ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to investigate the research sphere of a sociology of
tourism. Tourism is a social phenomenon that has a variety of social-cultural impacts
in all sociological dimensions, and is now a sociological subject which cannot be
ignored by sociologists. However, most sociologists have little interest in tourism.
Taking these circumstances into consideration, first the raison d’etre of a sociology of
tourism will be clarified. The paper will then attempt to set out some significant
results obtained from sociological descriptions and explanations on tourism. Those
results are classified into four subjects ̶ i.e., 1) tourists typology, 3) hosts and
guests relations, 2) social-cultural impacts, and 4) the international tourism,
corresponding to four levels of a sociological space, respectively ̶ i.e., 1) actor, 2)
social interaction, 3) social system, and 4) the world system. Finally, future tasks for a
sociology of tourism will be proposed.
INTRODUCTION
Although tourism is a sociologically significant object, it has thus far been ignored
by most sociologists, especially Japanese sociologists. Tourism is a social phenomenon,
which has different and serious social – cultural impacts, and is therefore a sociological
object that should be undertaken positively. Constructing a sociology of tourism is an
urgent task in respect of both the theory and practice of general sociology. However, most
sociologists seem even now to be skeptical about tourism studies.
The situation of making light of tourism research is common to most disciplines of
the social sciences 1 . Cultural anthropologists, Nash and Smith (1991: 14) described the
reason for this situation as the following:
This paper is a revised version of a draft made out for the presentation at the workshop on
tourism studies of the Department of Tourism, Hokkai Gakuen University of Kitami in 1994.
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[I]t has been suggested that it would be demanding for an anthropologist
to be identified with what many think is a frivolous activity or with people
who look in a less authoritative way on other people’s ‘ways’.
Sociologists might share the same situation.
In order to improve the situation of tourism research, it is necessary to consider the
objects of a sociology of tourism and then to examine the raison d’etre for it. Thus, this
paper will attempt to survey and order the research sphere of a sociology of tourism, by
reviewing the results of sociological research on tourism. Through this examination, the
significance and tasks of a sociology of tourism will be clarified.
ENLARGEMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF ‘TOURISM’
Tourism research, which has been increasingly noticed recently, tends to capture the
concept of ‘tourism’ as a sociocultural phenomenon from wider perspectives. This can be
associated directly with the significance of tourism research in sociology, and thus the
tendency for enlargement of the concept of ‘tourism’ will be surveyed in the following
discussion.
Tourism, in many cases, has been defined as an individual activity. By this
definition, tourism is regarded as a type of leisure activities. Such tourism is a form of
recreational activity, including traveling as a part or the whole of its content. Such a
concept of tourism sometimes includes commercial and private business trips (United
Nations, Recommendations on International Travel and Tourism, 1963).
In recent studies, concepts of ‘tourism’ have been gradually enlarging from the
level of an individual activity to that of social relations. Tourism has begun to be
considered as social relation, partly because social-cultural impacts of tourism cannot be
ignored against the background of mass tourism. Regarding tourism as a leisure activity
and considering its social-cultural impacts, Smith (1989) proposed the definition:
“tourism = leisure time + discretionary income + positive local sanctions.” According to
Smith’s another definition, tourism is the social interaction between tourists as ‘guests’
and residents in the tourist destination as ‘hosts.’
Tourism, moreover, is often seen as a social system, enlarging hosts and guests
relations still further. Leiper (1979) offered a tourism system model, based on guests and
hosts relations. This model is characterized by a system constituted of three main parts:
“traveler generating region ̶ travel and tourism industry ̶ tourist destination
region.” A social system model of tourism would assume wider social relations of
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tourism, i.e., guests, hosts and brokers.
As mentioned above, the extension of the concept of ‘tourism’ has been enlarged,
and so tourism is recognized widely as a social-cultural phenomenon, as well as an
individual activity. Therefore, the concept of tourism has come to include the meaning of
sociological objects. Though the present situation of a sociology of tourism is inadequate,
some results have been obtained, and, after this, its development will be given more
notice. Therefore, issues of a sociology of tourism will be briefly surveyed.
ISSUES OF A SOCIOLOGY
It is not long since a sociology of tourism has been launched, but some significant
results have already been attained in sociology and anthropology. Those results can be
largely divided into two types. One is sociological research on tourism interpreted
philosophically or elucidated critically in the context of a theory of modern society or
postmodernism; and the other is that on tourism inquired with constructing strictly
scientific models or theories. Both types started mainly in the United States in the 1960s,
when mass tourism first became prominent.
The former type included the tourism study established by Daniel J. Boorstin.
Boorstin (1962) negatively criticized modern tourism as a pseudo-event. According to his
view, tourists are cultural idlers generated from modern institutions, especially mass
media, and tourism is a pseudo-event devised by somebody. Such negative view of
tourism has greatly influenced awareness of the issue by tourism researchers, and seems
to have been linked to tourism studies such as those by Turner and Ash (1975) and Young
(1973) in the 1970s.
Contrary to Boorstin’s view, Dean MacCannell proposed an affirmative view of
tourism. MacCannell (1973, 1976) considered tourism as a symbol of modern society,
based upon Goffman’s sociology. His view describes tourism as a modern pilgrimage
pursuing ‘authenticity’ and that it is, in spite of ‘staged authenticity,’ the truth of modern
society. Such an affirmative view of tourism has also greatly affected many tourism
researchers. Studies of both Boorstin and MacCannell, at any rate, focused their
attentions on the nature of tourism as an outcome of modernity.
The latter type was first advocated by John Forster. Forster (1964) argued that
phenomena of tourism should be described objectively and partial views on tourism be
excluded. Since the mid 1970s, the studies for building elaborate theories have gradually
increased. Cohen (1990) is a typical sociologist making such a study. He is undertaking
tourism research, with the aim of constructing sociological theories of tourism 2 .
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The latter type such as works by Cohen is effective in elucidating tourism as a
social phenomenon and thus constructing a sociological theory of it. Sociological results
of the latter type will be reviewed and then the research sphere of tourism as a social
phenomenon will be classified.
THE SPHERE OF A SOCIOLOGY OF TOURISM
A Framework for Classification of Tourism Phenomena
A framework is proposed in order to classify the different forms of tourism
phenomena (fig.1). Tourism phenomena can be described in all levels of a sociological
space. These levels will be applied to a framework for the classification of tourism
phenomena.
The levels of a sociological space can be formulated as four strata of a concentric
circle. These strata are, from the center to the outside of the circle, arranged as 1) actors,
2) social interaction, 3) social system and 4) the modern world system.