ABSTRACT
The relationship between sex and tourism has always been just below the surface, represented in the early days of the tourism industry by the smutty seaside postcards, and almost universally in recent decades by the advertisements that feature scantily clad women and men on a beach or sipping martinis by a pool. Tourism is an industry whose central themes are enjoyment and relaxation, themes which are also, at least from some standpoints, associated with sex. It is important therefore to distinguish between sex tourism and sex within tourism. The former embodies the exploitation of one group by another and the exercise of power by some over others. The latter reminds us that in itself sex is not necessarily disagreeable and is as likely to be acted upon consensually as through manipulation or coercion. We make it clear at the outset of this chapter, then, that our coverage here is of the former, the horror of whose effects is illustrated by the following description.
