Event

The University of the West Indies in association with the University of Surrey, UK will host the 1st International Tourism Conference from Tuesday 8th December to Friday 11th December,  2009 in Bridgetown Barbados. The theme for this conference is "Beyond the boundary: Creating new epistemologies in tourism".

Conference Organiser:

The Department of Management Studies

The University of the West Indies

Cave Hill Campus

Barbadosv

Rationale

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. The demise of the Soviet Union almost two decades ago seemed to sound the death knell of socialist experiments but the recent collapse of international and national financial markets have also brought capitalist systems into question. In this context it is clear that 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, 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.

It is therefore becoming increasingly evident that there is a need to look 'beyond the boundary' of normative discourses and practices of tourism by embracing cross disciplinary perspectives which can provide more plausible explanations for tourism phenomena within the context of the 21st century.

Aim

Against this background, this conference seeks to cross the disciplinary divide and invites colleagues and students from the widest array of disciplines to explore tourism phenomena through new methodological, ontological and epistemological lenses. Ultimately it is hoped that this conference will in some way contribute to cross-disciplinary dialogues in tourism which can advance tourism knowledge and practice. 

Conference Tracks:

Areas of interest for the conference include but are not limited to papers which look 'beyond the boundary' between:

Tourism and Geography

Tourism and Anthropology

Tourism and Demography

Tourism and Sociology

Tourism and Economics

Tourism and the Environment

Tourism and Cultural Studies

Tourism and the Media

Tourism and Political Science

Tourism and Health

Tourism and Gender

Tourism and Management

Tourism and History

Tourism and International Relations

Tourism and Sexuality

Tourism and Poverty alleviation

Tourism and Disability

Tourism and Education

Tourism and Accounting

The confirmed keynote speaker is Professor Brian Wheeller, Professor of Tourism at the University of Tasmania, Australia and Visiting Professor of Tourism at NHTV, Breda.

Selected papers from the conference will be considered for a special issue of the peer reviewed journal, Tourism and Hospitality Research to be published in 2010 and there will also be a prize for the best paper. 

Submission Guidelines:

Selection of papers will be based on abstract submissions. Working papers will also be accepted.

Abstracts should not exceed 500 words, 1.5 space, typed pages.

Indicate the author's name, affiliation and contact information (phone number and email address) only on the cover page of the abstract. Only the primary author will be notified regarding the outcome of the paper review process.

Submit abstracts to the Conference Co-ordinator:

Dr.Sherma Roberts, by email: sherma.roberts@cavehill.uwi.edu

Only original manuscripts not previously published or presented at another conference/forum should be submitted For all accepted paper presentations, at least one (1) of the authors must register for and present the paper at the conference Conference

Deadlines Submission of Abstracts:

13 April 2009

Deadline for UWI Staff Members:

31st July 2009

Full Paper submission:

8 May 2009

Please visit the conference website at  http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/fss/tourism_conference2009 for further details of the conference.