Tourism, Development and International Studies - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 423

communities and societies rather than being delimitated by lines on a map.
Third, anthropology encourages us to recognise the unexpected outcomes of
international actions on communities beyond the intended targets and so
'dictators, presidents, ministers, ayatollahs and military commanders are not
the only political actors who matter in the world' (Anderson et al. , 2013).
Fourth, anthropology is about people and learning from them and not fear
or dismissing difference.
Within the context of tourism, travel involves the interactions of hosts
and guests. It also is important in understanding past events and human
behaviour. The Rwanda genocide, which took place in 1994, saw the deaths
of hundreds of thousands and was the result of longstanding conflict between
the Hutu and Tutsi peoples. Tours are now available that bring visitors to
the memorial sites and international hotel chains have started to return
(Sharpley, 2012). Plans are underway for a five-star Marriot and four-star
Radisson to open in Kigali (Adams, 2012). The tourism industry also is
responsible in part for creating the image of a destination. Thai hospitality
is often seen to be embedded within Thai culture but recent political protests,
including the 2008 takeover of the Bangkok airport by anti-government
demonstrators and the threat of a farmers' protest in February 2014, also at
Bangkok airport, illustrate that tourism images do not always reflect reality.
Wynne-Hughes (2012) argues that tourism industry discourses position des-
tinations in a certain light. Examining guidebooks on Egypt she poses the
question 'who would go to Egypt ? ' in the light of counterterrorism dis-
courses. She argues 'guidebooks not only account for terrorism but represent
Egypt in a way that largely reinforces British and Egyptian “war on terror”
strategies. These strategies similarly project subjects and spaces that uphold
Western liberal democratic values' (2012: 615). Her study illustrates the con-
stitutive role of tourism in international politics and the ways in which the
current Western liberal order is (re)produced. Since the start of the Arab
Spring, Egypt has been the site of political uncertainty which has reduced
tourism numbers significantly.
Economics
Economics offers debates between major paradigms, including liberal
economics, economic nationalism and Marxism (Anderson et al. , 2013).
Marxist policies have seen resurgence in some Latin American economies,
including Bolivia and Venezuela (Anderson et al. , 2013). In Venezuela, the
government expropriated the Caracas Hilton hotel as part of a plan towards
greater state control and it is now operating with socialist values (Carroll,
2009). Globalisation is largely built on neoliberalism and the easing of trade
restrictions between countries as outlined in the Washington Consensus.
However, critics suggest it also comes at the cost of consolidation and homo-
genisation of global social processes (Anderson et al. , 2013). Sustainable