Sociology of Tourism

It was not until after World War II and the development of mass tourism in 1950’s that tourism received any significant attention from social scientists
In the same way that birds migrate annually, people had begun to do the same (often to the same place each year). At first sociologists tended to focus on industry and production but they then began to explore consumption and group behaviour and the impact of this on the host population. Mass tourism was possible because there were lots of planes redundant after the war but there were constraints about how far these could travel (such as availability of fuel). Seeking to understand WHY social phenomenon happen, the early sociologists believed that this annual migration was the result of the conditions of modern society which drove people to seek an escape.

MacCannell’s (1976) book ‘The Tourist’ is cited as the first comprehensive approach to tourism from the perspective of the social sciences. MacCannell was the first writer to relate tourism to the sociology of modernity and he particularly emphasised the desire for authentic and traditional cultures. He believed that society changed from a time when people stayed in their own villages unless they were going on a pilgrimage, travelling for trade or war. However, people became curious and this led to AMONIE, a condition of modern society which refers to a breakdown of social norms leaving people routeless. He suggested therefore that people started to seek an identity through tourism. Being linked with a place and providing an identity can overcome this anomie. MacCannell believed that tourism provided organised means of escape from the modern condition and he saw the tourist as the model of modern man.

In his study of tourism, Crick (1988) argued that it could be grouped into 3 categories: semiology of tourism (the meaning of words/language/communication); political economy of tourism and tourism and social change.


Although the sociology of tourism is in its infancy it contributes to the understanding of

• The tourist
• Relationships between tourists and hosts
• Structure and functions of the tourism industry
• Consequences of tourism


RELATED READING

Cohen, E. (1984) The Sociology of Tourism: Approaches, Issues, and Findings Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 10, pp 373-392

Holden, A. (2005) Tourism Studies and the Social Sciences. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon. (available on Ebook library)

Jafari, J. and Brent-Richie, J. (1981) Towards a Framework for Tourism Education: problems and prospects. Annals of Tourism Research 8, 13-33.

Sharpley, R. (1994) Tourism, Tourists and Society. Elm Publications, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire (chapter 1)

Urry, J. (1990) The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies Theory, Culture & Society Sage Publications, Inc., London (Chapter 1) (available in NetLibrary through Athens)