Islandscapes and Tourism: An Anthology

The links between islands and tourism as sights of pleasure is embodied in the touristification of sun, sand, and sea. Islandscapes are central to the tourist imaginaries that shape islands as touristified places -- curated, designed, and commodified for both mass tourism and more niche inclined versions. Yet while islands are parlayed for touristic pleasure seekers, islands are also home to longstanding communities that have variously battled with the tyranny of distance from metropolitan centers, as well as the everyday challenges of climate change effects, and benefitted from their isolation from modern-day pressures. To what extent are islandscapes resilient to rapidly changing utilities, significances, and ways of life wrought by tourism expansion? The vulnerability-resilience duality remains firmly entrenched in the discourse on islands where tourism has become prominent. Although tourism provides some resiliency, overall, islandscapes remain subject to externally driven fast and slow change that exercises an overwhelming influence. This anthology of articles previously published in the journal Shima explores emergent themes that describe how island peoples adapt and respond in localized cultural islandscapes as a consequence of tourism expansion. It is aimed at researchers in island studies, tourism, sustainability, human geography, cultural studies, sociology, and anthropology. The anthology will also be of interest to those with an abiding interest in the trajectories of islands and their peoples, particularly where tourism has come to shape islandscapes.