MENG QU | Hokkaido University (original) (raw)

Papers by MENG QU

Journal of Responsible Tourism Management, 2024

As the global tourism industry attempts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, small-scale, commu... more As the global tourism industry attempts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, small-scale, community-based regenerative tourism is bringing a creative transformation to declining neighborhoods and areas struggling to attract visitors. This case study focuses on a tour project that aims at regenerating a degraded suburban landscape in Hiroshima, Japan, and turning it into a location for Creative Tourism in cooperation with the local community. The study connects Regenerative Tourism and Creative Tourism, revealing that creative tourism serves as a catalyst for community revitalization. The research methods involve participant observation, interviews with tour operators and tourists, and secondary data analysis, with thematic analysis revealing insights into sustainable tourism, community engagement, and the company's efforts to preserve and promote local culture and nature. The case study suggests that the growing demand emerging after the pandemic also creates new opportunities for transformation through small-scale regenerative and Creative Tourism that is respectful of local culture and creates revitalization opportunities with residents. The growing demand emerging after the pandemic also creates new opportunities and transformation through small-scale regenerative and Creative Tourism that is respectful of local culture and creates revitalization opportunities with residents. The study argues that the combination of Creative Tourism and a regenerative framework results in a mutually beneficial relationship. Although regenerative creative tourism products are more difficult to design and manage, it is a more responsible approach. This case shows that Regenerative Creative Tourism promotes local well-being and long-term sustainability, emphasizing the necessity of a holistic, creative, and regenerative approach in the changing global tourism landscape, especially for community and environmental regeneration.

Event Management, 2023

This article examines how creativity-based social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial networks i... more This article examines how creativity-based social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial networks in the context of small-scale rural art festivals can advance social and regional revitalization goals in peripheral island communities. This qualitative- and action-based research explores the effects of artistic activities on rural revitalization through the analysis of four small-scale rural events: a traditional matsuri (festival), and three contemporary art, music, and film festivals. The adaptability and diversity of the festivals’ entrepreneurial networks are investigated in greater depth by combining the literatures on rural revitalization, social entrepreneurship, bricolage, and resourcefulness with the embedded and relational aspects of creative entrepreneurial networks. The study also analyzes the complex relationship between the individual actions of creative festival entrepreneurs and the socially engaged creative networks that facilitate population retention and resource exchanges in a community, and therefore rural revitalization.

Rural quality of life, 2023

Japanese peripheral rural communities have been undergoing a dramatic demographic and socio-econo... more Japanese peripheral rural communities have been undergoing a dramatic demographic and socio-economic decline, with many facing the concrete threat of disappearing over the next decades. This condition is the outcome of decades of out-migration, lack of local employment opportunities and cuts in essential public services, a situation similar to that of marginal or remote rural areas in other post-industrial countries (Li et al., 2019). To counter these issues, small towns and municipalities across Japan have been engaging in revitalisation projects, many of which focus on attracting new residents or encouraging former outmigrants to return. Hope is being placed on in-migrants from urban areas, considered vital for bringing much-needed population and human resources back to declining small towns and villages. In parallel, Japan has seen an increase in people moving from urban to rural areas seeking lifestyle change and more meaningful ways of living, driven by disillusionment with a stagnating economy and growing social and economic precarity (Klien, 2020). This phenomenon can be likened to the broader concept of ‘lifestyle migration’ discussed in the international literature (Benson, 2009).

This chapter presents a qualitative exploration of domestic urban-to-rural lifestyle migrants on the islands of Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, particularly concerning their construction of quality of life. The analysis shows how respondents imagine, construct and (re)negotiate their desired lifestyles according to individual ideals of what constitutes a good quality of life, seen through the challenges and opportunities arising from living in small island communities. The results highlight the different ways in which in-migrants are experimenting with alternative rural lifestyles and their struggles and successes in balancing economic and social needs with post-capitalist notions of quality of life and well-being. Moreover, respondents’ quality of life is influenced by material and non-material elements which shape their post-migration everyday experiences, relationships and practices.

