Polycrisis and the metamorphosis of tourism capitalism

Abstract

While the disruption caused by the COVID19 pandemic has receded, tourism capitalism continues to be imbricated in multiple and intersecting crises. This paper argues that the roots of such crises and the manner of their unfolding do not merely ‘impact’ tourism but have been incubated within and shaped by the structural dynamics of tourism capital accumulation itself. This paper draws on a historical materialist epistemology and critical theorization of capitalism to challenge orthodox framings of tourism crises and their deep-rooted structural drivers. The paper reflects on the nature of crises in relation to the mutations of Spanish tourism capitalism and the continual efforts to resolve the crisis-prone nature of tourism.