Some issues in tourism research phenomenology: a commentary

Abstract

Phenomenology has increasingly proved to be a valuable methodology for tourism research. This trend is evidenced by the increase in publications of phenomenological research studies in the tourism literature. The purpose of this article is to review (1) some philosophical and methodological issues of phenomenology and (2) the use of phenomenology in tourism research. The present paper makes the case, however, that phenomenological tourism research could be strengthened by greater attention to its philosophical underpinnings. It is suggested that some tourism researchers are in danger of betraying the fundamental tenets of phenomenology and of misconstruing some of its key concepts. For example, their methods do not entitle them to lay claim to anything resembling 'objectivity', or 'generalisability', 'reality', or theoretical abstraction, as they are limited by a philosophy that claims they can only talk about perceptions, individual meanings, and uniqueness; such claims, however, are sometimes erroneously made. It is further suggested that the illumination and clarification of these contested and complex concepts, and careful consideration of their implications for research design and conduct, can enrich tourism research by retaining the methodological rigour and conceptual clarity that is central to the phenomenological method.