Land, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Journal of Rural Studies, 2023

The decline and socioeconomic stagnation of rural communities is a growing concern across the wor... more The decline and socioeconomic stagnation of rural communities is a growing concern across the world. To promote community resilience, art-and creativity-based strategies are emerging as important means for rural revitalisation. This study adopts a neo-endogenous perspective to examine how socially engaged art can represent an effective tool for revitalising communities and strengthening their resilience. We examine the case of Japan's Setouchi Triennale, an international art festival which aims at revitalising twelve small islands by promoting socially engaged art and festival tourism. This mixed methods research focuses on the three islands characterised by the best revitalisation outcomes. The tourism opportunities and increased place recognition resulting from the exogenous art festival initiative triggered endogenous community responses in terms of increased entrepreneurship and social innovation, facilitating the emergence of neo-endogenous revitalisation processes. At the same time, different islands are characterized by different response mechanisms, which depend on the initial resources and features of each island. Exogenous, endogenous, and neo-endogenous elements are therefore all necessary to increase rural resilience. Successful neo-endogenous revitalisation through socially engaged art, however, requires long-term co-creation between exogenous art development and endogenous community activities.

Wakayama Tourism Review, 2022

In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the connections among art, tourism, rural ... more In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the connections among art, tourism, rural place-making, and community revitalization for contemporary art’s socially engaged transformation. This interdisciplinary nexus includes art place-making and creative tourism, urban to rural in-migrants micro-entrepreneurship, and partnership networks, in the broader context of peripheral community revitalization agendas. The experimentation and social practice aspects of art, the impact of tourism on disadvantaged communities, as well as the diversified community attributes create various uncertain variables for revitalization and a more complex social interpretation system for researchers. By increasing disciplinary integration among Creative (Art) Geography, Relational Geography, Tourism Geography, Creative Tourism, Relational Art, as well as both rural and island studies, socially engaged art tourism provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the concept of ‘Rural Creative Tourism Geographies’ (RCTG) in a systematic way.

Island Studies Journal, 2023

The globalization of island studies has resulted in a greater recognition by island studies schol... more The globalization of island studies has resulted in a greater recognition by island studies scholars of the need for more regional-based island research to encompass the diversity of island knowledge and experiences. Island research in East Asia provides examples of both English and native language perspectives across four distinct socio-cultural contexts: Japan, South Korea, the Chinese mainland, and Taiwan. Historical literature and contemporary scholarly research provide a context for understanding: (1) how East Asian researchers engaged with island studies and islandness; and (2) how East Asian socioeconomic development policies reflect understandings of islandness locally and across the region. We found similarities among the four East Asian regions, but also variations based on different domestic political perspectives. Given the late start of island research in East Asia, many topics await more detailed future examination.

Okinawan Journal of Island Studies, 2022

It is our pleasure to announce the publication of this co-edited volume between the Okinawan Jour... more It is our pleasure to announce the publication of this co-edited volume between the Okinawan Journal of Island Studies and the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative (SICRI). SICRI's two conveners, Dr. Evangelia Papoutsaki and Dr. Meng Qu, have come on board to create a call for papers on the theme of "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Small Island Cultures and Heritage" along with Dr. Ayano Ginoza, the editor of the Okinawan Journal of Island Studies (OJIS) to produce this volume. In this co-edited volume, we invited submissions for peer-review articles, book reviews, and forum essays that cover topics related to the broad area of small island cultures and heritage, including, but not limited to, tangible, intangible, digital, and/or Indigenous cultural heritage as well as the impact of the Anthropocene, militarism, and colonialism on small island cultures and their cultural heritage. We were particularly interested in submissions that bring in multi-or inter-disciplinary approaches to engage in island cultures and heritage. Small island cultural heritage is perceived here as an open and continuous refl ection of a living culture. We were also open to receive submissions that analyze and refl ect on how the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected cultural activities on islands. The following defi nition by UNESCO on cultural heritage was offered as a starting point:

Cultural Sustainability, Tourism and Development (Re)articulations in Tourism Contexts, 2021

Aging, depopulation, and stagnation are serious problems for island communities in Japan’s Seto I... more Aging, depopulation, and stagnation are serious problems for island communities in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. As a result, many of these communities have seen their distinguishing features and cultural identities disappear, and some face outright extinction. The Setouchi Triennale strives to revitalize twelve of these islands through art festival tourism. While it has been claimed that the art festival has become a model for policies aimed at community revitalization and tourism, the response of many local residents to the festival’s development model and certain issues caused by the presence of tourists indicate persistent problems. This research examines how a rural art festival influences local communities - particularly, whether a top-down initiative can boost tourism while also leading to bottom-up, sustainable community development outcomes. The conceptual framework of the research integrates art interventions, rural art festival tourism, revitalization, and creative placemaking in the context of island communities. Mixed methods field research was conducted on the largest Setouchi Triennale island, Shodoshima. The study found that Setouchi Triennale turned the island into an art destination and it is playing a significant role in supporting the revitalization of regional culture and local tourism businesses. However, the research identified very few bottom-up initiatives.

