Philosophies of the visual [method] in tourism research

The fragmentation of tourism studies and theory as well as the range of disciplines and philosophical approaches that inform the knowledge created within the study of tourism have been discussed widely (e.g., see Echtner and Jamal 1997; Franklin and Crang 2001; Tribe 1997; Tribe 2005). At the same time, tourism researchers have also been criticised for insufficient awareness and subsequent recognition of their philosophical positions or paradigms (e.g., see Phillimore and Goodson 2004b; Tribe 2006; Coles et al. 2009) as well as for their ‘unwillingness to reach across disciplinary and methodological boundaries’ (Echtner and Jamal 1997: 86).