ARCHIVE OF SELECTED MESSAGES FROM THE IGUST-L

TOPICS:

(1) Broadening the inclusiveness of participation in the IGU Study Group

(1) TOPIC: Broadening the inclusiveness of participation in the IGU Study Group

From: Michael Hall <cmhall@COMMERCE.OTAGO.AC.NZ> 12/23/1999 3:34 AM
Subject: Re: Future of IGU Study Group
To: IGUST-L@lists.nau.edu

Dear Colleagues,

Many thanks for your contributions following my e-mail regarding the future of the study group. The majority of comments were in favour of seeking Commission status along the lines outlined.

Imre Demhardt sent me a response which he had intended to be broadcast to all members which I am now doing. I also attach my response. Both Imre and myself look forward to ongoing use of the IGU List for debate.

best wishes to all for the season. - Michael

xxxxxx

>From: "Imre Demhardt, Dep. Geography, Darmstadt"
><DEMHARD@HRZ1.HRZ.TU-Darmstadt.De>
>Organization: Darmstadt University of Technology
>To: cmhall@COMMERCE.OTAGO.AC.NZ
>Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 10:39:54 +0100
>Subject: Re: Future of IGU Study Group
>
>Dear Michael,
>
>just an unrevised ad-hoc note on your above message. Being with only
>one exception so far a ´silent´ subscriber to various tourism lists
>on the net I follow the discussions around the IGU-study group for
>only about a year. Having this admittedly limited experience I wonder
>how exlusively driven the conferences, research exchanges, discusion
>topics etc. are driven by persons and needs of us-american, british
>and australian background including their ex-colonial fringes (e.g.
>Singapore and Hongkong). Therefore this ´anglosaxon club´ in many
>cases centred on topics and discussion themes not fitting or
>interisting for other houses in the often stated ´global village´.
>
>I don´t wont to get on the track of neglected developing countries
>but rather point out to the example I know best - Germany. This
>country, by the way one of the biggest international tourist
>generating corners of the world and per se one of the most
>interesting to research sending market, is obviously not voicing its
>tourism research and teaching through the above mentioned channels.
>To say that this depends on lacking research and teaching here is
>rediculous knowing that - according to my interpretation - well over
>250 state and private institutions hatch approx. 8.000 tourism
>related students and an quite active research community with an
>flooding output of papers, conferences etc. They all cater for an
>travel market which totalled in its international segment alone for
>more than 25 billion US-$ in 1998 (excluding business and other
>non-leasure travellers). And yet barely a glimpse of the things going
>on surface on the net. The same is true practically all other
>continental european countries. Why??? (OK, I have some ideas for
>myself ...)
>
>To end this lengthy lamento - both obviously not welcomed by many
>list subcribers - my facit is, that both in IGU and other net lists
>there is until now no sufficient representation of non-anglosaxon
>researchers and research/teaching interests. How came and what to do
>about this should be addressed somehow. And the question isn´t about
>numbers (members, papers etc.) but about representation of the divers
>needs, interestand things happening in tourism geography worldwide
>and not only in the battlegrounds of the english tongue. But, and
>with this sarkasm I thank for following me up till here, if the
>present structure of the lists are able to solve this obvious problem
>remains a big ?
>
>Awaiting the fire (for the content, not mishaps with my english)
>
>Dr. Imre Josef Demhardt
>University of Technology Darmstadt
>Department of Geography
>Schnittspahn Str. 9
>64287 Darmstadt
>GERMANY
>Tel.: ++49-6151-163619
>Fax: ++49-6151-165419
>
>e--mail: demhard@hrz1.hrz.tu-darmstadt.de

xxxxxx

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 17:42:47 +1300
To: "Imre Demhardt, Dep. Geography, Darmstadt" <DEMHARD@HRZ1.HRZ.TU-Darmstadt.De>
From: Michael Hall <cmhall@commerce.otago.ac.nz>
Subject: Re: message on future of IGU study group

Dear Imre,

...

