Living with Tourism

Redefining 'community' and considering the effects tourism has on culture, this detailed book delivers an ethnographic account of both the toured and touring community in Goereme, central Turkey. Hazel Tucker presents an in-depth analysis of the interactions between tourists, the local community and place. She demonstrates the implications that community ownership and participation in tourism have for the politics of representation and identity, and also for the nature of the tourist experience. Dealing with contentious theoretical issues related to globalization and culture, Tucker challenges contemporary thinking relating to tourism authenticity and cultural sustainability, and shows how, together with host communities, tourists themselves are continuously negotiating their own identities and experiences in interaction with the people and places they meet. This fascinating book develops a dynamic notion of culture and tourism sustainability, providing new insights not only for scholars of tourism, but also for those in the areas of anthropology, geography and social studies who wish to gain a deeper understanding of this global phenomenon in the contemporary world.