Geographical Science, 2021

For Japan's small island communities, already facing an existential demographic crisis due to the... more For Japan's small island communities, already facing an existential demographic crisis due to their aging, shrinking populations, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a critical stress test. On islands with nascent tourism economies that have replaced declining primary and secondary industries, the situation has threatened to reverse precious economic and demographic gains that marginal communities can scarcely afford to lose. This study examines an island that had demonstrated successful small tourism micro-firm development in earlier research prior to the pandemic—success that was tied to community resourcefulness, where a localized, creative synergy of agency and capacity spurred entrepreneurial success. New field observations and interviews revealed entrepreneurs caught between competing priorities: preserving community health and preserving their own livelihoods. A sluggish response to the crisis from the local government led to unrest and tension among small-business owners, revealing divisions between stakeholder groups. However, a strong sense of community responsibility was observed among entrepreneurs, a number of whom pivoted toward creative, community-facing services, products, and initiatives—often in partnership with other community members. This study clarifies the role of community resourcefulness in transforming peripheral communities, articulating a place for resourcefulness alongside resilience in sustainability discourse. Published in: Geographical Sciences (Chiri-Kagaku) (ISSN: 0286-4886) (ResearchGate's biased system does not recognize this journal despite it having existed since 1961.)

Exploring models of art’s rural revitalization from the creative tourism geography perspectives, 2021

Art’s social transformation as an interdisciplinary research topic inevitably faces issues caused... more Art’s social transformation as an interdisciplinary research topic inevitably faces issues caused by the limitations of each academic discipline and geographic context, ranging from ‘art’s rural revitalization’ in Japan, ‘art’s rural development/regeneration’ in China, to international theories about ‘creative ruralities and community place-making’. Still, the rapid disciplinary convergence of tourism geography, creative tourism, creative geography, rural geography, and socially engaged art research has important implications for the co-development of community revitalization and sustainable tourism research. This paper puts forward a theoretical framework and suggests research methods of ‘Creative Tourism Geography’ and emphasizes that maintaining the balance in interests among multiple social entities and a continuous dialogue is the core of measuring the effectiveness of art revitalization in rural areas.

Island Studies Journal, 2021

Many small island destinations owe their spatial character to their entanglements with stakeholde... more Many small island destinations owe their spatial character to their entanglements with stakeholders involved in the arts. Space is the dynamic outcome of complex relational processes, which makes it impossible to identify a straightforward development pathincluding when it comes to the arts and tourism. Using assemblage thinking, we scrutinize the different translocal processes influencing art-based tourism activities on Bornholm, Denmark and Naoshima, Japan. On these islands, artists, investors, residents, destination managers, creative individuals, and government officials are all involved in networks and negotiations that form complex translocal assemblages of art and tourism. The craft-artists of Bornholm took advantage of regional development policies aimed at fostering rural tourism development, and subsequently established a destination known for quality professional craftart. On Naoshima, top-down corporate investments in large-scale art developments have clashed with local stakes in rural revitalization. These top-down projects have attracted creative in-migrants who have further turned Naoshima into a hybrid space. While Bornholm's entanglement with the arts stems from the possibilities generated by its spatial evolution, Naoshima's involvement with the arts first led to reterritorialization and then creative enhancement. Both islands are, thus, distinct loci of translocal art trajectories.

