Is the Future of Tourism Something Akin to “Outbreak”, “Westworld”, “Blade Runner” or “Eyes of Darkness”?

We recently published Science Fiction, Disruption and Tourism edited by Ian Yeoman, Una McMahon-Beattie and Marianna Sigala. In this post Ian discusses the aims of the book and highlights some of its key chapters.

As the Scenario Planner at VisitScotland in 2006, I facili­tated a team to model and construct a set of scenarios which replicated the present COVID-19 pandemic reality. This is an exam­ple of science fiction coming true and a journey beginning. Science fiction was used to explore the possible and impossible, to construct futures based upon technologies which had not been invented, to think about the transformation of tourism, and to predict the end of tourism based upon a natural disaster. The process took rationality to its limits. However, as academic researchers we would normally view science fiction as nothing more than a piece of creative writing. It is not something based upon fact but imagination; it is not real but fantasy. COVID-19 has challenged our thinking, as in Dean Koontz’s prediction in the Eyes of Darkness about Wuhan 400 or the 2011 film Contagion which portrays spread of a virus, attempts by medical researchers and public health officials to identify and contain the disease and the loss of social order in trying to halt its spread. Science fiction has become reality.

Thinking about the future

Science fiction is a ‘thinking machine’. It is about imagination and is right at the centre of scenario planning – the main research methodology used in futures stud­ies. Thus, the purpose of this book is to understand the role of science fiction in tourism research and how it is used to portray and make us rethink the future of tourism. It explores if science fiction can be of benefit to tourism researchers in a rapidly changing world, as it provides them food for thought and a way of thinking, rethinking and de-thinking of tourism futures. It helps set research agendas, directions and scope of research. In this vein, science fiction can be seen as a useful approach to foster and support transformation in tourism research.

Why change is necessary

Given the implications of COVID-19 and the overdue changes required in tourism, this book is more than just topical in nature and focus; it is also much needed to direct and foster tourism research that envisions beyond the past normal. As such, we fundamentally address the requirements for transformational tourism thinking and research through the contributions of the authors in this edited collection. Holistically, the combined contribu­tion of the chapters is to understand and construct a theoretical position or framework between science fiction and the future of tourism. If one can find an underpinning theory, then we have the basis of using science fiction as a theoretical lens and methodological approach to explore, frame and even form the future of tourism. By focusing on a specific form of tourism or topic, every book chapter uses a practical example and evidence to dis­cuss and explain the theoretical underpinnings, as well as the methods that others can also use to vision and rethink tourism futures.

Highlights of the book

In Chapter 6, Life Without Limits: Design, Technology and Tourism Futures in Westworld, Gurevitch uses a design theory per­spective which intertwines media, tourism futures and design. He explores the disruptive potential of technology to deliver experiences and the desire of tourists to feel free from the moral, social, economic and political con­straints of their daily lives.

In Chapter 8, Wildlife Tourism in 2150: Uplifted Animals, Virtual and Augmented Reality and Everything In-between, Bertella discusses the current research in both tourism and other disciplines in order to make a considered predic­tion about the future of wildlife tourism in 2150. Bertella examines the authenticity of future wildlife tourism where technology has been used to enhance the tourism experience.

In Chapter 9, Tears in the Rain: Tourism in the World of Blade Runner and Total Recall, Bolan addresses the worlds and their technology as depicted in the science fiction works by Philip K. Dick and explores their impact and influence on tourism. He examines the transformational impact of technology in tourism, from rep­licants to memory implants and self-driving cars to holograms.

In Chapter 10, Destination of the Dead: The Future for Tourism?, McEntee and col­leagues consider tourists a plague of zombies within the context of over­tourism and sustainability. The chapter takes a novel look at tourism and its impact on the people and places that experience excessive numbers of tourists. Zombies are now a clear genre in popular culture, appearing in countless movies, TV programmes and comic books, all of which depict crowds of mindless bodies shuffling along aimlessly while leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The same could arguably be said for some tour­ists, slowly walking along looking upwards at buildings with a selfie stick in hand while busy locals go about their daily business.

Towards a theoretical framework

Tourism futures needs a theoretical frame­work to contribute towards the evolution of tourism research. But as Yeoman and Beeton note, tourism futures is often presented with­out a foundation, is often misunderstood, and those that write about the future tend to emphasise presentism. What COVID-19 has taught us is the importance of moving beyond presentism and not thinking about the future as a linear projection based upon previously studied interrelations of known (economic) variables. Hence, the value of this edited collection is it encourages us to make a quantum leap in the terms of how we view and how we can afford to think about the future of tourism and tourism research. It takes us beyond the positivism to the non-linearity of interpre­tivism and a multiplicity of futures.