I note your comments regarding the direction of the group and how you see it fitting in with German geographical concerns which, may of course, be different from other national and regional interests. I wouldn't necessarily see the proposed direction acting at the expense of German interests and would hope that, if anything, they would provide a basis for geographical comparisons not only between regions but also between traditions. The overall direction is one that would hopefully would be as inclusive as possible of the various member interests within the IGU Study Group.

As regards the Anglo/Australian/US with a bit of colonial Asia thrown in challenge I would hope that this is not the way it is perceived at all. In my time involved in the previous incarnations of the group it has been variously described by people as Franco-Italian and Anti American - during its existence in the 1980s. When the group was established under my predecessor it became far more global in scope and included Scandanavian, Australasian and North American geographers which had previously been excluded. Unfortunately one of our two German speaking geographers died
(Prof. Gormsen) and was replaced by another European - Prof. Allan Williams of Exeter who is a Europeanist par excellence and has very close research ties with the Iberian peninsula. In the next incarnation of the group it is
likely that we will have someone from Asia as a full member as well as a black African. However, at all times I would hope to have as wide and as representative a geographical spread of full members as is possible which would include a native German speaking geographer.

However, I would note that in terms of perceptions of disparities of the orientation of the group in terms of where meetings occur we also need to be aware that this depends on who volunteers to organise such meetings. This has therefore meant that since 1992 there has been meetings in the US (twice), Norway, Portugal, Australia and New Zealand (twice) with a meeting in Korea for next year. Meetings also started to be organised in France and Switzerland However unfortunately the organisers pulled out. However, I am also keen to encourage further volunteers to host meetings of the Study Group!!!!!!

I hope that these points in some ways may allay some of your concerns.

best wishes - Michael

xxxxxx

Dear Michael,

thanks for your extensive comment on my impromtu reply. I trust that you understood that the hint to German activities in tourism research only served as an example for inbalanced internet discussions and not that this region should be useed to develop a different paradigma. For the same reason I didn´t intend to reflect on the personal composition of the IGU group itself or where meetings were held which of course can only mirror the volunteers willing to do some work.

The point simply was that there are "non-heard" voices in other tongues of research, education and practise than the seemingly exclusively aired english one (again: my own perception and not necessary the one of my non-anglosaxon colleagues around the globe). Therefore I simply miss the diversity of ideas, needs, approaches - today technically without difficulties to exchange swiftly via the net - which are out there since I encounter some of them in Slovakia
and South Africa but am dead sure that the hundredsomething other countries which I don´t know have surely their interesting contributions too.

If you still have my philippica of 18.11.1999 on storage please distribute it to the IGU list subscribers since it would be worthwile to know if this pronounced view get any and what kind of response.

To end a bit more constructive I could offer to contribute and to take part in the organisation of a workshop on oversea and internal tourism in subsaharan Africa. The venue should be somewhere in Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Simbabwe). If the regions of Cape Town or Johannesburg would be considered an attractive conference facility, some regional and sub-continental contributors (speaker and institutional wise not necessarily money wise) and pre-/post-excursions can be organized in 2001.

Wishing you downunder a merry christmas and all the best for the new millenium. - Imre

xxxxxxx

Clearly both Imre and myself wish to pass on our season greetings to all members of the IGU and look forward to a productive and lively new year!!

regards - Michael

Centre for Tourism, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
Tel: +64 3 479 5477 (W), +64 3 479 8520 (Secretary), Fax: +64 3 479 9034
Email: cmhall@commerce.otago.ac.nz web site:
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Editor, Current Issues in Tourism:
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Associate Editor for Asia and the Pacific, Tourism Geographies: An
International Journal of Tourism Place, Space and Environment:
www.geog.nau.edu/tg/
Chairperson, IGU Sustainable Tourism Study Group:
www.geog.nau.edu/igust/
- Korea IGC2000 meeting Information:
www.geog.nau.edu/igust/korea2000.html
Visiting Professor, School of Leisure and Food Management, Sheffield Hallam
University, UK: http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/lfm/
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