Bulletin of the Hiroshima University Museum, 2020

The historical harbor village of Mitarai on the island of Osakishimojima epitomizes the problem o... more The historical harbor village of Mitarai on the island of Osakishimojima epitomizes the problem of social decline in Japan's Seto Inland Sea. This research focuses on both Mitarai's local community and the wider society. Through conducting a year-long survey of island residents, this research highlights how villagers expect to overcome the challenges relating to tourism development, maintenance of festivals and attracting in-migrants during a time when severe shrinkage, aging, and economic stagnation hinders all forms of community revitalization. Many residents wanted more people to know about Mitarai and its charms. The authors responded by creating an exhibition about Mitarai at the Hiroshima University Museum that promoted the town and the region to a young generation of students and other museum visitors. The results of a survey conducted among museum visitors showed how the exhibition increased awareness of Mitarai as a destination and respondents were more willing to support Mitarai's annual festival. However, they were less likely to relocate permanently to the island. The research on the island combined with the subsequent survey of museumgoers highlighted a disparity between the hopes of the community and the reality of the situation. This paper considers the recent emergence of in-migrants with a relational role in revitalization and commuters with small businesses aimed at both locals and tourists as the main mechanisms for overcoming social decline and bringing vitality back to the community.

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2021

The links between art events and sustainable development in rural contexts where revitalisation i... more The links between art events and sustainable development in rural contexts where revitalisation is pressing is becoming increasingly obvious. The village of Mitarai is an example of a small peripheral community in Japan faced with the impacts of depopulation, ageing and socio-economic decline. The urgency to stem further regression has seen art emerge as an antidote for community strengthening. Since 2017, Shiosai, a week-long community art festival has taken place with the underlying aim to rejuvenate the area’s diminishing fortunes. It exhibits artworks paying homage to local islandscapes (Cheer, Cole, Reeves & Kato, 2017) and employs local cultural heritage as key elements. The extent to which bottom-up art events in small rural communities can serve as a vehicle for sustainable development is examined. Findings suggest that the Shiosai drives visitation to the area and has reinvigorated latent cultural heritage. The festival stimulates inward migration and enhances community resilience and vital social capital. However, as the festival is driven from the bottom-up without external support, the extent of future local-level involvement remains a critical success factor. The implications suggest that community engagement is a vital ingredient in the mobilisation of festivals in rural contexts, as well as in ensuring that sustainable development outcomes can be optimised.

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2022

Small enterprises play a vital role in the drive toward sustainable tourism and in the sector mor... more Small enterprises play a vital role in the drive toward sustainable tourism and in the sector more broadly, and their importance is accentuated in rural contexts. Beyond entrepreneurial spirit, what are the critical success factors that allow them to flourish? This study links tourism entrepreneurship, rural development and multi-stakeholder partnerships to situate community resourcefulness as a key plank in the sustainable tourism discourse. The focus of this study is six islands that play host to the Setouchi Triennale, a large art tourism initiative in rural Japan organized to revitalize declining regions. Highly divergent outcomes between communities emerged, directing attention toward community resourcefulness, where collective action leverages agency and capacity to effect change from within. Findings show the emergence of “art businesses”, local social enterprises that function as both tourism and community assets and model sustainable development outcomes. Islands supporting such ventures reaped substantial community benefits, while islands without them struggled, their nascent tourism economies benefiting only tourists and commuter entrepreneurs. This study reveals the potential and the limitations of large-scale, multi-stakeholder tourism development initiatives that promote entrepreneurship in resource-constrained areas and highlights that community resourcefulness is the determining factor behind the success or failure in otherwise comparable communities.

Shima - The International Journal of Research Into Island Cultures, 2020

In order to understand the art island as a new type of socially engaged community revitalisation ... more In order to understand the art island as a new type of socially engaged community revitalisation practice it is necessary to move beyond considering art simply as an aesthetic object. This article is informed by relational aesthetics, creative geography theories and with regard to three evaluation axes concerning artwork, community and new businesses and it considers the entirety of Teshima as an integrated relational art site. Outcomes were evaluated related to the provision of top-down elite art, relational social interactive art and bottom-up community efforts provided by emerging creative businesses on the island. Research for this article revealed that elite arts effectively attract tourists but do not touching upon the deeper root of Teshima culture in locals' way of life. By contrast, relational and interactive arts and business practices have played a significant role in community revitalisation. The case study undertaken identifies the success of the large-scale relational art site as a practice. Operating under an artistic 'halo', residents' art businesses appear as powerful agencies that help Teshima to embark upon a path of self-sufficiency and revitalisation as an island supported by art.

