THE POLITICS OF TOURISM

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrowmindedness," ---Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

"The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist is an ugly human being" ---Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place

"Stag parties and tourists not welcome" --Sign outside pub in English Lake District

"Be a traveler, not a tourist" --Anthony Bourdain

Tourism is the largest single industry in the world. It is the world's largest employer and the leading item in trade in services. Globally, the activity has political, economic and social ramifications, yet it is virtually ignored within the social sciences, especially political science. Among those who do study the activity, tourism is controversial. Does it aid human understanding, or reinforce stereotypes? Does is foster economic development or retard it? This course provides an introduction to these and many other issues raised by travel and tourism.

The course is made up a four main sections: First we conceptualize modern tourism and examine its historical foundations. Second, we examine the connections between tourism and security. Next we look at the political economy of tourism and its links to development and underdevelopment. Finally, the last section considers a number of contemporary issues, including sex tourism and tourism and the environment

The Following books are required and available for purchase at the Campus Bookshop:

Sharon Bohn Gmelch, Tourists and Tourism: A Reader. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2004
Patricia Goldstone, Making the World Safe for Tourism. New Haven: Yale 2001
Mary Geske and Michael Clancy, "Sexploitation?: Sex Tourism in Cuba," Pew Case Study

In addition, a required set of readings is available on Blackboard in PDF format (Readings designated below by an *). Students who need access to PDF readers may download a free version at www.adobe.com.

Course Conduct and Requirements

As a 300-level honors seminar, it is not assumed that students must bring any prior knowledge of the subject matter to the course. It is, however, a seminar that meets only once per week. It is therefore imperative that students come to class prepared and eager to discuss the readings for that day. Effective class discussion also requires students to work on their listening as well as speaking skills. Finally, an environment of respect toward all participants fosters effective discussion.

There are five graded components to the course: Two medium-length papers (20% each), due October 11th and November 15th, a take-home final exam (25%), weekly assignments (20%) and class participation (15%). More will be forthcoming on the papers and weekly assignments.

No Reading

*World Tourism Organization, various statistics
Gmelch, "Why Tourism Matters,"  ch. 1 in Gmelch Reader
*Hall, Tourism and Politics, chs. 1, 3

*Dean MacCannell, "Sightseeing and Social Structure: The Moral Integration of Modernity," ch. 4 in Gmelch reader
*John Urry, The Tourist Gaze, ch. 1
Graburn, "Secular Ritual: A General Theory of Tourism," ch. 2 in Gmelch book

Patricia Goldstone, Making the World Safe for Tourism, chs. 1-2
*Miklos Vamos, "Cold War Tourism, Eastern Style," The Nation 265: 10 (1997), p. 35

*Linda Richter, "After Political Turmoil: The Lessons of Rebuilding Tourism in Three Asian Countries," Journal of Travel Research 38:1 (August 1999), pp. 41-6
Phipps, "Tourism and Terrorism: An Intimate Equivalence," ch. 5 in Gmelch reader

Goldstone, Making the World Safe for Tourism, ch. 3
*Bill Rolston, "Selling Tourism in a Country at War" Race and Class 27: 1, 1995, pp. 23-40
*Smith, Valene, L. 1997 War and its Attractions. In Tourism, Crime and International Security Issues, A. Pizam and Y. Mansfeld, eds., pp. 247¯264
  Orville Schell, "Tunnels that Run Deep, in Earth and Memory," New York Times (April 20, 1997)

PAPER #1 Due

*Michael Clancy, "Tourism and Development: Evidence from Mexico," Annals of Tourism Research, 26:1 (1999), 1-20
Wendy Call, "Lines in the Sand" Part 1 and Part 2
Goldstone: Making the World Safe for Tourism, ch. 5

*M. Thea Sinclair, et al., "The Structure of International Tourism and Tourism Development in Kenya," in D. Harrison, ed., Tourism and the Less Developed Countries
Edward Bruner, "The Maasai and the Lion King: Authenticity, Nationalism, and Globalization in African Tourism, " ch.  8 in Gmelch reader
Jon Abbink, "Tourism and its Discontents: Suri-Tourist encounters in Ethiopia," ch. 16 in Gmelch reader
Nissan Pathfinder video

Goldstone, Making the World Safe for Tourism, pp. 63-73
Case Study: Geske and Clancy, "Sexploitation?: Sex Tourism in Cuba," Pew Case Study
Deborah Pruitt and Suzanne LaFont, "Romance Tourism: Gender, Race, and Power in Jamaica"

PAPER #2 Due

Martha Honey, "Giving a Grade to Costa Rica's Green Tourism," ch. 24 in Gmelch reader
Additional Reading TBA