Conférence Recherche – Jenny Mander « Hospitality and International Tourism : intercultural dynamics, past and present » – Jeudi 12 octobre 2023

Hospitality and international tourism: intercultural dynamics, past and present

en présence de Jenny MENDER, Department of French, Co-Director, Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement, University of Cambridge, UK. 

This lecture, which will be given in English, will not offer a history of international tourism.  It will instead reflect on the value – social as well as commercial – of interpreting tourist sites through the lens of past international interactions in all their complexity and moral ambiguity.  It will argue that a grounding the touristic experience in a history of global movement and exchange does not dilute a sense of place or ‘authentic’ local culture: to the contrary, it can serve to put local places, especially those in the so-called provinces, literally ‘on the map’, adding to their significance and attraction both for those who live locally and those who visit from afar.  Engaging with the scholarship of Salazar and other literature on the peace ­ tourism debate, including the UNWTO ‘Tourism 4 SDGs’, the lecture will also argue that more attention to global history can contribute to a framework for understanding and promoting tourism as a means to question national and regional stereotypes, contribute to personal and institutional growth, and help open doors towards global peace.  To anchor these more theoretical and ambitious lines of reflection, the audience will be invited to join the lecturer virtually on her recent visit of a National Trust property in Devon.