Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism

This is the 2nd edition of a key original work on the anthropology of tourism, and has historical significance. Today, it seems basic and overly focused on tourism typologies, as well as on "impacts", but at the time of its publication it was carving out an entire new area for anthropological work...and some of the chapters continue to have relevance for current day studies, particularly the chapter by Graburn on tourism as ritual and the chapter by Nash (Tourism as Neocolonialism). This work has influenced two subsequent generations of work, and a host of newer tourism ethnographies. A more current version of this text, which addresses some newer approaches ethnographically, is Gmelch's _Tourists and Tourism: A Reader (2nd edition)_...Graburn's original article from _Hosts and Guests_ appears in Gmelch's newer reader (2nd edition) as do chapters by many of the key players of that generation and the next generation of anthropologists who study tourism (Ed Bruner, Jill Sweet, Denise Brennan, AManda Stronza, Kathleen Adams, Hazel Tucker) as well as chapters by a few noted sociologists and a historian of tourism (Dean MacCannell, Orval Lofgren).

Anthropology really needed this book: after decades of ignoring the interractions between hosts and guests, a book that bridges the gap has become especially necessary. Although written in 1977, and a little theoretically dated, the book provided a sound foundation for more recent (but equally readable and enjoyable) anthropological anthologies of tourism (see, for example, Greg Ringer's "Destinations: cultural landscapes of tourism").This book details in diverse localities, from Eskimo communities to Polynesia, the complex interractions between traveller and local, between the observers and the observed. A carefully written, edited, and nuanced book.

This book was revolutionary when first published in 1977 and continues to be useful, both theoretically and in terms of data, today. A must-read for anyone interested in the subdiscipline of the anthropology of tourism.

Interesting book with different examples on host/guest relationships, however, I hope next edition cover examples on Arab and Islamic destinations.