Rethinking Cultural Tourism

This insightful book reappraises how traditional high culture attractions have been supplemented by popular culture events, contemporary creativity and everyday life through inventive styles of tourism. Greg Richards draws on over three decades of research to provide a new approach to the topic, combining practice and interaction ritual theories and developing a model of cultural tourism as a social practice.

Studies of cultural tourism and indigenous identity are fraught with questions concerning exploitation, entitlement, ownership and authenticity. Unease with the idea of leveraging a group identity for commercial gain is ever-present. This anthology articulates some of these debates from a multitude of standpoints. It assimilates the perspectives of members of indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, tourism practitioners and academic researchers who participated in an action research project that aims to link research to development outcomes.

Once touted as the world’s largest industry and also a tool for fostering peace and global understanding, tourism has certainly been a major force shaping our world. The recent COVID-19 crisis has led to calls to transform tourism and reset it along more ethical and sustainable lines. It was in this context that calls to "socialise tourism" emerged (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020). This edited volume builds on this work by employing the term Socialising Tourism as a broad conceptual focal point and guiding term for industry, activists and academics to rethink tourism for social and ecological justice. Socialising Tourism means reorienting travel and tourism based on the rights, interests, and safeguarding of traditional ecological and cultural knowledges of local peoples, communities and living landscapes. This means making tourism work for the public good and taking seriously the idea of putting the social and ecological before profit and growth as the world re-emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an essential first step for tourism to be made accountable to the limits of the planet. Concepts discussed include Indigenous culture, toxic tourism, a "theory of care", dismantling whiteness, decolonial tourism and animal oppression, among others, all in the context of a post-COVID-19 world. This will be essential reading for all upper-level students, academics and policymakers in the field of tourism. The Introduction of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003164616

Cultural tourism is not only a major industry but also a support for national identity and a means for preserving heritage. Interdisciplinary explorations of cultural tourism, with essays about tourism between globalization and authenticity, township tourism in Soweto, South Africa, tourism in the culturally regenerated city, the new tourism areas in London, cultural routes, in the footsteps of Goethe, Humbert and Ulysses, tourism in inland Spain, indicators and qualitative observatories of heritage tourism, ecotourism and religious tourism in the North of Portugal, the festivalization of society, the consequences of the European Capitals of Culture, the economic impact of festivals, the future of cultural tourism: grounds for pessimism or optimism? Review in: Journal of cultural economics. 32(2008)3(.231-236).

“a fascinating, thorough and expertly argued discussion of the modes and practices of cultural policy in an increasingly globalized and neoliberal world.” European Journal of Communication Rethinking Cultural Policy addresses issues concerning culture, economy and power in the age of new-liberal globalization. It examines how public cultural policies have been rationalized in the past and how they are being rethought. Arguing that the study of culture and policy should not be confined to prevailing governmental agendas, the book offers a distinctive and independent analysis of cultural policy. The book examines a wide range of issues in cultural policy and blends a close reading of key theories with case studies. Topics covered include: Branding culture and exploitation The state, market and civil society How visitor attractions such as London's Millennium Dome are used for national aggrandizement and corporate business purposes Cultural development, diversity and ecological tourism in poorer parts of the world This is the ideal introduction to contemporary cultural policy for undergraduate students in culture and media studies, sociology of culture, politics, arts administration and cultural management courses, as well as postgraduates and researchers.

Because few comparative data existed on European cultural tourism, when the European commission designated cultural tourism as a key area of tourism development in Europe, the European association for tourism and leisure education undertook a transnational study of European cultural tourism. The first five chapters address general themes (the scope and significance, the social context, the economic context and the political context of cultural tourism). The are followed by eleven chapters on individual countries from the European Union. Re-issued in 2005 in electronic format by ATLAS, the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education.

Presenting both the need for - and difficulty of - introducing effective cultural resource management (CRM) in the region, 'Rethinking Cultural Resource Management' in Southeast Asia explores the challenges facing efforts to protect Southeast Asia's indigenous cultures and archaeological sites from the ravages of tourism and economic development. Recognising the inapplicability of Euro-American solutions to this part of the world, the essays of this volume investigate their own set of region-specific CRM strategies, and acknowledge both the necessity and possibility of mediating between the conflicting interests of short-term profitability and long-term sustainability.

Cultural tourism includes experiencing local culture, traditions and lifestyle, participation in arts-related activities, and visits to museums, monuments and heritage sites. This book reviews a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methods applied to the field. It is suitable for students and researchers in tourism and leisure.