The scientification of tourism began in March 1974 when I inserted a one inch notice in the Fellow Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) asking: ‘Is anyone else interested in the study of tourism?’ Twenty-eight replies came quickly, and with the aid of Western Union telegraph and Special Delivery mail (in the era before email and fax), an agenda was established for the forthcoming AAA meetings in Mexico City that November. Following the two sessions, all participants gathered in a hotel suite to review our thoughts. Nelson Graburn commented: ‘We have REALLY done something special.’ Discussion turned to the next move: a book. Theron Nunez named it: ‘Hosts and Guests – The Anthropology of Tourism’. I took on the task as editor. Authors diligently edited their articles. The manuscript went out for review, and an offer came immediately from University of Pennsylvania Press, founded by the eminent Benjamin Franklin and respected as the second oldest Press in the USA.

We became a close knit group, with some of us meeting at other AAA sessions and with other specialty groups that recognised the growing importance of tourism. At the 1975 AAA meeting, Jafar Jafari appeared, to inquire if his neophyte journal Annals of Tourism Research could succeed? I was elated as our new book would soon be in print and already there was a new journal to support ongoing research… The initial research was basic: what were the agents of culture change and how did these changes affect social interaction and group stability?