MIRRA (Migration in Remote and Rural Areas) Research and Policy Briefs Series, 2019

This brief summarizes the preliminary findings of a research project on domestic urban-to-rural m... more This brief summarizes the preliminary findings of a research project on domestic urban-to-rural migration to the islands of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. We focus on in-migrants who established small independent businesses on the islands, and particularly those engaged in tourism, creative industries and organic farming. The study explores the motivations, challenges and opportunities associated with living and establishing small businesses in island communities, and the implications for wider processes of revitalization of marginal rural areas. We used two main research questions as a guide: 1) which factors attract this type of in-migrants to the islands? and 2) is there evidence that their activities give a positive contribution to rural revitalization in these areas? The results of the study may offer insights that can inform local policies aimed at fostering the revitalization of island communities through the settlement of in-migrants. Moreover, considering the global scale of depopulation issues in marginal and remote islands, the findings might be useful to similar island communities in other parts of the world.

Art Interventions on Japanese Islands: The Promise and Pitfalls of Artistic Interpretations of Community, 2019

The Setouchi International Art Festival (SIAF), also known as the Setouchi Triennale, attempts to... more The Setouchi International Art Festival (SIAF), also known as the Setouchi Triennale, attempts to revitalize twelve remote islands with depopulating and aging communities by hosting an international art festival to promote tourism. Citing the presence of more than a million visitors during each festival iteration, SIAF officials and the media have claimed that the festival is a successful model for government policies aimed at community revitalization and tourism, leveraging new cultural assets to draw tourism-related revenue to the islands. At the core of the festival is a network of site-specific installations by renowned artists and architects; the supposedly inextricable link between these attractions and their host communities and environments is a focus of festival marketing efforts. However, the true understanding of the outcomes of artistic interventions within local communities lies in large part on the other side of the art intervention: the destination community’s perspective. After conducting participant observation and mixed-methods fieldwork between SIAF 2016 and SIAF 2019, the author found evidence of cultural conflicts, especially when it comes to the understanding of art. Locals have their own interpretation of the SIAF art—compared by some to a “theme park”— and their own understanding of what constitutes “art”—mainly the natural and cultural landscapes of their communities. This paper argues that SIAF is in danger of becoming merely an exercise in tourism-focused place branding with shallow roots that do not intersect with community foundations. A particular area of concern is the tension between native cultural identities and the authorship of individual artists. Island residents believe that artists should achieve a deeper understanding of the local communities to create artworks that are genuine reflections of those locations.

Public Art, 2017

The article takes Japan Setouchi Triennale as A Case Study to anaylze and study its sustainable d... more The article takes Japan Setouchi Triennale as A Case Study to anaylze and study its sustainable development from the aspect:"Contemporary Art Intervention", "Art Festival Tourism" and "Village Regional Regeneration". It also makes a survey on the problems existed in "art intervention in village" art tourism pattern to discuss the important role that art fetival played in local culture, the importance of promoting sustainable regional regeneration.

Journal of Responsible Tourism Management, 2024

Event Management, 2023

Rural quality of life, 2023

Land, 2023

Journal of Rural Studies, 2023

Wakayama Tourism Review, 2022

Island Studies Journal, 2023

Okinawan Journal of Island Studies, 2022

Cultural Sustainability, Tourism and Development (Re)articulations in Tourism Contexts, 2021

Geographical Science, 2021

Exploring models of art’s rural revitalization from the creative tourism geography perspectives, 2021

Island Studies Journal, 2021

Bulletin of the Hiroshima University Museum, 2020

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2021

Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2022

Shima - The International Journal of Research Into Island Cultures, 2020

MIRRA (Migration in Remote and Rural Areas) Research and Policy Briefs Series, 2019

Art Interventions on Japanese Islands: The Promise and Pitfalls of Artistic Interpretations of Community, 2019

