Tourism has been called the largest peaceful movement of people. It can also be a powerful economic force – an “invisible export” or “hidden industry”. Yet tourism is never simply about money and travel. It also involves national or local identity, culture, urban planning, and even politics. Tourism helps us understand how a place interacts with the rest of the world. But what happens when visitors don’t like what they see and even draw attention to it? Or when the local population doesn’t agree on the value and benefits of encouraging tourism? Or when a political or economic crisis deters tourists from coming? Or when the official tourist narrative is challenged? This talk considers such questions within the context of Hong Kong history, showing how tourism and travel can have unexpected and sometimes unsettling results.

The Speaker

John M. Carroll is Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses on Hong Kong history and British imperial history and on the history of museums and tourism. Raised in Florida, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, he received his BA from Oberlin College, his MA from the University of Iowa, and his PhD from Harvard University. Carroll is the author of Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong, A Concise History of Hong Kong, Canton Days: British Life and Death in China, China Hands and Old Cantons: Britons and the Middle Kingdom, and The Hong Kong-China Nexus: A Brief History. He is currently writing a book on tourism in post-WWII Hong Kong.

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Admission: No charge, please register your attendance in advance

Booking: Please email membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk in advance to register your attendance