Being near, on, or in water is an appealing component of many tourism and recreational pursuits. Nevertheless, the importance of freshwater ecosystems has received surprisingly little attention in the literature. This anthology aims to address the limited scholarly recognition of the role of aquatic environments in supporting tourism and recreation opportunities. To this end, Hall and Härkönen have drawn on ten diverse case studies, covering topics from cultural issues relating to lake management in New Zealand; through recreational boating activities in Finland, Poland, and the Netherlands; to historical accounts of the development of tourism around icon lakes in the United States.

The challenge for the editors was to bring these diverse case studies together in a coherent framework. To do this, they divided the book into four parts: introductory context, historical dimensions and cultural values, tourist activities and perceptions, and planning and management issues. Their approach is somewhat chronological and serves to walk the reader through the historical development of lakes as focal leisure sites and the wide range of issues associated with multiple users and stakeholders. An important message is that tourism and recreation represent relatively recent uses of lake environments and, as such, opportunities are both sometimes limited and occasionally enhanced by existing infrastructure and uses of the water resource.