Chapter 17 Epilogue

Abstract

This book explored a range of theories, concepts, models and ideas that shape how we think about tourism, the way we do. In doing so, it revealed that tourism is a true multi-discipline. It is informed by such core disciplines as geography, anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, leisure and demography, as well as by a multitude of other disciplines and fields of study as identified in Chapter 2. Historically, though, tourism studies has been beset by a high degree of silofication – a varied field of study examined strictly within the confines of individual disciplinary silos. Even when attempts have been made to be multi- disciplinary, the results have often been less than satisfactory, for usually one school of thought dominates, while others are placed in subservient roles. Add to this the force field of tourism, and it is not surprising that tourism studies have been labelled as fragmented and disjointed, typified by multiple communities of discourse with historically little cross-fertilization between communities.