Over the last two decades, tourism has become firmly established as a recognized field of study and the focus of extensive academic research. There has been continual expansion in the provision of taught programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level,

Over the last two decades, tourism has become firmly established as a recognized field of study and the focus of extensive academic research. There has been continual expansion in the provision of taught programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level, dramatic developments in the tourism literature and a growing community of tourism academics. Despite this explosion in the study of tourism, however, it is still struggling to achieve wider academic legitimacy, it remains to some extent divorced from the industry upon which it is focuses and, even within its academic ranks, there remains uncertainty over its role and future direction. This volume aims to critically explore this paradoxical situation and to consider the future direction of the study of tourism. It charts the development of tourism as an area of study, analyzing approaches taken from an international context; it critiques contemporary epistemologies of tourism framed around the social science vs. management dichotomy and offers alternative approaches to the study of tourism. In doing so, it engages directly with a range of important academic debates: what tourism ‘is’ in an academic context, the purpose of studying tourism and how it should be studied in the future. This important and stimulating volume will have global appeal to higher level students, academics and researchers within tourism and related disciplines.

Over the last two decades, tourism has become firmly established as a recognized field of study and the focus of extensive academic research. There has been continual expansion in the provision of taught programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level, dramatic developments in the tourism literature and a growing community of tourism academics. Despite this explosion in the study of tourism, however, it is still struggling to achieve wider academic legitimacy, it remains to some extent divorced from the industry upon which it is focuses and, even within its academic ranks, there remains uncertainty over its role and future direction. This volume aims to critically explore this paradoxical situation and to consider the future direction of the study of tourism. It charts the development of tourism as an area of study, analyzing approaches taken from an international context; it critiques contemporary epistemologies of tourism framed around the social science vs. management dichotomy and offers alternative approaches to the study of tourism. In doing so, it engages directly with a range of important academic debates: what tourism ‘is’ in an academic context, the purpose of studying tourism and how it should be studied in the future. This important and stimulating volume will have global appeal to higher level students, academics and researchers within tourism and related disciplines.

"An Introduction to Visual Research Methods in Tourism", is the first book to present, discuss and promote the use of a range of visual methods, including still images (such as photographs, postcards, drawings) and moving images (such as video) within the context of tourism research. The book focuses on key issues important for students, researchers and academics actively doing visual tourism research or those who are contemplating using these methods. These range from the questions surrounding philosophical approaches, (inter)disciplinary location, range and choice of methods, implementation and data analysis techniques to provide an essential guide to using visual methods in tourism research. While recognising that visual methods are predominantly employed within qualitative research, this text will discuss various philosophical approaches and academic disciplines indicating how these influence a particular choice of visual method, mode of implementation and type of analysis. In this regard this book will incorporate perspectives from a range of disciplines including anthropology, geography and sociology, demonstrating how these might be applied within the context of studies in tourism. The discussions surrounding these key issues are supplemented with international case studies from existing research to show how these methods are used in practice. In addition to this practical tip boxes are included to help avoid some of the pitfalls associated with visual research. This book is an essential guide for tourism students, academics and researchers embarking on research using visual methodology in this field.

The remarkable growth in religious tourism across the world has generated considerable interest in the impacts of this type of tourism. Focusing here on environmental issues, this book moves beyond the documentation of environmental impacts to examine in greater depth the intersections between religious tourism and the environment. Beginning with an in-depth introduction that highlights the intersections between religion, tourism, and the environment, the book then focuses on the environment as a resource or generator for religious tourism and as a recipient of the impacts of religious tourism. Chapters included discuss such important areas as theological views, environmental responsibility, and host perspectives.

Urban life and mobility have been greatly affected by globalization and postmodernization. This international collection of essays investigates a number of significant issues in urban research, including urban governance, city branding and commodification, urban fears and safety, and the conservation of the urban ecosystem. Also explored are the changing lifestyles in the urban environment, the increasing importance of tourism in the economy of metropolitan areas, and the interdependence of tourism, cultural heritage and local communities. The volume offers a range of case studies exploring New York, Orlando, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Venice and the imitations of the latter in Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and various Chinese towns. A specific section is devoted to other Italian cities, such as Rome, Florence, Naples, and Turin. It also provides an appendix detailing the “success story” of tourism degree programmes in European universities. The book is dedicated to the memory of Guido Martinotti, a leading Italian scholar widely known for his seminal contributions to urban sociology.

Routledge Handbook of the Tourist Experience offers a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary research on the tourist experience. It draws together multidisciplinary perspectives from leading tourism scholars to explore emergent tourist behaviours and motivations. This handbook provides up-to-date, critical discussions of established and emergent themes and issues related to the tourist experience from a primarily socio-cultural perspective. It opens with a detailed introduction which lays down the framework used to examine the dynamic parameters of the tourist experience. Organised into five thematic sections, chapters seek to build and enhance knowledge and understanding of the significance and meaning of diverse elements of the tourist experience. Section 1 conceptualises and understands the tourist experience through an exploration of conventional themes such as tourism as authentic and spiritual experience, as well as emerging themes such as tourism as an embodied experience. Section 2 investigates the new, developing tourist demands and motivations, and a growing interest in the travel career. Section 3 considers the significance, motives, practices and experiences of different types of tourists and their roles such as the tourist as photographer. Section 4 discusses the relevance of ‘place’ to the tourist experience by exploring the relationship between tourism and place. The last section, Section 5, scrutinises the role of the tourist in creating their experiences through themes such as ‘transformations in the tourist role’ from passive receiver of experiences to co-creator of experiences, and ‘external mediators in creating tourist experiences'. This handbook is the first to fill a notable gap in the tourism literature and collate within a single volume critical insights into the diverse elements of the tourist experience today. It will be of key interest to academics and students across the fields of tourism, hospitality management, geography, marketing and consumer behaviour.