The issue of power is one that has become increasingly significant in the study of tourism and, from a low base, has resulted in several recent books and papers, including the current volume (see also Church & Coles, 2007). However, even though there is now belated recognition of power as an issue in tourism studies, it remains a relatively peripheral concern in most research. In one sense, this is somewhat surprising given that the regulation of movement is one of the most basic elements of tourism and tourist behaviour and that no right exists to enter into another country. Yet, in another sense, it may reflect a wider apolitical and often uncritical discourse that dominates much of tourist studies, which is grounded in an inherent managerialism and economism that understands the study of tourism as preparing students for employment in the tourism industry and tourism research as being ‘for’ such industry.

Interest in power may also reflect a maturing of tourism as a disciplinary field within the social sciences (Hall, 1994). Although more likely it is a result of the wave of interest in Foucault in tourism studies from the mid-1990s on, initiated in part by the work of Urry (1990)1 and, if one were to be a touch cynical, in both cases often frequently cited, occasionally read and little understood. Perhaps describing the work of Foucault as ‘little understood’ may be slightly unfair (though see Lukes (2005) and below for similar assertions). Instead, it may be more accurate to describe the situation as one in which Foucault's work on power has often been utilised in tourism without a broader understanding of how his work fits in with wider debates on power, especially with respect to areas such as tourism development and communities.