Anthropology of Tourism (UW-Madison, Fall 2016) (original) (raw)

When people think about tourism, most of them probably think about getting away from the stresses and obligations of their everyday lives. They imagine traveling to new places, meeting unfamiliar people, tasting exotic foods, discovering ancient ruins, or simply relaxing on a beach and forgetting about it all. Anthropologists take a much more critical view. We ask questions about why people travel, how they travel, what impact tourism has on hosts and guests, and what tourism has to teach us about issues like globalization and social change. We seek to understand tourism as much more than leisure: we consider the economic, social, cultural, political, and even religious aspects of tourism.