REFERENCES

Getz, D. (2012). Event studies: Theory, research, and policy for planned events. MiltonPark, Abington, UK: Routledge.

Assigned 12 July 2012. Submitted 5 September 2012. Accepted 21 September 2012

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2012.11.004

Bvi$A

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 40, pp. 438–440, 2013Printed in Great Britain

438 Publications in review/Annals of Tourism Research 40 (2013) 434–448

ADVENTURE TOURISM MANAGEMENT,2ND EDN

y Ralf Buckley. Butterworth-Heinemann <http://www.else-er.com> 2012, xx + 265pp. (tables, photos, indices) pbk49.50. ISBN: 978-1-85617-834-1

Maximiliano E. KorstanjeUniversity of Palermo, Argentina

Recently, the study of risk and safety has been gaining coverage in tourism re-search. However, less is known about the opposite pole of this fascinating subject,adventure tourism. The reasons for this lack are not clear but possibly one of theproblems of adventure activities is the lack of an all-encompassing definition. Thisbook by Ralf Buckley represents a welcome effort to expand the current under-standing of how risk and attractiveness converge. Based on the idea that extremetourism is a form of breaking or changing the routine of urban style of life, Buckleyconsiders that likely the psychological profile explains why some tourists seek riskwhile others prefer to avoid it. Risk engenders not only danger but also prestige.

Buckley sees three segments in adventure tourism: (1) highly adventurous activ-ities, (2) mass tourism, (3) commercialized adventure tourism. Organized into 13chapters, this seminal book examines different types of participants from a diver-sity of views, hypotheses, and conclusions with respect to adventure-tourism. Buck-ley’s book thus represents a valuable effort to open a new field of study in tourismresearch.

The first section examined marketing assumptions to be taken into consider-ation when studying risk tourism. In the second section of the book, the authorexamines the role of risk and communications in shaping the attractiveness ofinternational destinations. Buckley discusses the difference between risk thatmay be commercialized, such as scuba diving, and global risks such as global warm-ing that threated the sector and individual businesses. In the last section of thebook, he reviews the types of adventure tourism and modes of applications for fu-ture research.

The main thesis of this book is that risk tourism should be defined not onlyaccording to skill, excitement, and risks but also with respect to geography and

Publications in review / Annals of Tourism Research 40 (2013) 434–448 439

the nature of the sites where risk tourism is practiced. The academic attention risktourism deserves should be approached through a combination of disciplines. It isimportant not to lose the understanding that adventure tourism is usually prac-ticed in remote areas where help in the case of accidents can be challenging. Buck-ley points out that the sense of safety and the probabilities of accidents may beexaggerated or trivialized depending on the cultural context as well as the tourist’smotivation.

The marketing of risk tourism uses three general communication vehicles: (1)editorial content, such as magazines, (2) marketing brochures, and (3) the inter-net. Details of how adventure products are sold constitutes one of the primarydescriptive goals of this book. Buckley also argues it is necessary to study physicaland human factors shaping adventure tourism experiences. The author also ex-plores tourism risk in the context of terrorism, climate change, and other dangers.He asks how these forms of risk affect adventure tourism destinations. Other as-pects that can shape the risk perceived by visitors to specific destinations that Buck-ley does not explore, though, are the language barriers and destination images.

Although risk tourism may be implicitly positioned as falling outside the com-mercial realm, tour operators sell risk tourism just as much as mass tourism is sold.The tactics of advertising are important topics to be studied by scholars interestedin extreme tourism. Ralf Buckley provides a fertile source for future research, butthere are some problems in the author’s treatment of risk. Even if Buckley realizesthat risk should not be defined merely as a threat to be mitigated, an anthropolog-ical assessment of risk is needed. Risk, in many circumstances, confers prestige andstatus to people who are willing to face it. This sentiment of exclusiveness reflectsimplicit social structures in society. In particular, anthropologists and ethnologistshave developed insights into the phenomenon of heroism and the archetype of thehero overcoming risk. Buckley would enrich his research if some additional studiesrespecting to heroism could be discussed in-depth.

