Tourism

Despite economic setbacks, rising concerns about fluctuating oil prices and ecological impacts, the tourism industry is still a fast-growing sector worldwide. Anthropologists have found work in various pockets of the tourism industry. Many work as researchers alongside other social scientists on government-funded projects dealing with heritage, cross-cultural exchange and communication. Others find jobs as private consultants or analysts working on policy issues; or as educators informing tour operators and tourists about cultural and environmental sensitivities. Anthropologists may also work alongside media companies producing films about tourism in particular regions.

The anthropology of tourism as a specialist area has seen important growth in recent years in Britain and elsewhere. As more communities become dependent on added income brought in from tourism, and tourists become increasingly aware of the ethical, environmental and political dimensions of being a tourist, new demands are being placed on the industry. The skills that anthropologists can bring - local language abilities, in-depth understanding of a particular region, ethnographic research techniques - make them particularly valuable to public and private organisations in the industry.

Recommended Resources

General

http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/theory_pages/tourism.htm - Margaret Hathaway from Indiana University gives a very good brief tutorial on the anthropology of tourism.

https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=TOURISMANTHROPOLOGY – a mailing list aimed at practitioners with an interest in tourism.

http://www.tourism-culture.com/links.htm - The Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change’s extensive list of organisations related to work on tourism.


Professional Organisations, Groups and Associations

Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change – a leading international centre for critical research relating to the relationship between tourism, tourists and culture.

International Institute for Culture,Tourism and Development – an international research centre aiming to provide analysis of current trends, issues and research on culture, tourism and development.

The World Tourism Organisation - a specialised agency of the UN committed to ethical action and policy development on tourism, travel and the Millennium Development Goals.


Articles

http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/30/IIASNL30_36.pdf - An IIAS newsletter article on tourism, anthropology and China.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/anthropology.journal/vol12/iss1/kaul/kaul.html - an anthropologist as barman and tour guide- reflections on fieldwork in a tourist destination.

Books

 An introduction to Tourism and Anthropology
 By: Peter Burns (Routledge, 1999)

 Working in Tourism: The UK, Europe & Beyond (3rd Edition)
 By: Verite Reily Collins (Vacation Work, 2004)

Recruitment

Prospects website resource links

CTCC website resource links

Disclaimer: The above information is provided for information and guidance only. It should not be interpreted as endorsement or otherwise by the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) for any external institution listed.  Furthermore, the RAI accepts no responsibility for material created by external parties or the content of external websites.