Mobilities for Tourism Studies and "beyond": A Polemic

Abstract

This article offers a polemic directed against the largely unchallenged incorporation of mobilities within tourism studies. The mobilities paradigm may offer many constructive insights for the field of tourism; however, this article argues that the concept has been received rather uncritically by tourism scholarship and needs further critical appraisal. As a polemic, the article is designed to invite reaction as well as offer a counterpoint for those who may also feel uncomfortable with the seemingly "natural" progression from tourism studies to tourism mobilities. The aim of the article is twofold: first to open up a more nuanced debate of the philosophical stakes of mobilities for tourism studies, and second to renew the question and explore different possibilities of what constitutes a mobile philosophy today. By critically examining the paradox underpinning mobilities' ambition to "stabilize a world on the move" and closely interrogating the literature suggesting the paradigm shift signals "the end of tourism," the article explores how a nuanced rereading of the philosophical stakes of mobilities ultimately signals a return to tourism studies rather than moving "beyond" it. The article concludes by opening up a creative, destabilizing, and pluralizing mobile philosophy for tourism and mobility scholarship to consider.