Recentering Tourism Geographies in the ‘Asian Century’

This book considers what the transition into the Asian Century means for some of the most urgent issues in the world today, such as sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, and environmental change. The book critiques Anglo-Western centrism in tourism theory and calls on tourism scholars to make radical shifts toward more inclusive epistemology and praxis. From the British Century of the 1800s to the American Century of the 1900s to the contemporary Asian Century, tourism geographies are deeply entangled in broader shifts in geopolitical power. In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of shifts in tourism geographies and the themes addressed in this volume are more urgent than ever. That the world faces increasing turmoil is abundantly clear. Yet, amidst the disruption to the everyday, it is hope and compassion, but also political-economic restructuring that is needed to reset the tourism industry in more sustainable, equitable, and ethical directions. In no uncertain terms, the pandemic has forever changed the tourism industry as the world once knew it. This book, therefore, sets out to collectively build on the momentum of the inclusive scholarship that Critical Tourism Studies-Asia Pacific is renowned for, while also asking readers to pause and reflect on the possibilities and challenges of tourism in a post-pandemic Asian Century. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Tourism Geographies.

Introduction: tourism geographies in the ‘Asian Century’ Harng Luh Sin, Mary Mostafanezhad and Joseph M. Cheer 1. Critical tourism studies: new directions for volatile times Chris Gibson 2. What western tourism concepts obscure: intersections of migration and tourism in Indonesia Kathleen M. Adams 3. Decentring scholarship through learning with/from each ‘other’ Hazel Tucker and Stuart Hayes 4. ‘Asianizing the field’: questioning Critical Tourism Studies in Asia T. C. Chang 5. Becoming Airbnbeings: on datafication and the quantified Self in tourism Claudio Minca and Maartje Roelofsen 6. Going on holiday only to come home: making happy families in Singapore Yinn Shan Cheong and Harng Luh Sin 7. Linkages between tourist resorts, local food production and the sustainable development goals Regina Scheyvens and Gabriel Laeis 8. Food safety and tourism in Singapore: between microbial Russian roulette and Michelin stars Nicole Tarulevicz and Can Seng Ooi 9. Visitor diversification in pilgrimage destinations: comparing national and international visitors through means-end Ricardo Nicolas Progano, Kumi Kato and Joseph M. Cheer 10. The materiality of air pollution: Urban political ecologies of tourism in Thailand Mary Mostafanezhad 11. Ontological mingling and mapping: Chinese tourism researchers’ experiences at international conferences Jundan Jasmine Zhang and Carol Xiaoyue Zhang 12. Tourism studies is a geopolitical instrument: Conferences, Confucius Institutes, and ‘the Chinese Dream’ Ian Rowen 13. (Post-) pandemic tourism resiliency: Southeast Asian lives and livelihoods in limbo Kathleen M. Adams, Jaeyeon Choe, Mary Mostafanezhad and Giang Thi Phi Afterword: a critical reckoning with the ‘Asian Century’ in the shadow of the anthropocene Tim Oakes

Harng Luh Sin is former Associate Professor at Sun Yat-Sen University and a Visiting Fellow at Singapore Management University. Her work looks at volunteer and responsible tourism, sustainable development, and the critical tourism in Southeast Asia and China. She is the co-founder of the Critical Tourism Studies Asia- Pacific network. Mary Mostafanezhad is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Her scholarship is focused on tourism, development, and socio-environmental change. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Geographies and the Critical Green Engagements Series of the University of Arizona Press. Joseph M. Cheer is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Geographies. He is Professor at Center for Tourism Research, Wakayama University, Japan, and holds adjunct appointments at AUT, New Zealand, UCSI University, Malaysia, and Monash University, Australia. Joseph is also a board member of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the region's main industry body.