Donna Chambers

Using authenticity to achieve competitive advantage in medical tourism in the English speaking Caribbean

Abstract Medical tourism is a relatively recent global economic and political phenomenon which has assumed increasing importance for developing countries, particularly in Asia. It has been slower to develop within the context of the tourism industry in English-speaking Caribbean countries but there is evidence that the tourism policy makers in the region perceive medical tourism as a potentially lucrative niche market. However, while the potential of medical tourism has seemingly been embraced by the regions political directorate, there has been limited discussion of the extent to which this market niche can realistically provide competitive advantage for the region. The argument of this conceptual paper is that the English-speaking Caribbean cannot hope to compete successfully in the global medical tourism market with many developing world destinations in Asia, or even with other Caribbean countries such as Cuba, on factors such as low cost, staff expertise, medical technological capability, investment in healthcare facilities or even in terms of the natural resources of sun, sea and sand. Rather, in order to achieve competitive advantage the countries of the region should, on the one hand, identify and develop their unique resources and competences as they relate to medical tourism, while, on the other hand, they should exploit the demand of the postmodern tourist for authentic experiences. Both these supply and demand side issues, it is argued, can be addressed through the development of a medical tourism product that utilises the regions indigenous herbal remedies.

Researcher with a movie camera: visual ethnography in the field

This paper seeks to ‘promote’ the use of moving image visual ethnography within tourism research while concurrently acknowledging the methodological and practical challenges inherent in the use of this method. The paper introduces Dziga Vertovs 1929 groundbreaking film ‘The Man With the Movie Camera’ and argues that a certain parallel can be drawn between the film and contemporary moving image visual ethnography in so far as the latter is, like Vertovs film, about the glimpses of the everyday as perceived by the researcher/filmmaker. Important within this context is the role of the ‘self’ of the researcher, something further explored through a case study of academic filmmaking, a project which investigates the construction and consumption of images of Greekness by visitors to the Athenian Acropolis. This case also highlights the practical challenges involved in adopting this method and investigates various filming techniques which could successfully be used by tourism researchers to either ‘collect data’ or create ethnographic documentaries, which can in turn be used for a range of other academic and pedagogic purposes. The paper concludes that being a ‘researcher with a movie camera’ although challenging can prove to be remarkably fruitful and rewarding, especially in the context of tourism studies.

An Agenda for Cutting Edge Research in Tourism

Tourism research has come a long way since the first developments in the identification and delineation of a tourism subject area in the mid 1960s.

Heritage and the nation: an exploration of a discursive relationship.

This conceptual article seeks to interrogate the relationship between heritage and the nation by utilizing some of the logics of a Foucauldian concept of discourse and that was subsequently developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. The article suggests that heritage and the nation might be perceived as discursive constructions that have been articulated together into a hegemonic discursive formation. This conceptualization of a discursively constructed heritage/nation relationship is important for tourism studies because in a postmodern, global era it is in and through tourism that this relationship is most readily apprehended. Indeed, such a conceptualization has implications for both the discourse and praxis of tourism. With regard to tourism discourse, this conceptual investigation can broaden the existing knowledge base in mainstream tourism studies insofar as it demonstrates the utility of adopting alternative methodologies in arriving at understanding of phenomena in tourism. With regard to tourism praxis, this conceptual investigation can open up understanding of those power/knowledge relationships at work in the representation of heritage in and through tourism and how this relates to a national concept. Such understanding can facilitate a rethinking of heritage construction for the tourism industry.

Interrogating gender and the tourism academy through epistemological lens

Abstract This introductory essay argues for the adoption of feminist epistemologies to unpack the role, nature and effects of gender (in) equality in our tourism academy. Our focus on tourism academia recognizes the importance of tourism to social life and the crucial role that tourism academics play in knowledge production. We therefore argue for a shift in the focus of extant gender research in tourism away from tourism as a phenomenon to ourselves as tourism academics. We provide an overview of the five papers in this special issue which explore the gendered nature of our academy in diverse contexts, ending with a call for greater self-reflexivity to achieve a more just and equitable tourism academy, thus benefiting both women and men.

