Tourism Research: A 20‐20 Vision

Citation

Wall, G. (2012), "Tourism Research: A 20‐20 Vision", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 496-497. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596111211217941

The title of this book creates high expectations, being interpreted alternatively as providing a vision for the 2020s or reflecting unclouded, penetrating insights, possibly both. It is taken from the name of the bi‐annual meeting of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism (IAST) that met in Mallorca, Spain, in June 2009, from which most papers are derived. The editors are widely‐published academics, as are the authors of all of the chapters. They constitute a group of experienced tourism researchers, from a diversity of disciplines, who have paid their dues and are members of an exclusive international organization of scholars. The book contains the contributions of eighteen authors, almost all of whom are luminaries of tourism research, with the result that the voices of young scholars and non‐academics are mute, if not absent. Most authors originally explored tourism from a base within a social science discipline and still work from such a base, although some or now housed in tourism programs or are technically retired.

The book consists of eighteen chapters, including an introduction and conclusion. The introduction introduces IAST and relates the organization's brief history and post‐conference publications to narrate a concise history of tourism research and to introduce the structure and contents of the current volume. The work is divided into four main sections:

1. 1.

   perspectives on progress in tourism research;

2. 2.

   advances in research on the business of tourism;

3. 3.

   national and regional perspectives; and

4. 4.

   emerging themes.

The first section is comprised of four chapters. Aramberri contrasts work on the “how?” and “why?” of tourism research (somewhat akin to an applied and “pure” dichotomy) and suggests that the gap between the two is becoming wider. Smith and Lee use an empirical analysis of papers in tourism journals to demonstrate that “theory” is understood in many different ways by tourism researchers. Harrison addresses the changing meaning of “development” and Butler, in one of the few contributions with much environmental content, revisits carrying capacity.

The second section consists of five contributions, mostly with an economic or business orientation. Frechtling and Smeral review methods for assessing the economic impacts of tourism, but say little about the circumstances, such as scales, in which such methods may be applied. Shaw and Williams review work on SMEs, both within and outside of tourism, and Pearce examines “tourism distribution” which is a fuzzy concept that he claims is a “bridge between supply and demand” (p. 104). Song et al. propose a collaborative approach to forecasting, involving participants in supply chains, but the practicality of such an approach has yet to be demonstrated. Perdue et al. examine the valuation of tourism, particularly the contrasts between use and exchange values.

The third section consists of assessments of tourism research in Latin America and mainland China, followed by a paper on Bali. The latter is one of the few papers in the volume with substantial cultural content. The uneven spatial coverage reflects the membership distribution of IAST and its use of English as a working language. Thus, apart from this section, the overall perspective that is presented in the book is very much that of western, anglophone academics. Africa, for example, is scarcely mentioned but, in fairness, the editors do not claim exhaustive regional coverage and, apart from this section, authors are topical rather than regional in their approach and the book has essentially no case study material – other than the paper on Bali.

The fourth section brings together an eclectic group of papers on tourism employment (as seen in part from the perspective of refugees), World Heritage, research ethics, and knowledge management (which is seen as being different to the application of information technology but related to it). These papers are interesting in themselves but have little in common with each other or even with papers in other sections. The section ends with a brief conclusion by the editors who call for addressing the increasing fragmentation of tourism studies, through the greater use of integrative frameworks, and closer engagement with the industry.

Authors were expected to address the past present and future of tourism research as revealed in their specific topic. The authors are much more comfortable in looking backwards than forwards. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight, it is easier to look backwards, especially as most of the authors have grown up with and have made important contributions to the literature that they are assessing. Only Song et al. clearly address the future, as their forecasting topic requires, most authors being satisfied with suggestions for further research.

Although it is easy to criticize an edited book, particularly one rooted in a conference, for what is not covered, there is much to praise in this work. The chapters are quite brief and are focused. They each argue a point, providing information, insights and taking positions that, in some cases, may be controversial. There is no redundancy or repetition and the text is generally free of jargon. Thus, the editors have done a good job of turning a collection of papers into a book.

Unlike this reviewer, most users are unlikely to read the book from start to finish but are most likely to explore specific contributions that match their interests. Each chapter can stand on its own and there is not one that is not worthy of consideration. Every chapter could be used as the basis of discussion in a graduate class although, ideally, it would be necessary to supplement it with other materials for the book is largely devoid of data and case studies. However, it does contain pertinent lists of references and it is recommended to graduate students who are looking for interesting ideas as well as more mature researchers who are interested in understanding how their field has evolved and, to a lesser extent, where it might go in the future.