Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 1669–1671, 2011Printed in Great Britain

Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 38 (2011) 1663–1680 1669

Cultural Tourism Research Methods

Edited by G. Richards and W. Munsters. CABI <www.cabi.org> 2010, xi + 228 pp (references, tables, figures, photo-graphs) $125 Hbk. ISBN 978-1-84593-518-4

Deepak ChhabraArizona State University, USA

Although there exists a plethora of literature on quantitative and qualitativemethods, there are to date few serious attempts at melding a mix of these methodswithin the realm of cultural and heritage tourism. Thus, Richards and Munsters’sedited book is a welcome addition to the existing body of work. The bulk of thisbook is guided by initiatives of ATLAS (Association for Tourism and Leisure Edu-cation), a global research network initiative on cultural tourism in Europe.Although the book is predominantly slanted towards the demand-centered practi-cal investigations, chapters by Tejana Rakic, Xerardo Pereiro, Noel Salazar, andCarina Ren offer socio-constructivist insights into supply-centered representationsinformed by multiple realities.

The book is divided into five sections. The first traces the evolution of culturaltourism research. Noteworthy is the discourse on the historic-critical frameworkthat embraces both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to obtainanswers through the study of long-gone events. The authors emphasize the signif-icance of being guided by questions such as, ‘‘is the document real or fake, is itcomplete and what kind of source does it represent?’’ However, the chapter wouldbenefit from the inclusion of a case study. Chapter Four brings to light a neglectedaspect of research—understanding tourists as human beings. A tourism networkparadigm is suggested and authors argue about the existence of multiple stake-holders involved in the tourism experience network referred to as ‘‘tourism-scapes.’’ However, the authors deviate to objective and subjective connotationsof research leaving the discourse somewhat unfinished. It can be argued that awide range of experiences are sought by the same tourist.

Chapters 5 through 8 (Section Two) discuss investigations related to visitorbehavior, experiences, and expectations. Examples include survey-based interroga-tion of cultural tourists, analysis of visitor-employed diaries and photographs, andparticipant observation to observe the service providers via mystery visits and con-ducting in-depth telephone interviews of them to gather further service-related in-sights. The section concludes with information on techniques investigating thespatial behavior of tourists such as GPS, GPSports, and SPI Elite—a tracking tech-nology used mostly for tracking athletes and recreation sport enthusiasts. Never-theless, some of the techniques aim for value-neutrality and are prone tomethodological traps as they appear rushed to embrace a preferred method, there-by inviting pitfalls and compromise of the overall purpose. As aptly noted by Tribe(2006), methods need to serve as conduits to information not act as an end result.A critical review of the proposed methods would have enriched this section.

Section Three returns to other aspects of qualitative techniques. Grounded the-ory, described in Chapter Nine, is an inductive approach where researchers createtheories based on real data and explain phenomena linked with social processes.

Evidence is drawn from behavior and words of people. Chapter Eleven describesthe use of visual methods such as videos in cultural tourism research and discussestheir pros and cons. The author treats reality as ‘‘relative, personally and collec-tively constructed (plural), and knowledge as subjective, co-created, and situated(i.e., context dependent)’’ (p. 133). The following chapter makes use of photo-based interviews based on the laddering technique (means-end theory) to high-light the significant aspects of heritage buildings in the enhancement of culturaltourism experiences. Chapter Thirteen discusses the collage technique in its abilityto critically assess the image of a cultural tourism destination.

The concluding section informs of various interdisciplinary methods. For in-stance, Chapter Fourteen presents an account of ethnographic research throughan anthropological lens. Chapter Fifteen uses a ethnographic technique to exam-ine the dynamics, politics, and practices of tour guiding and captures the particu-larities of the global-to-local connections. Salazar argues that this methodilluminates the significance of a holistic and joint enterprise approach spanningseveral realms and environments. Chapter Sixteen by Ren employs actor-networktheory and argues that a destination is not restricted to just being a physical entityor a solely tourism-generated construct; instead, it is an assemblage of often unac-knowledged actors performing different roles. The underlying premise of the argu-ment is that traditional categorizations fail to grasp the full complex picture of adestination and are subject to several uncontrollable factors that cannot be fullyplanned or coordinated. The overall content of the book would have benefitedfrom the inclusion of a critical overview of methods focused on the assessmentof economic impact of cultural and heritage tourism. This area forms an importantsubject of inquiry as more and more traditional cultural institutions embrace tour-ism for sustained economic numerations.

