Culture, Tourism & Development

This course introduces theoretical models for analyzing cultural and economic processes in the international tourist industry, with particular emphasis on less developed host countries. It covers global historic and economic development processes within which tourism has evolved, and the anthropological models that apply to these processes. Using specific case studies reflecting issues of gender, class formation, allocation of resources, the environment, health issues, and the question of authenticity, the course examines the potential of tourism as a form of equitable and sustainable development. Also examined are tourism from the perspective of state-based policy and international relations.