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Principles of Tourism
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Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 1264–1288
Lo¨fgren, O. (1999). On holidays: A history of vacationing. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pagenstecher, C. (2003). Constructing the tourist gaze: How industrial was post-war German tourism?. In L. Tissot (Ed.), Construction of a tourism industry in the 19th and 20th century: International perspectives (pp. 373–389). Neuchatel, Switzerland: Alphil. Assigned 28 July 2011. Submitted 14 September 2011. Accepted 15 September 2011. doi:10.1016/j.annals.2012.01.017
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 1286–1288, 2012 Printed in Great Britain
PRINCIPLES OF TOURISM By Baojia Shen. China Travel and Tourism Press (www.cttp. net.cn) 2010, 271pp. (figures, tables, bibliography, index) RMB32 Pbk. ISBN 978-7-5032-4002-7 Honggen Xiao The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Principles of Tourism: A Systematic Explanation of Tourism Research on the Law of Motion is a conceptual and theoretically explanatory text published in Chinese. Unlike an introduction to tourism textbook that takes a comprehensive perspective to look at all aspects of the industries (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2011) or one that adopts critical studies approaches (Hannam & Knox, 2010), the author of this monograph, Baojia Shen, attempts to offer a systematic and theoretical explanation of tourism as a phenomenon and social reality on the basis of knowledge synthesis from its research. Theoretical articulations of the book rest upon the fundamental thesis that tourism is a social phenomenon and product of the market economy, with both economic and cultural attributes as well as material and non-material properties in operation under a complex system. These premises inform the structure of the book, which is presented in 23 chapters grouped into five broad thematic parts. The First Part, ‘‘General Introduction’’, has five chapters dealing with concepts, methods, and paradigms applicable to tourism social science. Its main discussion centers around the origin of tourism and the first proposition of the thesis: ‘‘Tourism is a product of the market economy’’ (p. 40). To distinguish this book as basic theory reading, the author outlines multidisciplinary approaches to tourism studies. With five chapters addressing the dynamics, structure, and system, Part Two focuses on tourism and tourism studies at the macro level. In particular, the discussion centers on the essence of tourism that is characteristic of a ‘‘point-and-line’’ and dualistic structure operating within a complex social economic system. The author states that central to the structural discussion is the ‘‘point-and-line’’ assertion, which could serve as a platform for host-guest interactions and as a lens on the functioning of tourism as a cross-cultural activity at the micro level. Such a plat-
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 1264–1288
1287
form, the author noted, is often invisible and could only be experienced or felt by both parties involved in the cultural encounter. Part Three, also containing five chapters, discusses the functioning of tourism at the micro level. Central to this part is the host-guest interaction that, as noted by the author, has been subject to a scrutiny from multiple perspectives such as cultural studies, consumer behavior, and social and political economics. On the basis of knowledge synthesis pertaining to the functioning of tourism at the micro level, the author articulates his second proposition in Chapter 15: tourism is a social phenomenon resulting from the integration of multiple systems (p. 151). Part Four, again composed of five chapters, addresses the impacts of tourism on a host community. Specifically, the impact of tourism development is discussed (and its studies synthesized) in economic, social, cultural, and environmental/ecological terms. Due to ideological and linguistic commonalities amongst researchers in the West, one perplexing issue in his historical review of tourism studies is the establishing of intellectual connections between German- and English-speaking communities especially after World War II, despite the recent attempt by Dann and Parrinello (2009) to explore European origins and developments in the sociology of tourism. Shen, in his monograph, notes a continuity of foci in the streams of thoughts and demonstrated that the structure and functioning of tourism at macro and micro levels and its inherent impacts on destinations and communities through host-guest interactions could serve as an explanatory framework of such intellectual connections between the two research communities. Notably, the former is characteristic of logical positivism whereas the latter appears to be largely driven by pragmatism. Part Five consists of three chapters in which the author discusses the implications of his theorizing for tourism education and disciplinary development. It is suggested that the history of tourism research, the accumulation of its literature, and incremental changes in its evolution have pointed to a potential for this body of knowledge to be further developed into an independent discipline, with its branches to be informed by (or derived from) economics, sociology and anthropology, geography, and environment and ecology. Building on his two propositions