The indiscipline of tourism

Abstract

This paper develops a new model which exposes the epistemological characteristics of tourism studies. Various claims and frameworks have been proposed with regard to the epistemology of tourism, mainly centering around the discipline/field debate. A critical review of these is undertaken and the idea that tourism studies is a discipline is rejected. It is proposed that tourism be conceptualized as two fields (the business of tourism and the non-business aspects of tourism) which are approached by four main methods of inquiry. The model provides insights into how tourism studies is developing, the way the tourism world is seen, and the reasons for divisions among academics and between academics and industrialists. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.