Reconstructing the globalisation of tourism: A geo-historical perspective

•We focus on the emerging system of tourist places on a global scale.•We attempt to construct solid historical sources to trace the development of tourism.•Our aim is to obtain a cartographic view of the tourism phenomenon.•We propose a methodological protocol on the globalisation of tourism.•This geo-historical approach concerns tourist places for which a date is proposed.

This article deals with methodological problems that emerge when trying to construct the necessary information for the reconstruction of the spatial pattern of tourist places on a global scale. A methodology in order to construct a data set on the globalisation of tourism is put forward. It reflects upon the possibility to date the emergence and reproduction of destinations at different moments since 1800. As a solution, we propose to use tourist guidebooks published since 1800 as a source, from which different elements can be extracted.