Public Art, 2017

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2022

Understanding the past, current, and future trajectory of cultural tourism has been the major foc... more Understanding the past, current, and future trajectory of cultural tourism has been the major focus of both scholars and industry stakeholders engaged both in the culture and tourism sectors. As an influential scholar at the leading edge of cultural tourism and creative tourism studies, Richards' Rethinking cultural tourism reviews the evolution of cultural tourism from the 1990s to the current research agenda, overviewing the work of major cultural tourism scholars. Over six chapters, the book discusses cultural tourism actors (consumers and producers), contexts (cultural attractions, creative cities, and regions, events), consequences and effects, as well as cultural tourism practices. In Chapter 1, through a review of the various cultural, mobility, performative, creative, curatorial 'turns', Richard discusses the essential concept of 'co-creation'. This requires tourists to become co-producers of the destination and to contribute more knowledge and skills when experiencing local everyday life. The cultural turn allows tourist to experience different cultures and daily life in an unfamiliar environment. The influence of globalisation, which shapes cultural differences, coupled with increased mobility, has driven culture to become "the ubiquitous global object of tourism consumption" (p.5). The performative turn, on the other hand, highlighted the role of interaction among tourists, and between tourist and cultural tourism providers. Furthermore, the creative turn drives the development of creative spaces, creative spectacles, and creative tourism in both urban and regional contexts. Finally, the curatorial turn describes how the transformation of art curators from aesthetics to value and connects this process to placemaking. Chapters 2-5 raise different research questions: how cultural tourism practices come to be through the interactions of actors and structures (Chapter 2); how social contexts shape cultural tourism activities, and how they are shaped by the dynamics of cultural tourism (Chapter 3); what the definition of cultural tourism from the perspective of practice-based research is (Chapter 4), and what cultural tourism practices are developing in new urban tourism (Chapter 5). Chapter 2 focuses on both consumers' and producers' roles as 'actors' in cultural tourism by examining their action through interaction and relationalities. It introduces past and present research on the segmentation of cultural tourism audience, their

Okinawan Journal of Island Studies, 2022

The Challenges of Island Studies includes six individual research articles and one panel discussi... more The Challenges of Island Studies includes six individual research articles and one panel discussion emerging from the international symposium titled "Prospects and Challenges for Envisioning Regional Science for Small Islands" organized by the Research Institute for Islands and Sustainability (RIIS). In the fi rst part, the individual research chapters, 1 through 6, offer visionary contributions from different perspectives in the current island study fi eld, covering society, politics, colonialism, culture, tourism, and sustainable development. The second part, the panel discussion, contributes to more transdisciplinary and trans-regional multi-directional dialogues. This book refl ects a growing recognition of the use of interdisciplinary and feminist lenses in the study of current issues in island studies. This book provides Asia-Pacifi c-centered case studies with multi-and interdisciplinary-based research perspectives and theoretical frameworks as well as theoretical discussions on island studies. A range of island issues is introduced from both contextualized and political perspectives, such as the establishment of the academic institution RIIS for island research, the perception of island safety in Guam, and US Militarism in the Pacifi c. The book shows current interdisciplinary development within and outside of the academic fi eld, the diversifi ed view of the cultural landscape, and island local language developed through human and cultural interactions. The fi nal part of the book also highlights current research challenges, such as the diversifi cation of different understandings and defi nitions of islandness and perceptions of the size of islands, their borders, and ownership, as evident in case studies including Guam, Okinawa, and Taiwan. Aiming to foster diversifi ed island study theories and trans-disciplinary methods development points of view, The Challenges of Island Studies covers a considerable range of island research-related questions, for example: How can we rethink island studies through an interdisciplinary research perspective through the emerging hub of RIIS? From whose perspective should island security and safety be considered? How can critical ocean studies connect perspectives arising from feminist, indigenous, and multispecies literatures? How, where, and who directs the evolution and future trajectory through the institutional framework of islands studies? What stands in between relics and the heritage landscape? How do historical Ryukyu migration and interaction shape language [Book Review]

Tourism Geographies, 2019

Terrorist attacks in tourism places have unsurprisingly tended to cause widespread anxiety and fe... more Terrorist attacks in tourism places have unsurprisingly tended to cause widespread anxiety and fear for both travellers and host communities In Conflicts, Religion and Culture in Tourism, conflict, religion and culture coalesce with the inference that through religious and pilgrimage tourism, conflict resolution and better understanding between peoples might be more possible. Accordingly, Conflicts, Religion and Culture in Tourism employs a multidisciplinary approach and discusses religious and pilgrimage tourism in relation to the improvement of cultural relations and presents a range of contemporary case studies that draw on perspectives from Europe, Asia and the Americas with particular emphasis on the socio-cultural influence of a globalised society on destination communities. Conflicts, Religion and Culture in Tourism provides useful insights on how to solve cross-cultural conflict and foster mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence among the many traditions and religions around the world. Importantly, it offers salient insights for researchers and tourism managers whose work is related to religion, tourism and cultural management and enables them to gain a better understanding of the nuanced interactions between various cultures and belief systems.

Routledge, 2021