The book gives us a theoretical framework to study the future of tourism based upon science fiction. From an ontological perspective, the assumption is that the future needs to be explained by how the future will occur through science fiction. From an epistemological perspective, the book identifies a number of concepts including plurality, disruption and transformation, hyperreality of authenticity, dystopia, liminality, scepticism and the importance of narrative.

What next?

Many science fiction movies and books come in sequels. So, COVID-20 we suppose, but hope not! Indeed, that is not a science-fiction-inspired thought anymore but very much a possibility. We can only suggest you read a good science fiction novel and draw your own imaginings about the future of tourism. That’s what we did, and Captain Kirk was our inspiration, along with films such as Soylent Green or Star Wars. Delve into those alternative, imaginative worlds and ask yourself, what if they were to come true?

Ian Yeoman

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like The Future Past of Tourism edited by Ian Yeoman and Una McMahon-Beattie. 

CAUTHE 2018, 5-8 February, Newcastle, Australia

The CAUTHE conference headed back to Australia this year and I was happy to discover that in February, Australia’s Newcastle has very little in common with the UK’s Newcastle (no offence Geordies!). Thanks to Tamara Young and Paul Stolk of the University of Newcastle for organising a great conference – the NeW Space building is amazing!

Newcastle beach

Channel View was celebrating the publication of 3 new books (among others at the conference): Femininities in the Field, edited by Brooke A. Porter and Heike A. Schänzel, Qualitative Methods in Tourism Research, edited by Wendy Hillman and Kylie Radel and Tourism and Religion, edited by Dick Butler and Wantanee Suntikul. We held a raffle which Jill Poulston of AUT won – the first prize was 10 CVP books.

Sarah with the CVP Celebration Raffle winner, Jill Poulston, and authors Heike Schänzel, Kylie Radel and Wendy Hillman

This year’s CAUTHE was marked by the sadly rare occurrence of having an all-female line-up of keynote speakers. These were kicked off by Annette Pritchard, with a brilliant presentation that looked at gender and the advent of AI. This was followed by great talks by Sara Dolnicar on peer-to-peer accommodation and Cathy Hsu on future directions for tourism research. I also enjoyed a number of interesting papers on a variety of topics, including selfies, gay tourism and dating apps, online reviewing, the value of storytelling, authenticity and Juliet’s balcony, the role of novelty and surprise, aesthetics and beauty in tourism, the increasing influence of far right populism on tourism, and air rage!

Wendy Hillman and Brian Hay at the gala dinner

The conference finished with the annual hilarious Great Debate (should it have been a draw though?!) and a lovely gala dinner and fun CAUTHE disco at the Honeysuckle Hotel.

I got to explore some of Newcastle during the conference, which despite the major works going on, seems like a great place to live and work.

I was lucky enough to have a few days of holiday either side of the conference in which I managed to take in the Big Bash semi-final in Adelaide (still excited), a short trip to Sydney and a visit to Melbourne (sadly England did not to do as well in the cricket as Adelaide Strikers!) which included dinner and karaoke with many lovely peeps from La Trobe and William Angliss – thanks again Elspeth Frew for organising! 🙂

Already looking forward to next year’s conference in Cairns!

How Does Gender Shape Fieldwork Experiences?

We recently published Femininities in the Field edited by Brooke A. Porter and Heike A. Schänzel. In this post the editors explain why the book is necessary and what they hope will be achieved from its publication.

Gendered actions have been receiving quite a bit of press lately, and rightly so. While much of the press has been focused on power inequalities, some attention has been given towards gender equalities. With the academy far from being viewed as gender equal, our motivation for the book is to explore how femininities shape fieldwork experiences in the social sciences, specifically in tourism. Research in the field has long been considered as a masculine act in a masculine space, with the idea of the lone-researcher at the forefront tracing back to anthropological endeavours. For many researchers, this narrow construction can be intimidating. Yet, for any researcher in the field, we argue the undeniable influence, both positive and negative, of gender on fieldwork.

A main aim of this book is to describe gender as a variable worthy of attention, in the field, in the analysis, and in the reporting of any piece of research. Through fifteen self-reflexive analyses (including two by men), our contributors reflect on past fieldwork experiences through a gendered lens. Tourism research was the common thread for all contributors, but the experiences are diverse and without doubt, transdisciplinary. From tales from marine mammal research in the high seas to the party-filled streets of Mallorca, each contributor provides an explicit account of how gender affected their fieldwork. The diversity of the contributions became most apparent to us when it came time to choose a cover. We simply could not find an image that could effectively convey the book’s contents. After nearly twenty correspondences, we ditched the idea of an image and decided on a multifaceted illustration. The colourful graphics depict the diversities, and the expressions convey many of the heartfelt emotions revealed in the book.

