The Study of Tourism: Foundations from Psychology

A common interest in what tourists do, the way they think and how these topics might be explained unites the contributing authors of this volume. Ten high profile and productive researchers provide autobiographical contributions outlining the development and trajectories of their careers. The career histories are presented in an informal and conversational style making for easy and entertaining reading. The contributors provide North American, European and Australasian perspectives with some focussing more on domestic recreation and leisure activities while others are more directly concerned with global tourist markets and international travel behavior. Taken together the ten career histories document the roles of locations, mentors and personal relationships, as well as institutional support and quirks of fate which have shaped the numerous academic papers and books crafted by this set of researchers. The individual chapters are introduced by a preview of the disciplinary, institutional and experiential influences prevailing at the time the authors started their careers. A concluding chapter distills some of the themes in the autobiographies and suggests some implications - both as ideas to explore and styles of inquiry - for contemporary tourism, recreation and marketing researchers.