As the mobilities paradigm emerged in the early to mid-noughties, tourism seemed to be very much at the forefront front of the ‘mobilities turn’. Given the continued relevance of concepts of circulation, this session argues that mobility remains at the heart of tourism and that an understanding of the relationship between tourism and mobility remains very relevant.
Mobility continues to be an evocative keyword for contemporary times and is the primary way in which many engage with the world. Yet more recently, questions have arisen concerning the contribution of mobilities to tourism suggesting that tourism mobilities has reached its ‘heyday’.
This session aims to emphasise the continued relevance of mobilities to tourism discourse whilst simultaneously recognising that tourism mobilities have public relevance in the contemporary moment.
The session also seeks to show that tourism mobilities has begun to question ‘itself’; asking how a re-reading of mobilities may signal a re-engagement with tourism rather than moving beyond it. This session invites contributions that engage with these debates through the following areas (this is an indicative rather than exhaustive list):
- Tourism mobilities and moral, ethical, environmental, social, cultural and/or political implications
- Mobility, tourism, policy and planning
- Tourism, mobility and public relevance
- Philosophical/conceptual questionings of tourism mobilities
- Stuckness, stillness, stickiness and tourism
- The ‘mobilities gap’ and tourism
- Immobility and tourism
- The ‘heyday’ of tourism mobilities
Tara Duncan
School of Technology & Business Studies
Dalarna University, Sweden
tdu@du.se