discussed in this thesis, the author goes on to propose, in Chapter 22, a theoretical framework to account for the bases, forms, structures, attributes, and essence of tourism, and to relate its fundamental concepts to the economic, social, cultural and environmental contexts in which tourism occurs (p. 245). In autoethnographic and at times anecdotal terms, this monograph is a reflection of the author’s preoccupation as a tourism scholar working on its basic theories for over 30 years. A founding member of the Department of Tourism at Nankai University in the early 1980s, Shen has long been committed to interpreting or articulating tourism in theoretical terms. He is the first author who has systematically introduced to his Chinese peers the progress of tourism studies in Western countries, through a series of consecutively-published review articles in Tourism Tribune (known as the Chinese Annals) in the mid-90s. While this volume bears a title identical to the one published by the same author in 1999 (Xiao, 2001), it is an entirely different book. Principles of Tourism makes notable contributions to a theoretical explanation of tourism as a cultural and economic phenomenon, and to the understanding of its function and motion in what the author terms a dynamic, ‘‘point-and-line’’ and dualistic structure. The book serves well as an invaluable source for graduate students, academic researchers, and policy-/decision-makers in tourism education, development and business practices. As usual, the author’s engaging style of presentation makes the book a pleasure to read. In addition, the neatly rhymed poem prefaced by Du Jiang (Vice-Chairman of China National Tourism Administration and promi-
1288
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 1264–1288
nent research student of the author) adds to the perspectives on reading the book. While this brief review provides a glimpse of this theoretically important text written in Mandarin, from a dissemination perspective, it will be interesting to see and worthwhile to recommend that Principles of Tourism be translated into other languages to enhance communication of tourism studies across different linguistic communities. Honggen Xiao: School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Email
REFERENCES Dann, G., & Parrinello, G. (2009). The sociology of tourism: European origins and developments. Emerald: Bingley. Goeldner, C., & Ritchie, B. (2011). Tourism: Principles, practices, philosophies (12th ed.). New York: Wiley. Hannam, K., & Knox, D. (2010). Understanding tourism: A critical introduction. London: Sage. Xiao, H. (2001). Principles of tourism studies. Annals of Tourism Research, 28, 241–243. Assigned 10 October 2011. Submitted 28 November 2011. Accepted 29 November 2011. doi:10.1016/j.annals.2012.01.011
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 1264–1288
Lo¨fgren, O. (1999). On holidays: A history of vacationing. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pagenstecher, C. (2003). Constructing the tourist gaze: How industrial was post-war German tourism?. In L. Tissot (Ed.), Construction of a tourism industry in the 19th and 20th century: International perspectives (pp. 373–389). Neuchatel, Switzerland: Alphil. Assigned 28 July 2011. Submitted 14 September 2011. Accepted 15 September 2011. doi:10.1016/j.annals.2012.01.017
Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 1286–1288, 2012 Printed in Great Britain
PRINCIPLES OF TOURISM By Baojia Shen. China Travel and Tourism Press (www.cttp. net.cn) 2010, 271pp. (figures, tables, bibliography, index) RMB32 Pbk. ISBN 978-7-5032-4002-7 Honggen Xiao The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Principles of Tourism: A Systematic Explanation of Tourism Research on the Law of Motion is a conceptual and theoretically explanatory text published in Chinese. Unlike an introduction to tourism textbook that takes a comprehensive perspective to look at all aspects of the industries (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2011) or one that adopts critical studies approaches (Hannam & Knox, 2010), the author of this monograph, Baojia Shen, attempts to offer a systematic and theoretical explanation of tourism as a phenomenon and social reality on the basis of knowledge synthesis from its research. Theoretical articulations of the book rest upon the fundamental thesis that tourism is a social phenomenon and product of the market economy, with both economic and cultural attributes as well as material and non-material properties in operation under a complex system. These premises inform the structure of the book, which is presented in 23 chapters grouped into five broad thematic parts. The First Part, ‘‘General Introduction’’, has five chapters dealing with concepts, methods, and paradigms applicable to tourism social science. Its main discussion centers around the origin of tourism and the first proposition of the thesis: ‘‘Tourism is a product of the market economy’’ (p. 40). To distinguish this book as basic theory reading, the author outlines multidisciplinary approaches to tourism studies. With five chapters addressing the dynamics, structure, and system, Part Two focuses on tourism and tourism studies at the macro level. In particular, the discussion centers on the essence of tourism that is characteristic of a ‘‘point-and-line’’ and dualistic structure operating within a complex social economic system. The author states that central to the structural discussion is the ‘‘point-and-line’’ assertion, which could serve as a platform for host-guest interactions and as a lens on the functioning of tourism as a cross-cultural activity at the micro level. Such a plat-
