From the Costa Del Sol to Vietnam: culture, behaviour and ethnographic inquiry in tourism studies Online publication date: Wed, 13-May-2020
by Nuno F. Ribeiro
International Journal of Tourism Anthropology (IJTA), Vol. 7, No. 3/4, 2019
Abstract: In this research note, I discuss culture, taken as a cognitive construct derived from Goodenough's (1967b) definition, as a cornerstone concept in tourism studies. Reflecting on my experience as a hospitality practitioner and as a tourism scholar, I marshal autoethnographic evidence to support the view that ethnographic inquiry is perhaps the most useful tool at the disposal of tourism scholars to make significant forays into the study of tourism. Specifically, I contend that issues that tourism scholars deal with such as excessive dependency on recall data, lack of understanding of relevant local conceptual categories, responder and researcher's bias, a narrow focus on quantitative measurement, and dogmatic epistemological attachment can all be ameliorated through the use of ethnographic research. I conclude by discussing food tourism in Vietnam as a case study where ethnographic inquiry is particularly valuable for tourism research. Implications for current literature and directions for further research are discussed.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Tourism Anthropology (IJTA):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook