Abstract
The introduction outlines the content of the Handbook and provides an overview of some of the key changes affecting Indigenous tourism over the past few decades. This chapter considers how the Handbook continues the discussions around Indigenous tourism that have arisen since the 1996 and 2007 volumes edited by Butler and Hinch. The aim is to further explore and critically examine current debates, controversies and questions through contributions from leading researchers and tourism practitioners from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and geographical regions. Reflections on changes over the past two decades, including the development of Indigenous tourism associations, and the need for Indigenous tourism scholarship are discussed. The six sections of the book, each with interlinking introductions, encourage dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study through its coverage and contributors. The introduction explains how the Handbook's international focus emphasises that issues of Indigenous tourism not only are localised but transcend national boundaries that sometimes require both international and global responses.