A Critical Look at the State of Tourism Studies in Anthropology in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Anthropology has expanded by including within its purview the study of tourism. Although tourism is a subject of relative recent concern among anthropologists, anthropological scholarship on tourism has contributed greatly to tourism studies. In this conceptual article, I offer a preliminary study of the state of tourism studies and anthropology in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on a survey of literature published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese in Latin America, the US, and Europe. My primary concern is to discuss the relationship between tourism studies and anthropology in studying Latin America and the Caribbean. I conclude proposing that for the anthropology of tourism to advance towards more vibrant development, there needs to be an equal and multilingual dialogue among scholars, practitioners, and tourism stakeholders in the Global North and South, as well as a conceptualization of tourism as one aspect of a larger spectrum of movements, representations, and practices.