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 1264–1288
1287
form, the author noted, is often invisible and could only be experienced or felt by both parties involved in the cultural encounter. Part Three, also containing five chapters, discusses the functioning of tourism at the micro level. Central to this part is the host-guest interaction that, as noted by the author, has been subject to a scrutiny from multiple perspectives such as cultural studies, consumer behavior, and social and political economics. On the basis of knowledge synthesis pertaining to the functioning of tourism at the micro level, the author articulates his second proposition in Chapter 15: tourism is a social phenomenon resulting from the integration of multiple systems (p. 151). Part Four, again composed of five chapters, addresses the impacts of tourism on a host community. Specifically, the impact of tourism development is discussed (and its studies synthesized) in economic, social, cultural, and environmental/ecological terms. Due to ideological and linguistic commonalities amongst researchers in the West, one perplexing issue in his historical review of tourism studies is the establishing of intellectual connections between German- and English-speaking communities especially after World War II, despite the recent attempt by Dann and Parrinello (2009) to explore European origins and developments in the sociology of tourism. Shen, in his monograph, notes a continuity of foci in the streams of thoughts and demonstrated that the structure and functioning of tourism at macro and micro levels and its inherent impacts on destinations and communities through host-guest interactions could serve as an explanatory framework of such intellectual connections between the two research communities. Notably, the former is characteristic of logical positivism whereas the latter appears to be largely driven by pragmatism. Part Five consists of three chapters in which the author discusses the implications of his theorizing for tourism education and disciplinary development. It is suggested that the history of tourism research, the accumulation of its literature, and incremental changes in its evolution have pointed to a potential for this body of knowledge to be further developed into an independent discipline, with its branches to be informed by (or derived from) economics, sociology and anthropology, geography, and environment and ecology. Building on his two propositions discussed in this thesis, the author goes on to propose, in Chapter 22, a theoretical framework to account for the bases, forms, structures, attributes, and essence of tourism, and to relate its fundamental concepts to the economic, social, cultural and environmental contexts in which tourism occurs (p. 245). In autoethnographic and at times anecdotal terms, this monograph is a reflection of the author’s preoccupation as a tourism scholar working on its basic theories for over 30 years. A founding member of the Department of Tourism at Nankai University in the early 1980s, Shen has long been committed to interpreting or articulating tourism in theoretical terms. He is the first author who has systematically introduced to his Chinese peers the progress of tourism studies in Western countries, through a series of consecutively-published review articles in Tourism Tribune (known as the Chinese Annals) in the mid-90s. While this volume bears a title identical to the one published by the same author in 1999 (Xiao, 2001), it is an entirely different book. Principles of Tourism makes notable contributions to a theoretical explanation of tourism as a cultural and economic phenomenon, and to the understanding of its function and motion in what the author terms a dynamic, ‘‘point-and-line’’ and dualistic structure. The book serves well as an invaluable source for graduate students, academic researchers, and policy-/decision-makers in tourism education, development and business practices. As usual, the author’s engaging style of presentation makes the book a pleasure to read. In addition, the neatly rhymed poem prefaced by Du Jiang (Vice-Chairman of China National Tourism Administration and promi-
1288
Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 1264–1288
nent research student of the author) adds to the perspectives on reading the book. While this brief review provides a glimpse of this theoretically important text written in Mandarin, from a dissemination perspective, it will be interesting to see and worthwhile to recommend that Principles of Tourism be translated into other languages to enhance communication of tourism studies across different linguistic communities. Honggen Xiao: School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Email
REFERENCES Dann, G., & Parrinello, G. (2009). The sociology of tourism: European origins and developments. Emerald: Bingley. Goeldner, C., & Ritchie, B. (2011). Tourism: Principles, practices, philosophies (12th ed.). New York: Wiley. Hannam, K., & Knox, D. (2010). Understanding tourism: A critical introduction. London: Sage. Xiao, H. (2001). Principles of tourism studies. Annals of Tourism Research, 28, 241–243. Assigned 10 October 2011. Submitted 28 November 2011. Accepted 29 November 2011. doi:10.1016/j.annals.2012.01.011