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The permanent and the ephemeral in tourism fieldwork 1
DOI link for The permanent and the ephemeral in tourism fieldwork 1
The permanent and the ephemeral in tourism fieldwork 1 book
The permanent and the ephemeral in tourism fieldwork 1
DOI link for The permanent and the ephemeral in tourism fieldwork 1
The permanent and the ephemeral in tourism fieldwork 1 book
ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the multiple relationships, journeys and difficulties of gathering data in the field of tourism in a range of different settings and from the perspectives of two anthropologists. It explores the authors’ own experiences in Portugal, and in Angola, on the west coast of central Africa, with particular reference to the unusual situation that working in a tourism setting presents – of interacting with visitors whose presence is ephemeral in the field. Living in a mobile world, with countless interconnections and overlapping contexts, ethnographic fields are arduously constructed and ‘shaped by the conceptual, professional, financial and relational opportunities and resources accessible to the ethnographer’. For this reason, this construction involves multiple relationships, challenges, difficulties and engagements. Anthropological studies of tourism face some issues. Tourism is both affected and influenced by the complex socio-economic and cultural processes of contemporary globalisation and transnationalism. Furthermore, due to its nature as a form of temporary mobility, tourism is temporary and ephemeral.