Asia on Tour

With the vast majority of academic theory on tourism based on 'Western' tourists, Asia on Tour illustrates why the rapid growth of travel for leisure and recreation in Asia demands a reappraisal of how tourism is analyzed and understood. Examining domestic and intra-regional tourism, the book reveals how improvements in infrastructures, ever increasing disposable incomes, liberalized economies, the inter-connectivities of globalization and the lowering of borders, both physical and political, are now enabling millions of Asians to travel as tourists. Drawing upon multidisciplinary theoretical perspectives and up-to-date empirical research, the twenty-three accessible essays in this volume indicate why a rigorous and critical study of Asian tourism must become integral to both our analysis of this rapidly transforming region and our interpretation of global tourism in the twenty first century.



As a rich collection of essays on heritage and tourism oriented around Asian tourists, Asia on Tour will be of particular interest to students and scholars working in the fields of tourism, Asian studies, geography, heritage, anthropology, development, sociology, and cultural and postcolonial studies.

Introduction: Rethinking Tourism in Asia Tim Winter, Peggy Teo and T.C. Chang Part 1: Challenging Conventions 1. 'A Long and Still-Unfinished Story': Constructing and Defining Asian Regionalisms C. Michael Hall 2. Knowledge Order in Asia Peggy Teo 3. Destination Asia: Rethinking Material Culture Tim Winter 4. Disorganized Tourism Space: Chinese Tourists in an Age of Asian Tourism Chan Yuk Wah Part 2: Emerging Markets, (Re)scripting Places 5. Singapore's Postcolonial Landscape: Boutique Hotels as Agents Peggy Teo and T.C. Chang 6. The Rebirth of the Hospital: Heterotopia and Medical Tourism in Asia Audrey Bochaton and Bertrand LeFebvre 7. Affective Sites: Hur Jin-Ho's Cinema and Film-Induced Tourism in Korea Youngmin Choe 8. Affinity Tourism:A Case Study of Indian Tourists in Bali K. Thirumaran 9. Ayurvedic Tourism in Kerala: Local Identities and Global Markets Denise SpitzerPart 3: National Imaginings and Tourism Development 10. Between Encouragement and Control: Tourism, Modernity and Discipline in China Pál Nyíri 11.Tourism as Glitter: Re-examining Domestic Tourism in Indonesia Maribeth Erb 12. Openings and Limits: Domestic Tourism in Japan Nelson Graburn 13. Disruptions of a Dialectic and a Stereotypical Response: The Case of the Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tourism Industry Jamie Gillen 14. The Internal Expansion of China: Tourism and the Production of Distance Jenny Chio Part 4: Revis(it)ing Heritage: Dissonance or Harmony? 15. From the Centre to the Margin: Tourism and Conflict in Kashmir Shalini Panjabi 16. Staging the Nation, Exploring the Margins: Domestic Tourism and its Political Implications in Northern Thailand Olivier Evrard and Prasit Leepreecha 17. Cultural Preservation, Tourism, and 'Donkey Travel' on China's Frontier Robert Shepherd 18. Gastronomy and Tourism:A Case Study of Gourmet Country-Style Cuisine in Hong Kong Sidney C. H. Cheung Part 5: Tourism and New Social Networks 19. 'My Mother's Best Friend's Sister-in-Law is Coming with Us': Domestic and International Travels with a Group of Lao Tourists Charles Carroll 20. 'Donkey Friends' in China: The Internet, Civil Society and the Emergence of the Chinese Backpacking Community Francis Khek Gee Lim 21. Still Vision and Mobile Youth: Tourist Photos, Travel Narratives and Taiwanese Modernity Joyce Hsiu-yen Yeh 22. Conclusion: Recasting Tourism Theory, Towards an Asian Future Tim Winter