is more than welcome. The power of attraction of the Balkans, from the aspect of tourist attractiveness, lies in its very diversity, dynamics and unforeseeability. The modern tourist is on a constant quest for something new, undiscovered, not previously experienced, but also modern, safe, preserved. The Balkans are offering the tourists a new experience, excitement, flamboyance, anything but the everyday monotony.Is tourism possible in the Balkans and what image should Balkan have or build? The region of culture or the region of savagery? The line may be very thin, but it is firm and attractive.Managing tourism in countries which face economic and socio-cultural problems is by no means an easy task. What is expected from the development of tourism is a respect of environmental, ethic and socio-cultural codes of behaviour; a sustainable and responsible tourism which contributes to the development of local regions and builds with a view to the future. Do these processes occur in the Balkan countries? What are the problems of management of this development in the countries still quivering with the unsolved problems? To miss the opportunity yielded by the strength of history, culture, diversity and modern market demands is impermissible and to realize a good goal is, we believe, difficult. This goal of this theme issue of the American journal of tourism management is to show, in a multidimensional, objective and scientific way, the current image of the Balkans as a tourist destination, as an image that we seek and that stays with us. How are the Balkans perceived by tourists and by those who wish to earn from its diversity?

Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. It is intended to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats. Furthermore, the multi-layered significance of ecotourism landscapes as green infrastructures, ecological conservation, and cultural heritages and importantly as tourism sites cannot be overemphasized. However, the global challenge of climate change in particular makes these landscapes relevant beyond tourism use especially in urban contexts. Therefore, there are interwoven relationships between climate change and these landscapes as tourism resources. Since the aim of best tourism management is to optimize patronage and afford tourists satisfaction with minimal environmental impacts, the current global climate change debate is germane to achieving these goals. In view of the global, multicultural, international, and multi-billion dollar economic capacity of the industry, this Special Issue of American Journal of Tourism Management seeks to explore these crucial relationships to enhance better management of urban ecotourism sites despite the global challenge of climate change.

Tourism peripheries have been described both spatially and economically. Spatially, they suffer from geographical isolation, are distant from core spheres of activity and have poor access to and from markets. In economic terms, they suffer from economic marginalization, over rely on primary economic activities such as agriculture, have low adoption of technology, have poor infrastructure and are dominated by small to medium scale enterprises. Thus peripheral areas are confronted with numerous developmental challenges. Governments of peripheral areas are increasingly turning to tourism as a panacea to their economic malaise. However, there are a number of obstacles to the realization of sustainable tourism in these areas, including limited market opportunities, difficulty of access, vulnerability to tourism impacts, weak intersectoral linkages, lack of capital and lack of quality human resources. In addition, it has been argued that the structure and organization of the tourism industry in the periphery, especially in the Third World, is largely based on a core-periphery dependency, which renders the use of tourism as a development strategy doubtful since substantial portions of the economic benefits of tourism remain in the metropolitan core or are often repatriated. In spite of these challenges, the tourism periphery which includes developing countries, islands, areas in developed countries isolated by natural, cultural, social and political phenomenon as well as rural areas, plays an important role in the global tourism trade.

The tourism periphery is a major receptor of tourist from the developed world. Turner and Ash (1975) used the term the pleasure periphery to describe countries of the developing world which serve as destinations of tourists from developed countries. In deed with growing green consumerism and consumer demand for alternative tourism, peripheral areas are increasingly becoming destinations for special interest tourism such as ecotourism, heritage tourism, religious tourism, health tourism and adventure tourism.

Yet there has been limited research on tourism in peripheral countries or areas. The aim of this special issue therefore is to shed more light on a previously under researched yet important area in tourism. This is to highlight the tourism development achievements, challenges and potentials which will inform policies and programs geared towards advancing sustainable tourism development in peripheral areas.