ABSTRACT
It is a bit of a cliché to say that the exotic has long been a feature of tourism. From the early “Grand Tours” of Europe to the rise of ecotourism in the late 20th century, tourists are motivated by an encounter with difference. In his influential discussion of tourism as a feature of modernity, Dean MacCannell (1976) argues that a search for authenticity motivates the modern tourist. This authenticity is located most predominantly in “pre-modern” spaces: “in other historical periods and other cultures, in purer, simpler lifestyles” (MacCannell, 1976, p. 3). Similarly, John Urry’s (1990) discussion of the tourist gaze highlights the way in which tourism demands an experience outside of the everyday. This demand, in his analysis, reshapes urban centres throughout the world, but also contributes to the commodification of difference and the production of race and ethnicity as a spectacle to be consumed (see also Buzinde, Santos, & Smith, 2006; Wood, 1998; Zhihong, 2007).
