Dr Raoul Bianchi

Dr Raoul Bianchi

Dr Raoul Bianchi

Reader in Political Economy

My profile

Biography

Raoul is Reader in Political Economy with a particular focus on the governance and development of tourism and visitor economies.

He has a BSc in Politics and International Studies (Southampton, 1989), an MSc in Tourism Management (Surrey, 1992) and PhD in the social anthropology of tourism development (North London, 2000). His work combines an ethnographic focus on the social, economic and spatial patterns of tourism development at the local level and wider theoretical engagement with the forces shaping the regional and international political economy of tourism with a particular emphasis on southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.  He has also published widely on issues related to international tourism, border governance and citizenship, including the co-authored monograph Tourism and Citizenship: Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities in the Global Order (Routledge, 2014).

Previously,  he has worked with numerous international partners, as codirector of European research projects (Mediterranean Voices, 2002-2005) and as partner/co-investigator on other research projects and training programmes financed by the European Union, British Council and British Academy/Leverhulme.  He has been a long-time associate of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research (ATLAS) and a member of the Research Committee 50 on International Tourism (International Sociological Association). He is a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) and member of the RAI’s Tourism Committee. From 2014-2021 he was a visiting scholar in the Cultural Geography Research Group at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands.

He was a founding Associate Editor of the gold open access applied tourism research journal, Annals of Tourism Research: Empirical Insights and is Associate Editor of companion title and leading tourism social science research journal (ABS 4*) Annals of Tourism Research. He also sits on the editorial board of Tourism Planning and Development, for which he recently co-edited the special issue in honour of Professor David Harrison (2022), and the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. 

Between 1997-2003 Raoul was a member of the executive council of the UK NGO Tourism Concern and continues to work, write and campaign on issues related to the advancement of democratic, equitable and nature sustaining tourism economies.  

Interests and expertise

My current work looks at tourism, capitalism and crises and the restructuring of visitor economies in southern Europe in collaboration with fellow researchers at the Universities of Barcelona and the Balearic Islands and Barcelona-based Alba Sud think thank. 

Get in touch

Business School

Projects

I am currently a member of the research working group on the collaborative research project - EMCROTUR: Chronic Emergencies and Ecosocial Transformations in Touristified Coastal Spaces. PID2022-137648OB-C21. Funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.  The project is coordinated by the University of the Balearic Islands.

Thismultidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research project seeks to diagnose the spatial, ecological and social-legal impact of multiple crises in the intensely touristified coastal Spanish areas. The project also analyses conventional recovery and resilience policies and explores proposals for a socioecological transformation in Spanish coastal tourism areas. 

Teaching

I am the Module Leader for the final year UG ‘Business Project/Research/Consultancy’ (Dissertation) and PG module ‘Global Corporate Power in the International Economy’.  I also supervise UG and PG IBM dissertations. 

Supervision

I encourage enquiries and applications from anyone interested in pursuing PhD/Doctorate research in areas related to the international political economy of tourism; tourism and critical labour studies, sustainable tourism and destination governance.  I am open to applications with a focus on any geographical region, including the UK, but particularly welcome applications for research focused on southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

In addition I encourage anyone interested in working on looking at corporate power, critical business studies and exploring post-capitalist/circular business models in any economic sector, to get in touch. 

I am currently supervising the following doctorate research projects:

Rethinking tourism political economy for equitable, resilient and sustainable visitor economies (Seychelles)

Understanding the Treasury’s distinctiveness in UK economic governance: The Treasury and the Political Economy of the Green Transition

Research outputs

  • Books (authored/edited/special issues)

    Bianchi, R.V., Stephenson, M.L. (2014) Tourism and citizenship: Rights, freedoms and responsibilities in the global order.

  • Chapters in books

    Bianchi, R.V., Stephenson, M.L. (2022) 'Tourism, citizenship and border governance past dynamics and new reconfigurations.' Routledge Handbook of Borders and Tourism. pp. 73-86.

    Bianchi, R.V., Stephenson, M.L. (2022) 'Tourism, Citizenship and Border Governance.' Routledge Handbook of Borders and Tourism. Routledge, pp. 73-86.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2022) 'Tourism, COVID-19 and crisis: the case for a radical turn.' In Higgins-Desbiolles, F., Doering, A., Chew Bigby, B. (ed.) Socialising Tourism: Rethinking Tourism for Social and Ecological Justice. Routledge, pp. 93-108.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2021) 'COVID-19 and the prospects for the radical transformation of tourism.' In Cañada, E., Murray, I. (ed.) #TourismPostCOVID19 Lockdown Touristification. Alba Sud Editorial, pp. 217-222.

    Bianchi, R. (2019) 'La economía política del turismo: una introducción crítica.' Turistificación global perspectivas críticas en turismo. Icaria,

    Bianchi, R.V., Stephenson, M.L. (2018) 'Tourism, border politics, and the fault lines of mobility.' Borderless Worlds for Whom?: Ethics, Moralities and Mobilities. pp. 123-138.

