Revolution at the hotel: Panama and luxury travel in the age of decolonisation

Abstract

ABSTRACTFrom the grounds of the famous Hotel Tivoli in Panama, this article retraces the entangled relationship between anti-colonial struggle and international tourism. Luxury hotels like the Tivoli – situated at the crossroads of political and economic power in the colonial world – operated as sites of social privilege and also as sites of protest. In the mid-twentieth century, in the era of decolonisation, tourist destinations in the Americas and across the Global South became locales of convergence for activists, for both violent and non-violent actions. This article explains how one hotel in particular – the Hotel Tivoli – held symbolic and material importance for those challenging the status quo.