This study argues that the tourist experience depends on culturally-defined images, and that the tourist business relies upon the creation of fantasies about places and people. The contributors examine tourist images as represented by postcards, travel bro

Tourism thrives on cultural differences. A lot of research uses culture as a source of marketing, including use of stories and myths. Little has been done to establish the crucial relationship of psychological outlooks regarding cultures and the myths associated with them, such as some places in India and Tibet, where the supposed existence of polyandry has given them, at once, an enviable and unenviable image. This book explores and rethinks the kinds of arrangements loosely termed polyandry, and shows how the view of women as 'conscious collaborators' in such 'arrangements' avoids seeing that male culture, by seeking balance of social and kinship structures that weigh heavy on women, and biological limitations, prevent equality of women. Polyandry is almost never a formally valid form of marriage. Clearing this myth is necessary to create a proper, respectable outlook of such cultures for promotion of tourism where residents are not thought disparagingly. Giving equal respect that such societies deserve, the book shows the way to ethically responsible tourism with values and love, and urges for a serious rethink in anthropology as well as tourism.

"The strongest overview I have encountered of the scope and the current state of research across all the fields involved in advancing our understanding of tourism. For its range of topics, depth of analyses, and distinction of its contributors, nothing is comparable." - Professor Dean MacCannell, University of California, Davis "The breadth of vision and sweep of accounts is remarkable, and range of topics laudable... a rare combination of the authoritative, the challenging and stimulating." - Professor Mike Crang, Durham University Tourism studies developed as a sub-branch of older disciplines in the social sciences, such as anthropology, sociology and economics, and newer applied fields of study in hospitality management, civil rights and transport studies. This Handbook is a sign of the maturity of the field. It provides an essential resource for teachers and students to determine the roots, key issues and agenda of tourism studies, exploring: The evolution and position of tourism studies The relationship of tourism to culture The ecology and economics of tourism Special events and destination management Methodologies of study Tourism and transport Tourism and heritage Tourism and postcolonialism Global tourist business operations Ranging from local to global issues, and from questions of management to the ethical dilemmas of tourism, this is a comprehensive, critically informed, constructively organized overview of the field. It draws together an inter-disciplinary group of contributors who are among the most celebrated names in the field and will be quickly recognized as a landmark in the new and expanding field of tourism studies.

A collection of essays from scholars evaluating tourism as a means of simulating economic growth and fighting economic inequalities in poor countries. It takes a look at the successes and failures of tourism in this role, and considers why tourism as a catalyst for economic development can be a controversial device.

Within the tourism industry there is a growing consensus on the need for research to investigate the economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism. However, existing research methods texts are based solely on either the business approach or the social science approach to tourism. They often fail to provide real world examples of how to plan, implement or analyse tourism related research. This book aims to address this divide by integrating theory with practice through the inclusion of specific tourism research case studies alongside research theory. It considers a wide range of research issues, approaches and techniques with contributions from both experienced and new researchers.