Satisfies 3 hrs of Electives in Anthropology

“Tourism is very much about our culture, not their culture or our desire to learn about it”

Crick (1989: 328)

Course Description:

The origin of tourism as a scientific inquiry began in Europe at the turn of the 20 th century. Anthropologists today use tourism as a lens that helps to explore issues concerning political economy, development, and identity creation and negotiation. Almost all societies are affected by tourism. As estimated by the World Tourism Organization, 842 million tourists traveled internationally in 2006. Tourism brings people, from very different backgrounds, together in a mostly positive way. As a result, it influences the cross-cultural spread of culture in a variety of vehicles, such as food, music, clothing, and ideologies. Tourists always arrive at their destination with preconceived ideas drawn from previous exposure to information absorbed from the media, literature, and pop culture.