Navigating tourism ethnographies – fieldwork embroiled in time, movement and emotion

Witte, Alexandra; Wilson, Jase; Burrai, Elisa; Dashper, Kate

doi:10.1080/13683500.2022.2057841

Authors

Alexandra Witte

Jase Wilson

Elisa Burrai

Kate Dashper

Abstract

In this paper, we reflect on the challenges of ethnographic fieldwork in tourism research. Specifically, we discuss the intense, messy and complex dynamics of doing (tourism) ethnographic fieldwork, highlighting how key challenges have affected us as researchers, our practises, relationships and experiences in the field. Our reflections are illustrated considering respectively our research experiences of mountaineering in the Himalayas, walking tourism in China, horse-riding tourism in the UK and volunteer tourism in Peru. Although these fields have very different social and geopolitical contexts, we experienced similar issues. Our most commonly experienced challenges include time limitations, having ‘enough data’, accessibility to the informants and rapport building. Through the discussion of these challenges, we unpack the often conflicting emotional contours of fieldwork which are commonly experienced but rarely spoken of. With this paper, we seek to open critical debates on the emotional aspects of tourism research which may be particularly useful for novice ethnographers and scholars constrained by the institutionalized pressures of academia.

Citation

Witte, A., Wilson, J., Burrai, E., & Dashper, K. (in press). Navigating tourism ethnographies – fieldwork embroiled in time, movement and emotion. Current Issues in Tourism, https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2022.2057841

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 20, 2022
Online Publication Date	Apr 4, 2022
Deposit Date	Oct 17, 2022
Journal	Current Issues in Tourism
Print ISSN	1368-3500
Electronic ISSN	1747-7603
Publisher	Routledge
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2022.2057841
Keywords	Tourism ethnography, emotion, mobility, transience, fieldwork reflections, participant recruitment
Public URL	http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2932792