The perspective of the book is dominated by managerial and marketing specu-lations, and is short on deeper analysis of motivations. For example, there is littleattention given to what motivates people to take one risk and not another. Forexample, the consumption of puffer fish (fugu) in Japan, is a curious phenome-non. People die each year from eating badly prepared puffer but this appears onlyto increase interest in trying the delicacy. An order of fugu costs the equivalent of$2000 (US). The price, as well, contributes to the status of eating fugu. A reason-able explanation for the appeal of fugu to tourists is that the risk provides ordinarypeople an opportunity to transform their lives and to achieve a status in the eyes ofothers. It is, in effect, a rite of passage, and the diner may be seen as a type of heroin the eyes of peers.

Adventure tourism is not exclusively based on risk or the quest for risky sensa-tions as Buckley suggests, but also on an anthropological sense of heroism. Thehero in myth is a person whose power in overcoming obstacles serves as a mediatorbetween gods and humankind. Heroes are characterized by sacrifice and sufferingas well as their abilities of being resilient in times of adversity. The concept of herocould provide useful insights and new perspectives into the experience of risk-seeking.

Last but not least, risk can reflect social stratification. Status is formed not onlyby the capacity of groups to face risk, but to overcome and mitigate risk. Both over-coming and mitigating risk give legitimacy and recognition to individual whoaccomplish these, creating a type of aristocracy. The mitigation of risk is certainlyconditioned by the economic capacity (capital) of one to purchase insurance andspecial medicine plans to gain further protection. Rather, adventure tourism doesnot seek to mitigate risk but to overcome it. People who achieve this are often seen

440 Publications in review/Annals of Tourism Research 40 (2013) 434–448

as as having earned respect from others. And Buckley has earned our respect withthis important new book.

Maximiliano E. Korstanje: Department of Economics, University of Palermo,Buenos Aires, 1717, Argentina. E-mail <mkorst@palermo.edu>

Submitted 16 October 2012. Resubmitted 16 October 2012. Accepted 29 October 2012

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2012.11.006

EditechannPrice

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 40, pp. 440–442, 2013Printed in Great Britain

CRITICAL DEBATES IN TOURISM

d by Tej Vir Singh. Channel View Publications <www.elviewpublications.com> 2012, xviii + 398pp. (index).Pbk £29.95. ISBN: 9781845413422

Tom GriffinUniversity of Waterloo, Canada

This book includes contributions from a large number of established authors onsome of the most important issues for contemporary tourism scholars. The inspi-ration of the book, as stated by its editor T.V. Singh, was ‘‘to acquire reasonableresponses, from various tourism pundits, on a few partly-answered or unansweredquestions such as if tourism can eradicate poverty, or if mass tourism and sustain-ability can go hand-in-hand’’ (p. 389). The book’s topics are derived from publica-tions in the Research Probe segment in Tourism Recreation Research, where authors areinvited to offer reflections on current understandings of tourism and its impacts toignite discussion in the wider community.

The format of the book, therefore, is somewhat novel, with each chapter begin-ning with a research probe from one author that is then followed by others offer-ing a rebuttal, alternative interpretation, or extension of the original idea. Attimes, the book reads like a debate or conversation, with specific reference beingmade to the original probe in the subsequent chapter sections. This causes a cou-ple of interesting responses in the reader: first there is often the sense of listeningto a conversation, and there is a feeling of engagement in this structure that helpsencourage an opinion to be formed. Secondly, in chapters that present disagree-ment between the authors, it is a lively reminder or introduction for students, thatopinions on the conceptualization and priorities of tourism can differ quite starklyand that multiple viewpoints are not only expected, but healthy in furtheringunderstandings.

The book serves as critical reflection of academic and practitioner assumptions,many of which have been discussed at length in journals and at conferences be-fore. However, as a compendium of views from many leading authors this bookserves a useful purpose with a good balance of theoretical discussion and practicalimplications. Due to the large number of authors (34 excluding the editor) indi-viduals are not referenced in this review.

The topics cover a range of issues that broadly fit under the conceptualizationand application of sustainability in tourism. The first chapter considers sustainabil-