Abstract
In this paper I build off of research I have conducted about sports tourism and racial capitalism in the form of martial art destination training camps in Thailand, Japan and Brazil. I found that these camps operate through a racial capitalism framework which commoditizes race, ingrains racial hierarchy and thus impoverishes discourses surrounding race. My new research now explores surf tourism camps in Central and South America. These camps offer surf lessons and Spanish language acquisition programs where participants are immersed in a place that allows immersion-based learning. This type of language learning is effective in improving language skills, helps build cultural awareness and also increases sports tourist’s motivations to learn to speak the local language by having real-world social interactions and context specific experiences. The surf and Spanish language schools dedicate equal amounts of time to both surfing and learning Spanish. In my preliminary research I noticed that those who participate in these sports’ tourism programs are from the west. These sports tourists want to have a deeper and more meaningful immersion into Latin American culture and build connections with local people by speaking their language. This type of engagement shows a deeper commitment and investment that signals the possibility for sincere tourism that goes beyond the tourist/first gaze to reflect on meaningful interactions with locals and have more ethical tourist practices. Surf tourism embedded with language learning, I argue, can lead to an ethics of sightseeing that challenges oppressive structures like racial capitalism.
Presenters
Alexandra MarisLecturer, Global Public Health, State University of New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Pathways to Resilience; Sustainable Practices in Tourism and Leisure
KEYWORDS
Racial Capitalism, Surf Tourism, Sincere Tourism, Ethics of Sightseeing, Language
