Critical Debates in Tourism (Aspects of Tourism, 57) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845413415 ISBN 13: 9781845413415

Publisher: Channel View Publications, 2012

Synopsis

In this volume tourism experts collectively discuss and debate some intriguing questions that the tourism industry poses, such as the relevance of mass tourism, the dilemma of authenticity, whether small tourism is beautiful, whether volunteer tourism is benign, whether tourism contributes to climate change, as well as many others. The book brings together the expertise of 35 renowned international scholars of tourism to examine these perplexing issues. Multidisciplinary in its content, it touches upon anthropology, sociology, geography, climatology, biosciences, and planning and development aspects of tourism. The book provides a dialogue for an academic discussion which challenges research conservatism and stereotypes in tourism studies. It will encourage scholars to test the consistency of critical notions whose heuristic value is often taken for granted. The book will benefit graduates, research scholars and those involved in organizing the industry sustainably.

About this title

About the Author:

Tej Vir Singh is Director and Professor at the Centre for Tourism and Development, Lucknow, India. His main research interests are impact studies, tourism geography, education and mountain tourism. He is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Tourism Recreation Research and has worked in the field for over 40 years. He was the winner of the 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Prize.

Review:

A must for those wanting to get to grips with the key tourism debates. This is an unconventional book that covers many of the big policy issues in tourism – climate change, mass tourism, community empowerment, etc. Experts explore these issues providing opinions, exploding myths and highlighting the value-laden nature of tourism.

(Noel Scott, The University of Queensland, Australia)

Through this fascinating book Tej Vir Singh harnesses key debates that he has encouraged and fostered during his editorship of Tourism Recreation Research. It provides engaging and critical perspectives around fourteen contemporary tourism themes by eminent scholars in the field. Highly recommended.

(Professor John Tribe, University of Surrey, UK)

Each chapter is organized around the contribution of a lead author and those of two or three commenting authors. Also each chapter starts with outlining the context of the debate and ends with concluding remarks by the lead author. In addition, each chapter comprises discussion questions, references and further readings. The book is thus unique and innovative in its presentation and style...Since it contains some intellectually challenging discussions, the publication will mainly be of interest to academic researchers and tourism students.

(H. Leo Theuns, Independent international tourism consultant, the Netherlands Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 37, No. 3, 2012)

Critical Debates in Tourism is an excellent guide for those who are already engaged into or break the ground in tourism research, or simply travel. Researchers from other fields, such as social and natural sciences, will also find this book useful due to multidisciplinary approaches to the discussed subjects. The book reveals lots of facts on ongoing debates around various issues in tourism that are essential to learn or to catch up on.

(Olga Lipkina, University of Eastern Finland, Finland JOST)

Overall, this is an excellent book for those wishing to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of some of the most relevant issues in contemporary tourism research by some of the most established authors of today.

(Tom Griffin, University of Waterloo, Canada i Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 40, pp. 440–442, 2013)

This book is very much a reference guide, an assessment, and a polemic all in one volume. The fact that most of the giants in tourism research have contributed mark it as a must read.

(R. W. Benfield, Central Connecticut State University CHOICE April 2013)

The editor has brought together fourteen discussions and supplemented them with additional materials, resulting in the production of a compelling volume that addresses many important themes in contemporary tourism research.

(Geoffrey Wall, University of Waterloo, Canada Tourism Management Vol. 38 (October 2013))

Being one of its kind “Critical Debates in Tourism” edited by Tej Vir Singh is highly advised and recommended to experts, consultants, graduate students, academic researchers, policy makers, destination management organizations and decision makers who work or study on sustainability, tourism research, heritage, nature based tourism and ecologically friendly tourism products, climate change and economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts of tourism industry on destinations, local people and in general.

(Ige Pirnar, Yaşar University, Turkey European Journal of Tourism Research 6(1), 98-99)

While those seeking a dense work on a particular issue should perhaps look elsewhere, this book will be useful for both seasoned scholars and new graduate students seeking an up-to-date overview of the current state of tourism knowledge and the juxtaposition of critical issues. It can be read comprehensively for a holistic summary, as in a graduate seminar, or serve as an encyclopedic-like reference book for researchers.

(Laura B. Johnson, Michigan State University, USA Tourism Analysis, Vol. 18, pp. 749–752 (2013))

About this edition

• Publisher: Channel View Publications
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1845413415
• ISBN 13: 9781845413415
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Singh Tej Vir