Ethnic Tourism: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities

The book explores emerging themes, concepts, and issues in ethnic tourism, through examination of theoretical underpinnings and empirical research in various ethnic destinations worldwide.

It encapsulates cultural, environmental, and economic dimensions of ethnic tourism, which is a force of change in many ethnic communities and suggests means through which local benefits can be enhanced and costs reduced. This book presents a range of case studies from diverse well-known ethnic destinations which reveal the various outcomes and changes engendered by ethnic tourism, such as the commodification of ethnic culture, the exploitation of minority peoples by outsiders, and the impact of wider forces of modernization and national integration policies. It summarizes what has been done so far and suggests initiatives to increase the contribution of tourism to the economic development and quality of life of ethnic communities. It brings together a diversity of perspectives that are not currently readily available in one location.

The book will appeal to students, and scholars interested in social sciences, tourism studies, geography, anthropology, sociology and economics, as well as in applied disciplines such as planning. It addresses academic and professional audiences that are interested in tourism and its consequences, as well as those who are interested in ethnic, including indigenous peoples, and their circumstances.

Li Yang is Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Tourism, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. She has published extensively on aspects of tourism and heritage, particularly in western China, from planning and development perspectives, including (with G. Wall), Planning for Ethnic Tourism (2014). She has been involved in many research projects and has obtained university and governmental grants and awards.

Geoffrey Wall is Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada. He has explored aspects of tourism in many parts of the world, particularly Asia, has published widely on tourism for fifty years, and was awarded the Ulysses Prize for Excellence in the Creation and Dissemination of Knowledge in Tourism, by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).