This book is meant to be a tool for researchers at any stage in their career, for supervisors and mentors, and for committees involved in the fieldwork process. It is both a tool of reference and a path forward.

For more information about this book please see our website. If you found this interesting, you might also like Ethnographic Fieldwork by Jan Blommaert and Dong Jie.

From Idea to Published Book: How a Qualitative Tourism Research Book Came Together

This month we published Qualitative Methods in Tourism Research edited by Wendy Hillman and Kylie Radel. In this post the editors give us an insight into how the book came together, from the seed of an idea to publication!

Our book was imagined from an idea that there were no qualitative research books, or the juxtaposition between qualitative and quantitative methods, that is, mixed methods, in Channel View Publications’ Aspects of Tourism series. After much discussion with commissioning editors Sarah and Elinor, we finally put together a proposal for a book on qualitative research methods that are being used and adapted for tourism research. Putting together the original book proposal was relatively easy. However, the questions from the series editors were more difficult!  While they liked the outline of the book, they asked us to provide a bit more information on what would be in each chapter; information about the author of each chapter; and, they asked us to include a chapter on mixed methods, as they felt that readers would want to know how the two diametrically opposed positions of qualitative and quantitative analysis could be brought together.

This was an exciting time for us as, although we had written book chapters before, we had never edited a book, or edited a book together. The commissioning editors had the patience of saints, as we took quite a long time to find others to write chapters, extract their details and bios (from some of them) and put this all into an acceptable format for the newly evolving and extended book proposal. We began by approaching some well-established researchers in tourism that we knew well, and asked them to participate in chapters. This way we were able to find authors for four chapters. We were to write the introduction, a chapter on grounded theory, and the conclusion ourselves. So, we were able to account for seven chapters of the book already – this was exciting!

At the next Council of Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Educators (CAUTHE) conference, we decided to approach early career researchers in tourism; those who had not long graduated with their PhDs, or were in the process of completing their PhDs. This worked really well, and gave the opportunity for up and coming researchers to get “a foot in the door”. We then had eleven chapters, plus the introduction and the conclusion. This meant that we had developed a book that would provide a valuable contribution to research methods in tourism; one that brings together traditional qualitative positioning with current applications in the field.

Along the way, at least one of the authors did nothing, wrote nothing and sent us nothing. This was very disappointing for us. And others also experienced life changes, work struggles, health issues and a new addition to their family. At the following CAUTHE conference, another researcher promised to write one of the (now) missing chapters for us. This went well until we asked for the draft and it transpired there had been a misunderstanding: the author said they thought we wanted a systematic literature review, when we had asked for a chapter on a specific qualitative research approach. We’re not sure what happened there! Anyway, we carried on, wrote the additional chapters ourselves, co-wrote a chapter with one of our research students, and finally got the book to completion. Again, the commissioning editors were very, very patient; and for all their help and extremely good dispositions, we truly thank you!!

While all this took a long time, we have ended up with an excellent product. We have produced a qualitative research book that is distinctive, informative, up-to-date and of value to researchers in any community, not just that of tourism and hospitality research. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing and editing it! Happy reading and researching!

Dr Wendy Hillman

Central Queensland University, Australia

w.hillman@cqu.edu.au

Dr Kylie Radel

Central Queensland University, Australia

k.radel@cqu.edu.au

For more information about this book please see our website. If you found this interesting, you might also like Quantitative Methods in Tourism by Rodolfo Baggio and Jane Klobas. 

Film-Induced Tourism… Why a Second Edition?

This month we published a second edition of Sue Beeton’s Film-Induced Tourism which was first published in 2005. In this blog post, Sue explains why she felt it was time for an updated edition.

The first edition

The first edition of Film-Induced Tourism was published over ten years ago, and focused on research I had carried out from the late 1990s to 2005. Much of it was new to the world of tourism research, yet the industry itself had been using film images and stories to promote their destinations for some time. So, when we look back now, such a publication was not only needed but very obvious!

Ten years on, much has changed, but also a great deal has stayed the same. More people are studying the film-induced tourism phenomenon, but many have become stuck in a recurring nightmare (sorry, paradigm) of repeating again and again what has already been studied, and coming up with the same findings. Even when studied in different cultures, few ‘new’ findings are being presented. One way to move this field forward is to revisit those early studies and see where they are now and if there have been any changes or movement. Such longitudinal studies are rare, so this is what I set out to do.

Sue’s recent book on Travel, Tourism and the Moving Image

I published another book on this theme with Channel View Publications last year, Travel, Tourism and the Moving Image, which took a different approach, presenting a companion piece to my first one. I’ve now been able to revisit a lot of the more business-related elements. Not only does this second edition represent and update them, I’ve incorporated a lot of additional research into areas including community and power relations between film companies and destinations. I’ve also extended the operational aspects of film-induced tourism by looking at some of the iconic tour organisations in the industry, from Hawaii to New York and New Zealand.

The new edition

I continue to be very concerned about the lack of research looking into film studio theme parks, all of which have grown in their complexity and fascination. The technology used by these parks comes straight out of their film studios into a very clearly defined touristic space. So, I’ve taken the opportunity here to revisit these theme parks and extend that work to others around the world, particularly in Japan and other parts of Asia.

I believe that this new edition contributes to the development of film-induced tourism in both theoretical and practical ways and remain excited about this work, even after all this time!

For further information about the book, please see our website.

What is the meaning of ‘local’ in today’s globalised world?

This month we published Reinventing the Local in Tourism edited by Antonio Paolo Russo and Greg Richards. The book examines how tourist destinations are being transformed by the development of peer-produced tourism and hospitality services giving tourists a more ‘authentic’ experience. In this post, the editors of the book discuss the key themes of their new book.

For decades, tourism research has interpreted the transformative force of tourism as an external agent which undermines the inherent, ‘genuine’ qualities of places. Even today, the planning and management approaches of many destinations are based on this idea.

However, recent conceptual turns in the social sciences suggest that this way of looking at the role of tourism in places may now be inadequate: in the context of a mobile, connected, culturally-globalized society, what is ‘local’? Does the ‘local’ make any sense any more as an immanent quality of place? And how does tourism then engage with the rapidly changing concept of ‘localness’? Does it make it or destroy it?

This debate is today at the heart of contemporary urbanism and policymaking. Many cities and regions around the world are now increasingly seeking to redefine themselves (their citizenship, their living landscapes, their brands) and develop fresh approaches to dealing with the new mobilities, both physical and cultural, produced by tourism.

This book presents a number of conceptual approaches and empirical studies by renowned scholars and younger researchers connected to the ATLAS network. Its ambition is to shed new light on this broad topic and hopefully contribute to redefining a relevant agenda for tourism research and place management.

For more information about the book, please see our website.

An Interview with Tej Vir Singh, editor of Challenges in Tourism Research

This month we published Challenges in Tourism Research, a comprehensive volume in which renowned scholars discuss contemporary debates within the field of tourism studies. The book is based on ‘Research Probes’ originally published in the journal Tourism Recreation Research. In this post the editor of the book, Tej Vir Singh, answers a few questions about the book.

What makes the ‘Research Probe’ format of this book so unique?
Intelligent use of collective wisdom of known multi-disciplinary scholars, strategic application of elenctic approach (debates, discussions and discourse), quintessential knowledge at one place, interesting readability, and direction for future research.

How does this book complement the previous volume Critical Debates in Tourism?
It complements Critical Debates in Tourism by identifying leftover problems (vast tourism cannot be confined to one volume) – more, it meets the needs of freshers and juniors.

What is your next research project?
Ah!! Next project? Possibly a magnum opus of tourism….

What do you find rewarding about editing books?
The joy of creation and dissemination of knowledge plus scholars’ satisfaction with the book.

What advice would you offer to other academics editing their first book?
They should identify the demand of the curricula and market needs; it might be better that they undertake a preliminary training course in editing.

How would you compare the experiences of writing a book and writing a journal article?
Almost the same – just like writing story or a drama.

Do you find that the role of books in the tourism research community has changed over the years? Are they valued more or less today than they were a decade ago?
Can’t say precisely, but I can speak about tourism, where books are more valued than the journals, specially in the Third World.

For more information about the book please see our website. You might also be interested in Critical Debates in Tourism.

A-Z of Publishing: I is for…

I is for Imprint. Depending on which topics of our publications are of interest to you, you may know us as one of our two imprints: Channel View Publications or Multilingual Matters. These are our two separate areas of publishing – books published under Channel View Publications are on the subject of tourism research while those published under the Multilingual Matters imprint are related to applied linguistics. Whichever imprint you know, the same people work on the books – for example, Sarah is the production manager and Elinor is the marketing manager whatever the imprint of the book! We’re also an entirely independent company – there is no bigger power controlling either of our two imprints or company.

