Important Dates
Deadline for abstracts and session proposals: October 12, 2025
Registration open: October 13, 2025
Deadline for Early Bird registrations: 30th Nov 2025
Deadline for registrations: December 14, 2025
Scroll down at the botton of this page to see registration fees
Deadline for abstracts and session proposals: October 12, 2025
Registration open: October 13, 2025
Deadline for Early Bird registrations: 30th Nov 2025
Deadline for registrations: December 14, 2025
Scroll down at the botton of this page to see registration fees
Call for Papers
Conference Thematic
People, things, capital, information, ideas, and technologies are constantly evolving in contemporary society. It is precisely within this context that the “real” is being restructured and re-realised. Rather than ‘stabilizing’ or ‘positivizing’ our existing realities, however, mobility constantly shakes it up to create new realities. Based on this observation, Urry and Sheller advocate the idea of ‘the social as mobility’, arguing that the social is shifting from ‘society’ (which is based on immobility) to ‘mobilities’ (Urry and Sheller 2006).
Of course, Urry and Sheller’s argument requires more thoughtful examination. For example, we ought to think carefully about whether it is appropriate to contrast ‘society’ and ‘mobilities’. If we suppose that what ‘society’ encompasses—that is, ‘the connotation of society’—now includes mobilities, which exhibit new, dynamic renderings, then ‘society’ and ‘mobilities’ ought to be understood to be closely intertwined, rather than opposed to each other.
Taking all of this into account, a more detailed critical analysis of Urry and Sheller is needed now and in the future. If we follow Urry and Sheller’s line of reasoning, however, then the social must appear most clearly in tourism, particularly in the context of mobility. One can no longer consider mobilities in the contemporary world without thinking about tourism and traveling.
Even though tourism numbers sometimes fall due to a variety of events, such as terrorist attacks around the world; infectious diseases like COVID-19 or SARS; natural disasters like the Great East Japan Earthquake; and economic conditions like the financial crisis of 2008, hundreds of millions of people continue to travel. Tourism has become a social phenomenon that creates mobilities and transforms the very foundations of our societies and cultures. This is spelled out explicitly in the concept of ‘tourism mobilities’.
In spite of recent conflicts around the world, contemporary societies continue to be on the move. Tourism is the topos upon which mobile contemporary society comes sharply into view, and as such, research on tourism mobilities has the potential to revolutionise existing discussions in the human and social sciences. Tourism mobilities research must urgently be reflexive in an era of complex entanglements of the global and the local. The significance of research on tourism mobilities lies in its ability to
capture societal shifts, and much of this work begins with critical reflection on how we can better shape our collective futures.
This in-between conference of the Atlas Critical Tourism Studies – Asia Pacific cohort invites submissions from scholars and practitioners steeped in matters concerning tourism and mobilities in the Asia Pacific, as well as those further afield whose gaze is trained on the Asia-Pacific, and from where the ripple effects of tourism mobilities complexity are felt. Sessions and papers that engage with and reference a broad spectrum of cogent and related entreaties are invited, including but not exclusive to:
Conference Thematic
People, things, capital, information, ideas, and technologies are constantly evolving in contemporary society. It is precisely within this context that the “real” is being restructured and re-realised. Rather than ‘stabilizing’ or ‘positivizing’ our existing realities, however, mobility constantly shakes it up to create new realities. Based on this observation, Urry and Sheller advocate the idea of ‘the social as mobility’, arguing that the social is shifting from ‘society’ (which is based on immobility) to ‘mobilities’ (Urry and Sheller 2006).
Of course, Urry and Sheller’s argument requires more thoughtful examination. For example, we ought to think carefully about whether it is appropriate to contrast ‘society’ and ‘mobilities’. If we suppose that what ‘society’ encompasses—that is, ‘the connotation of society’—now includes mobilities, which exhibit new, dynamic renderings, then ‘society’ and ‘mobilities’ ought to be understood to be closely intertwined, rather than opposed to each other.
Taking all of this into account, a more detailed critical analysis of Urry and Sheller is needed now and in the future. If we follow Urry and Sheller’s line of reasoning, however, then the social must appear most clearly in tourism, particularly in the context of mobility. One can no longer consider mobilities in the contemporary world without thinking about tourism and traveling.
Even though tourism numbers sometimes fall due to a variety of events, such as terrorist attacks around the world; infectious diseases like COVID-19 or SARS; natural disasters like the Great East Japan Earthquake; and economic conditions like the financial crisis of 2008, hundreds of millions of people continue to travel. Tourism has become a social phenomenon that creates mobilities and transforms the very foundations of our societies and cultures. This is spelled out explicitly in the concept of ‘tourism mobilities’.
In spite of recent conflicts around the world, contemporary societies continue to be on the move. Tourism is the topos upon which mobile contemporary society comes sharply into view, and as such, research on tourism mobilities has the potential to revolutionise existing discussions in the human and social sciences. Tourism mobilities research must urgently be reflexive in an era of complex entanglements of the global and the local. The significance of research on tourism mobilities lies in its ability to
capture societal shifts, and much of this work begins with critical reflection on how we can better shape our collective futures.
This in-between conference of the Atlas Critical Tourism Studies – Asia Pacific cohort invites submissions from scholars and practitioners steeped in matters concerning tourism and mobilities in the Asia Pacific, as well as those further afield whose gaze is trained on the Asia-Pacific, and from where the ripple effects of tourism mobilities complexity are felt. Sessions and papers that engage with and reference a broad spectrum of cogent and related entreaties are invited, including but not exclusive to:
- Mobilities Justice
- Overtourism and mobilities
- Climate change, decarbonisation and system change in global society
- Cultural change, transformation, destruction and regeneration
- Tourism mobilities, media culture and representation
- Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship
- Governance at multiple scales – local, regional, national and supra-regional
- Demographic and socioeconomic change, including urbanisation and rural decline
- Geopolitics, regionalism, and power blocs
- The host-guest interface, contestations, binaries, and uncertainties
- Localism, neo-localism and the re-imagining of the local
- International development assistance and tourism
- Marketing, demarketing, and the sustainable rebranding of destinations in the age of complexity
- Therapeutic landscapes and cultures of well-being, spirituality and religious worship
- Militourism and its assemblages
- Affects and tourism mobilities
- Heritage tourism and the historical geographies of people and places
References
Cresswell, T. (2006). On the move: Mobility in the modern western world, London: Routledge.
Elliott, A. and Urry, J. (2010). Mobile lives, London: Routledge.
Endo, H. (2020). Understanding tourism mobilities in Japan. Taylor & Francis Group.
Hannam, K., Sheller, M., & Urry, J. (2006). Editorial: Mobilities, Immobilities and Moorings. Mobilities, 1(1), 1–22.
Hannam, K. (2008). Tourism geographies, tourist studies and the turn towards mobilities. Geography Compass, 2(1), 127-139.
Sheller, M., & Urry, J. (2006). The New Mobilities Paradigm. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 38(2), 207-226.
Sheller, M., and Urry, J. eds. (2004). Tourism mobilities: Places to play, places in play, London: Routledge.
Sin, H. L., Mostafanezhad, M., & Cheer, J. M. (2021). Tourism geographies in the ‘Asian Century.’ Tourism Geographies, 23(4), 649–658.
Urry, J. (2007). Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Cresswell, T. (2006). On the move: Mobility in the modern western world, London: Routledge.
Elliott, A. and Urry, J. (2010). Mobile lives, London: Routledge.
Endo, H. (2020). Understanding tourism mobilities in Japan. Taylor & Francis Group.
Hannam, K., Sheller, M., & Urry, J. (2006). Editorial: Mobilities, Immobilities and Moorings. Mobilities, 1(1), 1–22.
Hannam, K. (2008). Tourism geographies, tourist studies and the turn towards mobilities. Geography Compass, 2(1), 127-139.
Sheller, M., & Urry, J. (2006). The New Mobilities Paradigm. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 38(2), 207-226.
Sheller, M., and Urry, J. eds. (2004). Tourism mobilities: Places to play, places in play, London: Routledge.
Sin, H. L., Mostafanezhad, M., & Cheer, J. M. (2021). Tourism geographies in the ‘Asian Century.’ Tourism Geographies, 23(4), 649–658.
Urry, J. (2007). Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Submission Guidelines
- Abstracts should comprise up to 350 words
- 12 Times New Roman/Single-spaced
- Title no more than 10 words
- Keywords – at least four specific keywords
- Include author names and affiliations with the email contact of the lead author
- Session proposals should include up to 4 papers and should be submitted as one, and include a brief session description of around 100 words, inclusive of the session title
- All submissions should be submitted to: https://atlas-euro.org/2026-6-kyoto-abstract/
About Ritsumeikan University
Ritsumeikan was first founded as a private academy in 1869 by Prince Saionji Kinmochi. In 1900, Kojuro Nakagawa (the former secretary of Prince Saionji) established the Kyoto Hosei School, a law school that eventually adopted the Ritsumeikan name with the prince's permission and was awarded full university status in 1922.
