Hales, Rob

English

Digital Commons @ TRU Library (Thompson Rivers University)

Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings 
Volume 2017 Article 92 
2017 
Trumping the Myth of Travel: A Window into the Role of Tourism 
in Sustaining Post-Truth Neoliberalism 
Rob Hales 
Griffith University, r.hales@griffith.edu.au 
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Recommended Citation 
Hales, Rob (2017) "Trumping the Myth of Travel: A Window into the Role of Tourism in Sustaining Post-
Truth Neoliberalism," Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings: Vol. 2017 , Article 92. 
Available at: https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/cts-proceedings/vol2017/iss1/92 
This Abstract is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ TRU Library. It has been accepted 
for inclusion in Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ TRU Library. 
For more information, please contact apaterson@tru.ca. 
 
 
Title: Trumping the Myth of Travel: A Window into the Role of Tourism in Sustaining Post-
Truth Neoliberalism 
Author: Robert Hales 
Affiliation: Griffith University 
Contact: r.hales@griffith.edu.au 
Session Type: Presentation 
 
Abstract:  
There is much buzz in academic circles about the post-truth era and the rise of populism, 
which rejects the established political order and expert knowledge, across western countries. The 
thesis of this paper is that contradictions in this popular movement, which is inextricably 
interlinked to neoliberalism, help to identify myths that support social and economic order. 
These windows provide society with an opportunity to deliberate world views, which in turn 
helps shift social, political, and economic order.  
Myths are best recognised when they are busted or broken. Myths strive to produce a 
prescribed view of the world or an attitude towards social institutions which is then responsible 
for the maintenance of the status quo, and which ensures continuity of the existing social order. 
Myths constitute a conservative socialising force, the function of which is to sanctify existing 
institutions and foster the values of sociality. Myths in this sense act to produce world views that 
maintain the status quo. The right to travel and the so-called democratisation of travel is one such 
myth. With the rise of Trump, there have been many contradictory policy positions in his short 
time as president of the United States. At the heart of the neoliberal project is the duality that the 
free market is purported to be the best way to distribute goods and services, and this is presented 
as a natural state of affairs, somehow linked to natural rights. But, importantly, the free market is 
not a natural phenomenon and is very much a social construct, with various institutions needing 
to be maintained to ensure the dominance of neoliberal order. Whilst Trump may have gained 
power purporting anti-neoliberalism (anti-establishment rhetoric), his style of ethno-nationalistic 
neoliberalism has morphed with the dispensing of expertise informing political debate. The 
effect is that he has control over markets utilising a new institution: post-truth or post-fact 
politics, which are purported as natural and normal. 
When Trump initiated the ban on the migration of people from certain Islamic states, a 
window on the myth of travel and mobility was revealed. The action of Trump was important in 
two ways: First, it revealed the contradictory nature of neoliberalism. The preservation of a free 
America meant curtailing the rights of travel. This had unintended social and economic 
consequences for the United States and has been documented widely. Second, and importantly 
for this discussion, Trump has uncovered the myth of unfettered right to travel/migrate in a 
globalised word. That is, the so-called democratisation of travel is a myth which cannot be 
reduced or dismantled, and any attempts to do so attack the core of what it means to be a global 
citizen in a capitalist world where ‘people’ are commodities traded through international travel. 
Whilst there are slight differences between bans on migration and international tourism travel, 
there are parallels. In this exploratory paper, I unpack the myth of travel and its linkages to a 
post-truth neoliberal order. I argue that the democratisation of travel is a core myth of 
neoliberalism and that the post-truth populism of neoliberalism unwittingly assisted in revealing 
the myth of the democratised travel. I present augments for and against such a position. The 
significance of this to tourism studies is that understanding the link between individual actions 
(travel) and wider social forces is important in determining the role of travel in the political 
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Hales: Trumping the Myth of Travel: A Window into the Role of Tourism in
Published by Digital Commons @ TRU Library, 2017
 
 
economy of the Anthropocene and the changes that may arise from disruptions in the 
Anthropocene era. Literature from the field of tourism mobilities informs the arguments of this 
paper and will be provided in the presentation. 
 
 
 
 
  
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Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings, Vol. 2017 [2017], Art. 92
https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/cts-proceedings/vol2017/iss1/92


Trumping the Myth of Travel: A Window into the Role of Tourism in Sustaining Post-Truth Neoliberalism

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Trumping the Myth of Travel: A Window into the Role of Tourism in Sustaining Post-Truth Neoliberalism

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