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Tourism Economics: 20 Years After the Critical Turn

Author

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  • John Tribe

    (York Business School, York St John University, York YO31 7EX, UK)

  • Brendan Paddison

    (York Business School, York St John University, York YO31 7EX, UK)

Abstract

Despite the many advances and successes of tourism economics, a number of major issues remain unseen by, immune to, and unaffected, or even exacerbated, by its approaches and prescriptions. To address this shortcoming, prompted by the 20th anniversary of the critical turn in tourism, this article proposes the addition of a more critical approach to the subject. It uses a rigorous conceptual method to assess tourism economics using a critical theory lens. It then sets out an agenda for a more critical economics of tourism. This requires the scrutiny of ideology, methodology, and power, and the development of alternative tools guided by the values of distributive justice and mindful of the constraints of sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • John Tribe & Brendan Paddison, 2025. "Tourism Economics: 20 Years After the Critical Turn," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:6:y:2025:i:1:p:37-:d:1600001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4vsqk7docb9nmophtp29pk68cr is not listed on IDEAS
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    5. Peter Lugosi & Paul Lynch & Alison Morrison, 2009. "Critical hospitality management research," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(10), pages 1465-1478, May.
    6. Peiying Dang & Linjing Ren & Jie Li, 2024. "Does rural tourism reduce relative poverty? Evidence from household surveys in western China," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(2), pages 498-521, March.
    7. Assaf, A. George & Tsionas, Mike G., 2019. "A review of research into performance modeling in tourism research - Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on performance modeling in tourism research," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 266-277.
    8. Marina Marfil-Cotilla & Juan A. Campos-Soria & Alejandro García-Pozo, 2024. "The gender wage gap across the wage distribution: Evidence in tourism at the sectoral level," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(4), pages 996-1020, June.
    9. Anil Bolukoglu & Tugce Gozukucuk, 2024. "Tourism development and women employment: A study on the European union countries," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(2), pages 442-456, March.
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