Evidenced by a comprehensive display of research method concepts and casestudies, the intended audience appears to be graduate students of cultural tourism.The language and presumed knowledge of some of the complicated techniquessuch as GPS and ladder theory point to a more informed readership. That said,application of some techniques in the context of the social-constructivist ideologiesis presented in a simplistic manner and warrants a discourse analysis. A critical the-ory approach can allow a dialogue on ‘‘attitudes, motives, interests, responses, con-flict, and researcher’s personality’’ (Walle, 1997, p. 529) and teach researchers notto be guided by the limited aperture of a research instrument seeking an ‘‘objec-tified reality’’ (Tribe, 2006, p. 445). Perhaps use of some material from Tribe(2001, 2006) would have added to the discussion.

Given the book’s wealth of cultural tourism data, without endangering its coreemphasis, it would have been possible to extend a deeper probe into the method-ological/theoretical complexities. In this context, the book would have benefitedfrom an extended insight into reflexivity and researcher-centrality within the con-text of practical illustrations. Nevertheless, this book offers a meaningful applica-tion of mixed methods within the realm of cultural tourism and points topossible synergies and trade-offs. The dearth of comprehensive and innovative re-search applications in this field is impetus enough for such an initiative.

Deepak Chhabra: School of Community Resources and Development, ArizonaState University, Phoenix, AZ 85044, USA. Email <deepak.chhabra@asu.edu>

REFERENCES

Tribe, J. (2001). Research paradigms and the tourism curriculum. Journal of TravelResearch, 39, 442–448.

Tribe, J. (2006). The truth about tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 33, 360–381.

1670 Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 38 (2011) 1663–1680

Walle, A. (1997). Quantitative versus qualitative research. Annals of TourismResearch, 24, 524–536.

Assigned 11 January 2011. Submitted 10 April 2011. Resubmitted 18 April 2011. Accepted 18April 2011

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2011.07.014

Festival Places: Revitalising Rural Australia

Edited by Chris Gibson and John Connell. Channel ViewPublications <http://www.channelviewpublications.com>2011, xvii + 298 pp (figures, tables, photos, index) Hbk.$119.96 ISBN-13: 978-1-84541-166-4

Donald GetzSchool of Tourism, The University of Queensland, Australia

This book is a collection of seventeen chapters from Australian researchers whoshare a common interest in the phenomenon of festivals in rural areas, and is partof the Channel View’s Tourism and Cultural Change series. Their academic back-grounds are mostly in geography, history, or cultural studies, and as such theydo not take an event management or an event tourism perspective, although bothtopics appeared in their case studies. Rather, the focus is on identity and revitali-zation, the very nature of ruralness, and how that is being reflected or createdthrough festivals.

Facilitated by a three-year government grant from the Australian ResearchCouncil, a large data base of over 2850 rural festivals in three Australian stateswas developed, 480 festivals returning questionnaires sent to the organisers. Therewas an opportunity here for whole-population studies, but the editors do not indi-cated how complete the coverage was. If one assumes the coverage was complete orhigh, then the analysis of population dynamics is much more revealing and theo-retically significant. There is no explicit theoretical frame at work in the sampling.The editors and authors also faced the usual problems of determining what a fes-tival is, and getting organizers to respond.

Results of the three-state survey have been published elsewhere and are summa-rized at the beginning of this book. Most of the chapters are case studies of cele-brations, or historical reviews of event-related trends. Two chapters pertain toaboriginal events in northern Australia, and these seem to have been conductedindependently of the three-state research.

Concentrations of festivals were found in larger towns (regional centres) andlifestyle zones where people were migrating and retiring. A few towns had carvedout niches as festival capitals. Location relative to large cities was also a key factor,facilitating day-visitors to the festivals. Some concern is expressed for capacity, orlimits to festival growth, taken directly from comments made by observant organiz-ers. Diversity of festival types and programs reflected, in part, the ability of peoplewith shared passions to celebrate their interests—a theme that could have been ex-panded into a discussion of social worlds, serious leisure, and niche marketing.

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 1671–1672, 2011Printed in Great Britain

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