Tourism, Cities and Global Change (Part II) - Social Change, Inequalities and Power Relations

Tuesday, 8 July 2025: 09:00-10:45
Location: SJES029 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
RC50 International Tourism (host committee)
RC21 Regional and Urban Development

Language: English, French and Spanish

Tourism, as a main expression of contemporary society, includes and reflects its main paradoxes and ambiguities.

It means freedom, hope, creativity, development, inclusion in global processes, and even a powerful tool of definition, negotiation and (re)invention of individual, collective, local, global and glocal identities.

Yet it means also exploitation, exclusion, loss of identity, perpetuation of colonial gazes, cultural stereotypes and social inequalities.

In the same way, it can be a tool of enhancement of cultural heritage and a mechanism of heritage crystallization; a practice related to nature and a fact entailing environmental exploitation.

Its rapid recovery after the pandemic has had unexpected effects. What initially seemed like an unprecedented event, destined to transform tourism and define new paradigms, after a few years appears to have caused only a minor disruption without significant consequences. The main critical issues remain largely unaddressed.

In many countries, overtourism is becoming a major problem with its interrelated issues (gentrification, housing crisis, touristification, Disneyfication etc.) deeply transforming the quality of life and the socio-cultural context, sparking reactions and even fueling anti-tourism behaviour.

We welcome papers addressing the following topics, primarily but not exclusively:

Tourism and:

  • globalization and cultural change
  • crisis and recovery, creativity and resilience
  • environmental and socio-cultural sustainability
  • impacts of overtourism on urban culture and social life
  • sustainable practices and urban planning to deal with overtourism
  • touristification, identity, and local communities
  • anti-tourism behaviour
  • cosmopolitanism and democracy
  • co-existence at the same time and place of social forms of national and international experiences
Session Organizer:
Thiago DUARTE PIMENTEL, Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Brazil
Co-Chair:
Marxiano MELOTTI, Niccolò Cusano University, Rome, Italy
Oral Presentations
Airbnb As a Bottom-up Placemaking Tool: An Analysis of Tourist Flows in the City of Naples (Italy)
Antón FREIRE VARELA, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy; Vincenzo LAEZZA, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Territorial Transformations and the Quest for Authenticity in Taghazout, Morocco: Exploring the Evolving Tourism Landscape
John VAN DEN PLAS, École Supérieure de Promotion Sociale EPHEC, Belgium; Mohamed ZAKI LHASNAOUI, Université Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco; Mr. Valentin CHENIER, Tampere University, Finland
Positive and Negative Effects of Tourism on Local Communities: An Exploratory Study
Ariela MORTARA, IULM University of Milan, Italy; Rosantonietta SCRAMAGLIA, Italy
Paradoxes of Tourism in the Marginal Neighborhood of Scampia
Sara IANDOLO, University ot Turin, Italy
Exploring over-Tourism: A Stakeholder Analysis of Visitor-Resident Conflicts in Post-COVID Hong Kong
Rui JIANG, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong; Qingwen ZHAO, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China; Kei HUI, Beyond Trust Company, Hong Kong