End Of Tourism Research Articles

The end of tourism? Contemplations of collapse

PurposeThis viewpoint engages with Jem Bendell’s deep adaptation framework which was developed as a response to the threat of collapse. Proponents of deep adaptation argue that societal collapse is either likely, inevitable or already underway. The deep adaptation framework is employed as a tool to contemplate the necessary adaptation of tourism development and planning in a context of polycrisis leading to collapse.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual viewpoint article that is built on deductive analysis of recent events, reports and scientific findings. It employs the deep adaptation framework to analyse possible alternative tourism futures in the face of the threat of collapse.FindingsBendell’s framework included four aspects of response to the recognition of the threat of collapse: resilience, relinquishment, restoration and reconciliation. In this work, the deep adaptation framework is employed to analyse what a deep adaptation approach to tourism might offer for efforts in securing optimal social and ecological outcomes. Findings highlight damaging activities that we should relinquish, more resilient approaches that communities could encourage and restorative practices such as rewilding and pluriversal economies as protective measures. This work recommends a precautionary approach to transform tourism education, research and practice in order to secure better tourism futures.Originality/valueThis work is novel in engaging with the threat of future collapse and in using the deep adaptation framework to consider alternative tourism futures.

Investigating the Challenges of Promoting Dark Tourism in Rwanda

ABSTRACT J. Ntunda interrogates to what extent dark tourism would be a product to be fostered in Rwanda. Based on formal interviews done over 43 specialists who take part of RDB [Rwanda Development Board], Ntunda holds that several incompatibilities which include lack of skilled staff and problems in the accessibilities to the site prevent today dark tourism would be a valid option. However, we live in a hyper-globalized world where information is produced, packaged and disseminated in minutes to a broader audience. In this new world, there is no place to hide. Therefore, specialists and policymakers should promote Rwanda taking advantage of global sources and the information which is digitally designed. REVIEWED BY Maximiliano E Korstanje – Doutorando em Psicology Social, Universidad John Kennedy, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Professor University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Curriculo: http://ciberconta.unizar.es/cv/maxikorstanje.htm . E-mail: maxikorstanje@hotmail.com REFERENCES Korstanje M. (2016) The rise of thana capitalism and tourism . Abingdon, Routledge. Ntunda, J, (2014). Investigating the challenges of promoting Dark Tourism in Rwanda . Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing. Stone, P. R. (2012). Dark tourism and significant other death: Towards a model of mortality mediation . Annals of Tourism Research , 39 (3), 1565-1587. Link Tzanelli, R. (2016). Thanatourism and cinematic representations of risk : screening the end of tourism (V. 176). Abingdon: Routledge.

Mobilities for Tourism Studies and "beyond": A Polemic

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.

Urban Beaches, Virtual Worlds and ‘The End of Tourism’

This paper revisits John Urry's ideas on ‘the end of tourism’, or the de‐differentiation of tourism and everyday life under disorganised capitalism (to the extent that the former ceases to be ‘special’ and the latter ‘mundane’). Against the backdrop of the recent and exponential growth in the number of tourists and migrants flowing to and from the countries of the world that comprise the ‘pleasure periphery’, it takes the notion of everyday space (including cyber‐space) being reconfigured as tourism space one step further with reference to two quite distinct, but theoretically intertwined phenomena: urban beaches and virtual worlds (the former represented by a case study of Paris Plage, and the latter by examples of the most popular Massively Multiplayer Online Social Games or MMOSGs, including Second Life and There). In exploring what these case studies have in common reference is made to ideas about liminality and liquid modernity, which provide a context for understanding the contemporary relationship between tourism and the everyday. There follows a brief conclusion that reflects upon the consequences for tourism‐related research of the turn to mobilities in the social sciences.

The end of tourism? Climate change and societal challenges

Starting with the assumption that socio-cultural aspects of tourism demand will need to change in response to global warming, this paper identifies business and consumer contradictions that highlight the complexities of dealing with climate change in an industry characterised by fragmented, global supply chains. The paper's approach is to problematise the issues into a series of research questions (related to ethical consumption, sustainability, policies, actions and communication) based on the premise that sustainable tourism is possible and desirable, but mitigation has to acknowledge the anthropogenic causes of climate change and responses should be underpinned by changing norms for any society that considers travel to be the ‘perfect freedom’.

Spatial Phantasmagoria

It is often argued that media culture involves a state of constant virtual mobility. Thus, it is important to discuss the relationship between media practices and touristic practices — in particular, whether the mediatization of tourism may signify an era of `post-tourism', or the `end of tourism'. In this article media consumption and touristic consumption are regarded as two contexts of spatial appropriation. Distinguishing three principal modes of spatial appropriation, it is argued that tourism and media consumption tend to follow a shared logic inherent to people's lifestyles. In extension, the `end of tourism' thesis is contested. Empirical evidence stresses that people uphold the distinction between simulations and `real experiences'. Rather than substituting physical travel, mediated spatial phantasmagoria reinforces the desire for `first-hand tourism'.