Call for papers
Voices in tourism development
Creating a new third space in knowledge
NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, invites you to its International Conference on “Voices in tourism development” from 3rd to 5th November 2008.
As Meethan (2004) reminds us: ‘different interests create and consume different forms of knowledge.’ Knowledge, is created among both academia and practitioners. The interaction between both worlds of knowledge can be important, especially in the field of tourism development. Knowledge from the centres and peripheries of networks in leisure and tourism has to be taken into account in order to understand the complex network society in tourism as elsewhere. In international tourism destinations there is a context of conversation, as Selwyn states (1996). Many people are involved in this context and all these people have a stake in the destination’s future. They voice their dreams, experiences, wishes and discontent, and tourism development can take these into account. Some voices are loud, others silent or unheard. Not necessarily because stakeholders in tourism want them to be so, but because the destination functions in such manner. Important questions, related to these voices, then are: How are these voices sought? How do stakeholders on a tourism destination decide who to listen to? Who decides, who should be heard? And why search for other “voices” than the louder ones? Beside the louder, more influential voices, there are so-called “silent” or silenced voices. Are they important? When, and when not? How can voices be best listened to?
Though certain academics speak of a ‘tyrannical role of economics’ (Botterill et al., 2003). Tourism is seen as a management and business based science. However, tourism education today is still keen on connecting with the industry and reflects some of its priorities in its curricula (Airey & Tribe, 2005). But the relation between practitioners and academia is a complex one, with various dimensions, perspectives, interests and objectives. This conference aims to create a new, third space in which voices will be heard and, amongst others, practitioners can give critical reflections on academic knowledge.
We look forward to welcoming old friends and new faces to an interesting and stimulating event. More details on themes and keynote speakers and registration can be found on: http://www.nhtv.nl/voicesintourismdevelopment
