October 3, 2003: Volume 59, Number 4

Prof. Gmelch publishes book on 'hosts' of tourism

"When people talk about tourism, they usually talk about their own holiday experiences and the places they have seen," begins Prof. George Gmelch in his new book, Behind the Smile: The Working Lives of Caribbean Tourism (Indiana University Press). "Rarely do they consider the people who serve them and make their vacations possible."

Behind the Smile is an inside look at the world of Caribbean tourism as seen through the eyes of 21 men and women who work in the tourist industry in Barbados. Gmelch, professor of anthropology, interviewed workers from every level of tourism, from maid to hotel manager, beach gigolo to taxi driver, red cap to diving instructor.

Moving through the various sites in which "hosts" and "guests" meet – airport, hotel, beach, and tourist attractions – these highly personal accounts offer insight into complex questions surrounding tourism.

The narratives touch on issues such as how race shapes interactions between tourists and workers, how tourists may become agents of cultural change, the meaning of sexual encounters between locals and tourists, and the real economic and ecological costs of development through tourism.

Gmelch wrote the introduction as well as comments on recent research on tourism, development and cross-cultural communication.

Other books by Gmelch include Ballpark: The Working Lives of Baseball People; The Parish Behind God's Back: The Changing Culture of Rural Barbados (with his wife, Sharon Gmelch); and Double Passage: The Lives of Caribbean Migrants, Abroad and Back Home.

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