Introduction: –Rethinking Tourism in Asia

2014

Rethinking Asian Tourism addresses some of the latest developments in on-going tourism research in Southeast Asia and the wider Asia region (encompassing, in geographical terms, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea). It examines many of the emerging, as well as established, themes and issues in Asian tourism and promotes the development of critical scholarship within Asia to overcome Anglo-Western ethnocentrism in tourism studies of the region. There is some attention to such familiar concepts as authenticity, commoditisation, culture, heritage, and hosts and guests, but more especially to the diversification of phenomena which traditionally would not have been included within the parameters of tourism studies: retirees and long-stays, gastronomy, family-based leisure, popular culture, and local branding. Above all, the book addresses and develops a conceptual understanding from a multidisciplinary perspective of the character, experie...

Tourism Geographies

From the British Century of the 1800s to the American Century of the 1900s to the contemporary Asian Century, tourism geographies are deeply entangled in broader shifts in geopolitical power (Luce, 1999; Scott, 2008; Shenkar, 2006). This paper considers what the transition into the Asian Century means for some of the most urgent issues of our time such as sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, and environmental change. We critique Anglo-Western centrism in tourism theory and call on tourism scholars to make radical shifts toward more inclusive epistemology and praxis. In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of the themes addressed are more urgent than ever. The pandemic has hastened claims that the Asian century has further accelerated given the contrasting successes of many Asia-Pacific countries, especially as compared to their Euro-American counterparts (Park, 2020). As critical tourism scholars, we are faced with an unprecedented situation, even as the pandemic looks set to become globally endemic and the true extent of its fullest impacts are only beginning to emerge, with more to surface in the years ahead. That the world faces increasing turmoil is abundantly clear. Yet, amidst the disruption to the everyday, it is hope and compassion, but also political-economic restructuring that is needed to reset the tourism industry in more sustainable, equitable, and ethical directions (Cheer, 2020; Lew, Cheer, Haywood, Brouder, Salazar, 2020; Mostafanezhad, 2020). While in no uncertain terms, the pandemic has forever changed the tourism industry as we once knew it, it is our hope that we can collectively build on the momentum of the inclusive scholarship that Critical Tourism Studies-Asia Pacific is renowned for (Edelheim, 2020; Pernecky, 2020) as we pause to reflect on the possibilities and challenges of tourism in a post-pandemic Asian Century.

275 20 'My mother's best friend's sister-in-law is coming with us': exploring domestic and international travel with a group of Lao tourists 277 CHARLES CARROLL 21 'Donkey friends' in China: the Internet, civil society and the emergence of the Chinese backpacking community 291

European Journal of Tourism Research, 2022

International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2020

Purpose This paper aims to intend to contextualize touristification with a focus on Asia. It argues that touristification in Asia extends beyond physical transformation and is used as a socio-political mechanism by the state and communities alike. This study aims to broaden the discussions on touristification by noting how the issue of authenticity and state intervention is approached in Asia. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on literature review, sourced from academic material discussing touristification and the influence of tourism. Findings Aside from undertaking physical changes, states in Asia adopt a socio-political angle in the commercialization of culture for tourism so that the culture that is presented to tourists is aligned to its national image. The construction of culture and narration of history for tourism branding predominate touristification in Asia. Conversely, minority culture had also used cultural touristification in asserting their identity, as c...

Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 2010

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In both its focus and conception, much of the research on tourism remains Anglo-Western centric. The ongoing growth of Non-Western forms of travel, most notably in Asia, renders this situation unsustainable. Our understandings of ‘the tourist’, ‘the modern tourism industry’ and the conceptual paraphernalia, which surrounds these two, are all firmly rooted in the empirical histories of Western Europe and North America. English language scholarship on tourism rarely rips up these ‘Western’ roots to interpret ‘Non-Western’ practices and industries. This paper focuses on the ongoing rise of Asian tourism to argue that in its current form the field of tourism studies is institutionally and intellectually ill equipped to understand and interpret the new era we are now entering. Accordingly, it is suggested that the core- periphery dynamics which characterises the field today should give way to cultural and political pluralism. The rapid growth in Asian tourism provides ample evidence for this position. This paper concludes by considering the future development of tourism studies in Asia. It is argued that the cultivation of critical scholarship within the region itself will not only help overcome the field’s Anglo-Western centrism, but also help us better comprehend the profound societal changes now occurring through Asian mobility.

"Tourism Metamorphosis: Creative Destruction and the Remaking of Tourism Geographies". Metamorphosis as a heuristic device is central to the framing of the 3rd Critical Tourism Studies Asia Pacific conference that seeks to advance from ‘end times’ narratives, toward what Joseph Schumpeter refers to as creative destruction – the stage at which radical and generative rethinking follows a period of disruption and chaos. Pursuing unrestrained growth and living within planetary means has never been so urgent. Amidst the debris from and the aftereffects of the coronavirus pandemic, war, and climate change effects, we engage with Ulrich Beck’s invocation of metamorphosis which implies a radical transformation through which the certainties of modern society are being replaced by new ways of thinking and acting. Thus, Beck argues, “To grasp the metamorphosis of the world it is necessary to explore the new beginnings, to focus on what is emerging from the old and seek to grasp future structures and norms in the turmoil of the present” (Beck, 2016, p. 3). Others, such as Bruno Latour reiterate the clamor for a metamorphosis, insisting that a cosmological crisis has erupted in ways that reorient human life and reorder planetary primacies (Latour, 2021, p. 119).” See full details in the attached or go to https://www.criticaltourismstudies.com/

Journal of Pacific Studies, 2017

Civilisations , 2008

Nowadays, local tour guides are key players in mediating tensions between concurrent processes of localization and globalization. Drawing on fieldwork in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this paper explores how Javanese guides adapt their practices to better serve and please Asian clients. By way of an anthropological examination of Yogyakarta's tourism sector in general and the guiding scene in particular, the paper illustrates how the surge in tourists of Asian origin is redefining the roles commonly assigned to guides in the scientific literature. The empirical data illustrate that while the Javanese guides are fine-tuning their routines to accommodate what they perceive as Asian cultural sensibilities and interests, broader structural dynamics frame the encounter. This reaffirms that tourism of Asian origin is both shaped by and shaping the currently dominant models, discourses, and imaginaries of international tourism.