Professor Emeritus Nelson Graburn gives guest lecture to LMBS students

Students on the MA International Tourism Development at London Metropolitan Busines School (LMBS) were recently treated to a special guest lecture on tourism alternatives in China by Professor Emeritus Nelson Graburn.

Professor Graburn has being doing ethnographic research since 1959 and is known as one of the giants of socio-cultural anthropology.  His recent research has focused on the study of art, tourism, museums, and the expression and representation of identity. He is now working on Contemporary Tourism in Asia (Japan and China).

His lecture, based on preliminary research on rural ethnic communities in China, provided insights into tourism development options for communities situated in remote regions without access to basic tourism infrastructure such as roads, hotels, and restaurants. By outlining the experiences of rural, ethnic Chinese minorities, Professor Graburn highlighted the rewards and pitfalls of implementing tourism development strategies in rural communities.

Professor Graburn also spoke about the limitations of traditional Western views of sustainability. His research has shown that communities that were most successful in implementing suitable tourism development strategies were those that employed bottom-up approaches in which women played a central role, whilst ensuring that men were incorporated into key activities.  

LMBS also recently had the good fortune of having a special edition of its in-house journal, the London Journal of Tourism, Sport and Creative Industries, guest edited by Professor Graburn and his colleague Dr. Alexis Celeste Bunten. This special edition entitled Current Themes in Indigenous Tourism featured work from a conference organised by the UC Berkeley Tourism Studies Working Group. It is available for download from www.emklondon.com.

28 October 2009