Resisting the hegemony of the market: reclaiming the social capacities of tourism
Date
2012
Authors
Higgins Desbiolles, F.
Editors
McCabe, S.
Minnaert, L.
Diekmann, A.
Minnaert, L.
Diekmann, A.
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Book chapter
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Source details - Title: Social tourism in Europe: theory and practice, 2012 / McCabe, S., Minnaert, L., Diekmann, A. (ed./s), Ch.4, pp.53-68
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Abstract
Tourism is touted as the world’s largest industry. The standard reason given for the respect and support given to tourism as an industry is its economic value in providing foreign exchange, income, investment, employment and economic development opportunities to communities around the globe. This focus on the economic contributions of tourism should not be allowed to overshadow the significant contributions tourism makes to social wellbeing (Higgins- Desbiolles, 2006), but the hegemony of neoliberalism, or market fundamentalism as it is also known, has meant that little attention is given to the less commercial and socially focused niches of tourism, such as social tourism. It is important that we do not forget this equity pillar of tourism, because travel, rest and relaxation are in fact human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and they make important contributions to the social fabric within societies and between societies. This chapter overviews the effects of the hegemony of neoliberalism, examines its impact on tourism, explores the social capacities of tourism and mounts a human rights argument for resisting the hegemony of commercialised tourism and reclaiming the social capacities of tourism.
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Copyright 2012 Scott McCabe, Lynn Minnaert, Anya Diekmann and the authors of individual chapters