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The purpose of this chapter is to explain and celebrate the benefits of oral history for tourism and hospitality research. Oral history is accessible and interdisciplinary, often used in local projects and community groups which creates some disdain from traditional academics. Despite this, there is an accepted call for the depth and detail in tourism and hospitality research that oral history can bring. The opinion of the authors is that many researchers are not as transparent as they could be about their research method and this is a disappointment for those that wish to gain a full understanding of what has taken place and why. So, this chapter will (1) elaborate on the reasons for and development of oral history technique; (2) illustrate how this method can be used by researchers; (3) provide examples from the extant literature; and (4) conclude with suggestions of how this type of research may be taken further. A variety of references have been used to encourage wider reading and the aim is to be thought provoking and encouraging. Tourism and hospitality from any angle are all about the human experience and oral history interviews bring depth and richness to both present and future interpretations.

This first chapter provides an overview of all the chapters included in this book. This book focuses on contemporary research methods in hospitality and tourism. Revisiting the traditional research methods is necessary for academia and practitioners in the hospitality and tourism field. New understandings and interpretations of traditional research paradigms such as positivism and interpretivism as well as more recent paradigms such as realism and pragmatism in the context of hospitality and tourism are vital to strengthen the research practices. We hope that the edited book can help researchers and practitioners in our field in their research journeys and applications.