Geographies of tourism and the city

Although there has been a long-standing interest in urban tourism amongst geographers, contributions have tended to be rather partial and limited by prevailing epistemological concerns. Early urban tourism geographers were mainly concerned with functional issues, such as transport networks, docklands, tourism districts or tourist-historic cities. This was complemented by a behavioural genre engaging with mental maps, perceptions and images, and drawing upon authors such as Lynch (1960). Around three decades ago, cultural geography began to convincingly challenge universal and deterministic conceptualisations, emphasising the contested representations and landscapes of urban tourism. More recently, it has become apparent that rather too much emphasis has been placed on the visual and representational, leading to a re-conceptualisation under the banner of ‘non-representational geography’. This recent genre of urban tourism research emphasises the performative and embodied experience of urban tourism.