Links & liaisons; Tourism & Health

Philip Pearce

The diversity of study areas in contemporary academic life sometimes results in linked and compatible topics being pursued in parallel. The health of tourists and tourist behavior represent two such areas of parallel inquiry. Travel medicine, for example, with its focus on tourist health provides sophisticated descriptive and medical accounts of the array of physical consequences of human mobility. Such studies are largely carried out in the clinical and professional disciplines associated with medicine.

The tourist behavior researchers, who largely exist in tourism departments and sociology schools, are more intent on understanding the meaning of travel and the business dimensions of tourism. A strong link and intersection lies in the culture contact and culture shock arena where both kinds of researchers have interests in topics such as visitor education, sexual behavior and risk taking.  With a little imagination it is possible to see some new liaisons being forged.  As an exemplar, at James Cook University researchers from tourism, medicine and nursing science have an occasional forum for sharing themes, references and ideas.

One topic to be pursued by the James Cook University group is the social-sexual behavior of backpackers. We know they are active sexually, we know their contacts are diverse and we know there are significant problems arising in sex tourism dominated destinations. What we do not know is how these forces and factors are interrelated and what can be done to manage the problems. It is anticipated that such problems of mutual interest may be served by cooperative disciplines working in concert. It is a link and liaison worth traveling at least across campus to explore.

We would be interested to hear from ISTM members with related interests or who are conducting similar research.

Philip Pearce, PhD, Professor of Tourism (Email. philip.pearce@jcu.edu.au) James Cook University, Townsville, Australia