Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism

Rating:
Summary: A groundbreaking study
Review: Anthropology really needed this book: after decades of ignoring the interractions between hosts and guests, a book that bridges the gap has become especially necessary. Although written in 1977, and a little theoretically dated, the book provided a sound foundation for more recent (but equally readable and enjoyable) anthropological anthologies of tourism (see, for example, Greg Ringer's "Destinations: cultural landscapes of tourism").

This book details in diverse localities, from Eskimo communities to Polynesia, the complex interractions between traveller and local, between the observers and the observed. A carefully written, edited, and nuanced book.