Today, Ritsumeikan University is a prestigious private university in Japan, known for its commitment to academic excellence, international collaboration, and innovative research across diverse fields such as law, literatures, philosophy, geography, history sciences, cultural studies, sociology, international relations, physical science, engineering, economics and management sciences. With 4 campuses in Kyoto, Osaka, and Shiga, it offers both Japanese and English-taught programs and fosters a global learning environment. Undergraduate students in this university are more than 32,000 and graduate students are more than 3,000.
Ritsumeikan University aims to become a next-generation research university in the near future, where research and education can be organically recombined. By doing so, we strive to become a university that can create the essential value that society deserves for our future.
Ritsumeikan was first founded as a private academy in 1869 by Prince Saionji Kinmochi. In 1900, Kojuro Nakagawa (the former secretary of Prince Saionji) established the Kyoto Hosei School, a law school that eventually adopted the Ritsumeikan name with the prince's permission and was awarded full university status in 1922.
Today, Ritsumeikan University is a prestigious private university in Japan, known for its commitment to academic excellence, international collaboration, and innovative research across diverse fields such as law, literatures, philosophy, geography, history sciences, cultural studies, sociology, international relations, physical science, engineering, economics and management sciences. With 4 campuses in Kyoto, Osaka, and Shiga, it offers both Japanese and English-taught programs and fosters a global learning environment. Undergraduate students in this university are more than 32,000 and graduate students are more than 3,000.
Ritsumeikan University aims to become a next-generation research university in the near future, where research and education can be organically recombined. By doing so, we strive to become a university that can create the essential value that society deserves for our future.
About Atlas Critical Tourism Studies Asia-Pacific (ACTS-AP)
Atlas Critical Tourism Studies-Asia Pacific (ACTS-AP) is an international, interdisciplinary consortium for scholars, tourism practitioners and professionals, community members, travelers and travel writers. ACTS-AP facilitates networking opportunities, the exchange of ideas, research collaboration as well as conversations that critically address contemporary issues in tourism studies.
ACTS-AP recognizes the multiple stakeholders in tourism. We welcome the diverse and sometimes disparate perspectives that these stakeholders bring to the table as we endeavor to broaden our understanding of tourism as both a subject of scholarly critique and one of the largest industries in the world. In this way, we seek to critically engage with and start new conversations around a multitude of themes and issues in tourism studies, centred in and drawn from the Asia-Pacific.
Atlas Critical Tourism Studies-Asia Pacific (ACTS-AP) is an international, interdisciplinary consortium for scholars, tourism practitioners and professionals, community members, travelers and travel writers. ACTS-AP facilitates networking opportunities, the exchange of ideas, research collaboration as well as conversations that critically address contemporary issues in tourism studies.
ACTS-AP recognizes the multiple stakeholders in tourism. We welcome the diverse and sometimes disparate perspectives that these stakeholders bring to the table as we endeavor to broaden our understanding of tourism as both a subject of scholarly critique and one of the largest industries in the world. In this way, we seek to critically engage with and start new conversations around a multitude of themes and issues in tourism studies, centred in and drawn from the Asia-Pacific.
Registration Fees – Kyoto 2026 - Deadline for Early Bird registrations: 30th Nov 2025
Classification of economies follows ATLAS’ adoption of World Bank data:
https://atlas-euro.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ATLAS-membership-fee-structure-NEW-2025-presentation.pdf
Early Bird fees
Regular Fees
Co-Chairs
Professor Chin Ee Ong, Macao University of Tourism, Macao China
Associate Professor Jamie Gillen, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Dean and Professor Hideki Endo, Ritsumeikan Universityu, Japan
Organizing Committee
Associate Professor Husna Zainal Abidin, Wakayama University, Japan
Professor Joseph Cheer, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Associate Professor Jeremy Lemarie, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France
Associate Professor Meng Qu, Hokkaido University, Japan
Associate Professor Harng Luh Sin, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
Associate Professor Ding Xu, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
Lecturer Xueke (Stephanie) Yang, Beijing Normal University-Zhuhai, China
Assistant Professor Zhang Linghan, Kanazawa University, Japan
Professor Chin Ee Ong, Macao University of Tourism, Macao China
Associate Professor Jamie Gillen, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Dean and Professor Hideki Endo, Ritsumeikan Universityu, Japan
Organizing Committee
Associate Professor Husna Zainal Abidin, Wakayama University, Japan
Professor Joseph Cheer, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Associate Professor Jeremy Lemarie, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France
Associate Professor Meng Qu, Hokkaido University, Japan
Associate Professor Harng Luh Sin, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
Associate Professor Ding Xu, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
Lecturer Xueke (Stephanie) Yang, Beijing Normal University-Zhuhai, China
Assistant Professor Zhang Linghan, Kanazawa University, Japan