Consultoria Ética

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. xx, No. xx, pp. xxx–xxx, 2011 0160-7383/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain

www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2011.01.016

CONSULTING ETHICS
William G. Feighery Switzerland

Abstract: An important, if much neglected, arena within the field of tourism studies is the role of tourismscholars as consultants in the development process. For individuals within this field of ‘expert knowledge’ participation in consultancy projects often places them at the heart of complex and competing interests at local, national and international level. Such complexity necessitates ethically informed decisions. In this paper I first explore the evolution of tourism related research and consultancy,before considering the rise of ethics in arenas of professional practice. Further, I consider the Foucauldian construct of ‘technologies of the self’ as potentially offering an ethical response predicated upon the creative authoring of the self. Keywords: consultancy, ethics, Foucault, technologies of the self, truth. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION Whether conceived of asan industry or as a social phenomenon, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, tourism is an activity of undisputed significance (Tribe, 2009). The business of tourism, motivated primarily by economic considerations, continues to expand its influence to the extent that today tourism penetrates the most remote and inhospitable regions of the globe. This exponential growth has been driven, in part atleast, by the burgeoning demands of consumers for tourism products and services in pursuance of leisured experiences. Under neoliberal development philosophies tourism is often regarded as the ‘preferred industry’ in terms of employment generation and exports. Indeed, the most common justification for the promotion of tourism is its potential contribution to development, particularly in thecontext of developing countries (Telfer & Sharpley, 2008, p. 2). While governments, development agencies and investors point to the importance of tourism as a potential engine for economic development and growth, as well as for positive socio-cultural and environmental

William Feighery (P.O. Box 3169, CH2001, Switzerland. Email ) is an independent scholar whose research interests embrace visualculture and tourism, ethnicity and representation in tourism, and critical tourism studies. Currently based in Switzerland, he has previously lived and worked in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and China. He is the Editor of the Journal of Educational Travel (JET) and serves as Book Reviews Editor for the journal Tourism, Culture and Communication. 1
Please cite this article in press as: Feighery,W. G. Consulting ethics. Annals of Tourism Research (2011), doi:10.1016/j.annals.2011.01.016

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outcomes, there are also criticisms of tourism as a cause of friction and alienation within local communities, resulting in negative impacts on destination populations and on natural environments (Crick, 1989; Holden, 2009; Lea,1993). As technological and resource gaps between developed and developing economies continue to widen, tourism related development is positioned at the intersection of ‘global flows’ (Appadurai, 1996; Meethan, 2001) which tend to reinforce imbalances in access to, and utilization of, resources. As the public and private sectors focus on developing natural and cultural resources for tourism, there isa growing demand for all manner of specialist consultants in a constellation of development fields. Participation in tourism related developments, which emerge from systems of governance linked to global transformations in fiscal and trade policies, often place members of research/consultancy teams at the heart of complex and competing interests at local, national and international/multinational...