    Bianchi, R. (2017) 'The political economy of mass tourism and its contradictions.' Mass Tourism in a Small World. pp. 40-52.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2014) 'Towards a New Political Economy of Global Tourism Revisited.' Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues. pp. 287-331.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2012) 'A RADICAL DEPARTURE: A critique of the critical turn in Tourism Studies.' The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Geographies. pp. 46-54.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2010) 'Tourism, capitalism and marxist political economy.' Political Economy of Tourism: A Critical Perspective. pp. 17-37.

  • Journal articles

    Bianchi, R.V., Milano, C. (2024) 'Polycrisis and metamorphosis of tourist capitalism.' Annals of Tourism Research, 22(2) pp. 217-230.

    Hampton, M., Bianchi, R., Jeyacheya, J. (2024) 'Dynamics of coastal tourism: drivers of spatial change in South-East Asia.' Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 45(1) pp. 54-69.

    Bianchi, R.V., Milano, C. (2024) 'Polycrisis and the metamorphosis of tourism capitalism.' Annals of Tourism Research, 104

    Bianchi, R.V., McCabe, S., Cisneros-Martínez, J.D., Domínguez-Gómez, J.A. (2023) 'Contested discourses in social tourism: a relational political economy perspective.' Annals of Tourism Research, 102pp. 103640-103640.

    Bianchi, R., Sharpley, R., Andrews, H. (2022) 'Editorial: A Reflection on the Work and Legacy of Professor David Harrison (1941–2021).' Tourism Planning and Development, 19(1) pp. 75-80.

    Bianchi, R.V., de Man, F. (2020) 'Tourism, inclusive growth and decent work: a political economy critique.' Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(2-3) pp. 353-371.

    Bianchi, R.V., Stephenson, M.L., Hannam, K. (2020) 'The contradictory politics of the right to travel: mobilities, borders & tourism.' Mobilities, 15(2) pp. 290-306.

    Bianchi, R. (2018) 'The political economy of tourism development: A critical review.' Annals of Tourism Research, 70pp. 88-102.

    Bianchi, R.V., Stephenson, M.L. (2013) 'Deciphering tourism and citizenship in a globalized world.' Tourism Management, 39pp. 10-20.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2009) 'The 'critical turn' in tourism studies: A radical critique.' Tourism Geographies, 11(4) pp. 484-504.

    Bianchi, R. (2006) 'Tourism and the Globalisation of Fear: Analysing the Politics of Risk and (in)Security in Global Travel.' Tourism and Hospitality Research, 7(1) pp. 64-74.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2005) 'Euro-med heritage: Culture, capital and trade liberalisation - implications for the Mediterranean City.' Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 15(2) pp. 283-318.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2004) 'Tourism restructuring and the politics of sustainability: A critical view from the european periphery (the canary islands).' Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 12(6) pp. 495-529.

    Bianchi, R. (2003) 'Place and power in tourism development: tracing the complex articulations of community and locality.' PASOS Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 1(1) pp. 13-32.

    Bianchi, R., Boniface, P. (2002) 'Editorial: The politics of World Heritage.' International Journal of Heritage Studies, 8(2) pp. 79-80.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2002) 'The contested landscapes of world heritage on a tourist Island: The case of Garajonay National Park, la Gomera.' International Journal of Heritage Studies, 8(2) pp. 81-97.

    Bianchi, R.V. (2000) 'Migrant tourist-workers: Exploring the 'contact zones' of post-industrial tourism.' Current Issues in Tourism, 3(2) pp. 107-137.

Press and media

I am available to talk to the media on a range of issues related to international tourism policy, sustainable tourism, environmental tourism taxes, ‘overtourism’ and tourism in southern Europe.  

Selective media appearances and publications:

‘The problem with overtourism’. Deutsche Welle. 29 April 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1WJsGNqoeo.

‘Why the visa process could be ‘discouraging visitors’ and keeping families apart’, USA TODAY,  3 October 2022.  https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2022/10/03/us-tourist-visa-application-costs-process/10434754002/.

Transforming Tourism talks. Interview with Dr Ernest Cañada, lead investigator at Alba Sud, Barcelona. 7th July 2022.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz2HAcAKmsc.

‘Tourism, capitalism and crisis: What is to be (un)done?’ Good Tourism Blog, 7 September 2021. https://goodtourismblog.com/2021/09/tourism-capitalism-the-coronavirus-crisis-what-is-to-be-undone/.  (Also published at: https://medium.com/tourism-geographic/tourism-capitalism-the-coronavirus-crisis-what-is-to-be-un-done-4813f418b946).

‘El COVID-19 y las perspectivas para una transformación radical del turismo’, Alba Sud, 22 May 2020. http://www.albasud.org/noticia/es/1219/el-covid-19-y-las-perspectivas-para-una-transformaci-n-radical-del-turismo.

‘Sun, sea sand – and a sense of spectral danger…’ Times Higher Education Supplement, 26th July 2002.