Paper short abstract:

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Paper long abstract:

Debates about the role of anthropologists in applying their subject in policy contexts and putting it and themselves in the service of government and development agencies are not new. They began in the colonial period and continue today. After presenting examples of these debates, and the conditions in which they arose, the focus shifts to the current role of the anthropologist in tourism, the relationship of consultancy to anthropological professional and academic training, and the stereotypes that exist of academic anthropologists, on the one hand, consultants, on the other. It is suggested that whilst there is a need for many more bridges between anthropologists and aid organisations to be made, the former need to become more involved in the practical aspects of tourism development. There is an equal need for government and aid agencies to recognise the value that anthropologists can bring to projects, especially aspects of these that relate to populations of areas about to be developed and the impact that development will have on them. Consultancy experience will be drawn upon in order to illustrate some of the problems involved in anthropological intervention rather than to convey a (false) sense of 'best practice'.

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