This post is part of our ‘A-Z of Publishing’ series which we will be posting every Monday throughout the rest of 2015. You can search the blog for the rest of the series or subscribe to the blog to receive an email as soon as the next post is published by using the links on the right of the page.

Tourism in China

In June we published Tourism in China edited by Chris Ryan and Songshan (Sam) Huang. Here, Sam tells us a bit about what inspired the book and how he came to put the volume together.

The idea of this book was inspired partly by Chris’s first book on China tourism which he co-edited with Prof. Gu Humin from Beijing International Studies University, and partly by my previous work reviewing doctoral dissertations on the subject of tourism in China. While I was reviewing PhD theses recently completed by Chinese scholars I found that lots of them studied the phenomena of China-specific tourism and could complement the tourism literature in English. Around that time, some colleagues posted messages on TRINET noting that there are ‘Hidden Gems’ in non-English tourism literature. They called for some international collaboration to dig the ‘Gems’ out. The posts impressed me and I remembered them when reviewing those PhD dissertations written in Chinese.

Gradually the idea began to crystallise into a book. Both Chris and I had previous collaborations with authors in China and we were both passionate about the new volume. I had the chance to travel to Guangzhou to talk to some prospective contributors and thankfully the trip worked for securing two excellent chapters for the book.

One unique feature of this book is the mix of scholars it represents. It presents both works of those researchers working outside China and those working within China. Authors have different perspectives and research traditions depending on their research development trajectories and mostly importantly, where they work. As noted in our last chapter, there are more ‘issues’ that are not made explicit to understand the difference between the tourism scholarship in and outside China. Nevertheless, it is rather premature to argue that tourism scholarship in China is overall lagging behind that outside China or vice versa. I believe there are pros and cons in both spheres of the tourism scholarship (inside vs outside China). Pros in one sphere could very well complement cons in another if they can be brought forward. As such, we need to create platforms to juxtapose works of authors in China with those outside and glue them together.

I believe that we achieved this with this book. Chris and I not only provide the platform but also made the ‘glue’. Our work was to make the content more comprehensible to readers outside China. If readers find shining thoughts in the chapters, praise should ultimately go to our contributors, as we just polished their ideas. Our contribution is secondary to theirs. I would like to thank both my co-editor Chris Ryan and the 20 chapter contributors for all their work and support to bring this book to the wider world!

For more information on this book click here.

Tourism and Souvenirs

This month we published Tourism and Souvenirs by Jenny Cave, Lee Jolliffe and Tom Baum. We asked Jenny to tell us a little about her inspiration for the book.

Souvenirs mark the identity of travellers and are ubiquitous ways that people share their experiences of travel with others, whether they are purchased at home to take to travel destinations or are purchased away from home. My background in heritage, museums and operational realities of the cultural industries has meant that I have developed an interest in material culture, which I share with my co-editors Lee Jolliffe and Tom Baum. I am also a weaver and come from a family of artist/producers so that this interest in material heritage crystallises around the challenges earning an income based in cultural and local natural resources.

As lead editor I also share some common academic interests and backgrounds with my co-editors. Both Lee Jolliffe and I are graduates of the Masters of Museum Studies (formerly Masters of Museology) at the University of Toronto (Canada). Lee and I share a common interest with Tom Baum in Island Studies and tourism, and I had the opportunity to visit Lee in both New Brunswick and Barbados to start some joint research there on souvenir purchases by cruise passengers, which while not specifically reported on in the book, influenced the development of my own co-authored chapter on souvenirs at a New Zealand Cruise port.

My co-editors, Lee Jolliffe and Tom Baum and I have worked with the developmental aspirations of many cultural communities around the world so have experienced first-hand the complex phenomenon of souveniring production, marketing, distribution and purchase processes. The unique glocal focus of the volume is a logical extension of our collective experience and profoundly different significations that are born of local and global place and identity, yet there are also commonalties when you compare locations and cultures. Tom’s participation in the project was pivotal to extending the reach of the research into the hospitality arena and in framing the concepts in the initial chapter.

Personally, as lead editor I felt that it was important to raise the unconsciously expressed mutual influences that tourist purchasers and producers have on each other. Further, I wanted to get beneath the surficial view of souvenirs and repeated emphasis on a handful of key authors that appear in this literature, and to push the boundaries of understanding of the tourism as a sustainable industry, exploring this issue through the lens of souvenirs, providing a new foundation for future research.

For more information on Jenny’s book click here and if you found the subject of this book interesting you might also like other books in the Tourism and Cultural Change series.