Tourism and the rise of resorts reflect nineteenth-century economic, social, and cultural developments which brought about increased time for leisure, sport, entertainment, and vacation activities beyond prescribed hours of “work.” While both the nature of the Grand Tour (formally restricted to the wealthy) and desirable destinations for travel evolved over time, sport, leisure, and vacation activities also extended to various levels of society: resort businesses boomed, exotic locales drew tourists, advances in transportation opened new destinations, and tourism became an attractive and widespread diversion. Other travel, however, was inspired by the desire to map space, to explore new territories and gather species of plants or animals there, to engage in missionary work or to study other peoples, to flee famines, and to migrate to a new home. Travel and tourism altered conceptions of home, nation, and progress as people adapted to (or even resisted) the demands and/or pleasures of their journeys and destinations.

For our 27th Annual Conference, NCSA encourages proposals that explore the meanings of travel, tourism, and resorts from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Possible topics include but are not limited to the following: