The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society) - Hardcover

Tourism is both a key aspect of modern life and a substantial industry; yet its importance has been generally unrecognized by academic commentators. In this book John Urry sets out to construct a distinctive sociology of tourism. He demonstrates that tourism deserves attention not only in its own right but as a central element of broad cultural changes in contemporary society. The book's primary focus is on the idea of the "tourist gaze" - that there are systematic ways of "seeing" what we as tourists look at and that these ways of seeing can be described and explained. John Urry develops this analysis through various levels - historical, economic, social, cultural and visual. Mass tourism is charted from its origins in the English seaside resorts to its development as a global industry. The economic impact and complex social relations involved in international tourism are explored. Changing patterns of tourism are shown to be connected to the broader cultural changes of postmodernism and related to the role of the service and middle classes. The author argues that we are seeing a universalization of the tourist gaze and increasing confusion between "tourism" as it is conventionally understood and a host of other social practices - shopping, sport, culture, hobbies, leisure and education.