In the Age of COVID-19: Can We Produce New Paradigms in Tourism Research?

Abstract

This chapter examines the pitfalls of overdependence on quantitative research in tourism and the depersonalization of those being researched in the post-COVID-19 world of tourism. Although not claiming that an overt dependence on numerical research can lead to fascism, this chapter demonstrates that fascist governments use numbers to reduce the human experience into a quantifiable commodity that is outside of the mainstream of liberal democratic ideals. The chapter connects the ideas of tourism research to the humanistic side of tourism and explores the historical roots of tourism research starting from Biblical narratives. Taking a theoretical approach, the chapter notes that in a world filled with science there also exists a parallel universe of mysticism and the reality that tourism research must find a way to reunite not only the quantitative with the qualitative but also the mystical side of reality with the scientific.

Citation

Tarlow, P. (2023), "In the Age of COVID-19: Can We Produce New Paradigms in Tourism Research?", Seabra, C. and Korstanje, M.E. (Ed.) Safety and Tourism (Tourism Security-Safety and Post Conflict Destinations), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 245-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-811-420231014