The academia we have and the one we want: on the centrality of gender equality

Abstract This concluding essay challenges the tendency in academia to consider feminist epistemologies and gender equality as peripheral when instead they are central to the flourishing of tourism scholarship. We analyse pervasive misconceptions about gender in higher education and present an alternative way of doing academia based on dissent and critical engagement; commitment to democratic practices that allow for different points of view to be shared and accepted as trustworthy; engagement with value judgement in knowledge production; care and accountability in our ways of knowing and teaching; and the establishment of diverse career patterns and decent contractual conditions to researchers so freedom of thought can take place.

Papers from conference proceedings of the 1st international tourism conference - Beyond the boundary: Creating new epistemologies in tourism

www.palgrave-journals.com/thr/ The fi ve papers in this special edition have emerged from the 1st International Tourism Conference held from 8 to 11 December 2009 at the University of the West Indies, Barbados. The conference was the result of collaboration between the three campuses of the University of the West Indies in Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica along with the University of Surrey. Titled Beyond the boundary: Creating new epistemologies in tourism the conference sought to cross the disciplinary divide between tourism and the social sciences in order to allow for the interrogation of tourism phenomena through new methodological, ontological and epistemological lenses. The rationale for the conference can be found in the fact that since the latter half of the twentieth century, the world has witnessed unparalleled change at both global and local levels with issues such as terrorism, globalisation, sustainability, climate change, poverty alleviation and migration assuming centre stage. Politically and economically, the demise of the Soviet Union just over two decades ago seemed to sound the death knell of socialist experiments but the recent collapse of international and national fi nancial markets have also brought capitalist systems into question. The terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 and subsequent incidents in Bali, Spain and the United Kingdom have given prominence to issues of safety and security and have resulted in fundamental changes to the way we travel. Finally, the proliferation of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis appear to have provided legitimacy for climate change and environmental soothsayers. While these are but some of the phenomenal occurrences that have marked the past two decades of human history, it is clear that in this context traditional ways of seeing and knowing no longer provide adequate explanations for the rapid pace of global and local change. Tourism, which represents the largest voluntary movement of people across international boundaries, has not been untouched by these changes. While there have been some notable contributions with respect to critical approaches to tourism knowledge (for example, see Ateljevic et al , 2007 ), there appears to still be a predominance of normative discourses and practices within tourism which fail to take account of, or even provide explanations of tourism within the context of rapid global and local change. Therefore, it seemed axiomatic that there was a need to look ‘ beyond the boundary ’ of normative discourses and practices of tourism by embracing interdisciplinary perspectives which can provide more plausible explanations for tourism phenomena within the context of the twenty-fi rst century. The conference witnessed a variety of good quality paper presentations, which refl ected the interdisciplinary nature of the conference; however, owing to space limitations they cannot all be included in this special edition. Editorial

Tourism Research Frontiers: an introduction

This volume has as its central theme the presentation of original papers which seek to critique, deconstruct and go beyond existing research and knowledge frontiers in tourism. The text also includes debates on the value of tourism research at the institutional level and discussions of tourism research agendas which still remain under or unexplored

The frontiers of sisterhood: representations of black feminism in Spare Rib (1972-1979)

The inclusion of non-black women in the Second Wave Feminism movement is a point that has often been overlooked. This chapter explores the representation of black women in the pages of Spare Rib over the first 8 years of its publication.

The Salience of Tourism in Politics

Research on the link between tourism and politics still remains relatively underdeveloped and more so when one considers the link between this phenomenon and the study of elections or psephology. This is despite the importance of elections to the democratic process and to considerations of the distribution of scarce resources particularly in countries heavily dependent on tourism. This chapter seeks to address this lacuna in scholarship through a theoretical explication of the nature of political issues and voter response. Applied to the development of a possible research agenda, this would aid in exploring the salience of tourism within electoral agendas from a relational perspective.