Hidden sights

Abstract

This article examines discourses of tourist location as articulated in the influential and highly successful travel guide Lonely Planet Cambodia . The aim is to direct attention to discourses and representations in guidebooks and their influential role in emerging tourist markets such as Cambodia by accomplishing two central tasks. First, an investigation of the discursive context within which Cambodia has been framed for more than a century reveals Lonely Planet Cambodia’s tendency to reproduce a problematic colonial discourse. Discourse analysis of examples from the guide demonstrates how this particular narrative continues to perpetuate a history of silencing local perspectives. These observations lead to a second line of argumentation. Despite Lonely Planet’s stated intention to promote a responsible and socially conscious mode of tourism, this agenda is contradicted by discursive practices that strategically avoid controversial issues. Instead, the guidebook relies on common tourist themes that are primarily concerned with producing an image of Cambodia that appeals to the Western traveller.