Social Justice in Tourism, Hospitality, Events and Leisure

We are pleased to invite you to the Tourism Research Centre Annual Symposium 2026 on ‘Social Justice in Tourism, Hospitality, Events and Leisure’ hosted at Edinburgh Napier University on the 4th June 2026, with keynotes from Prof Kate Dashper (Leeds Beckett University) and Prof Sandro Carnicelli (University of the West of Scotland).

The symposium aims to foster critical dialogue, interdisciplinary exchange and collaborative thinking around how tourism, hospitality, events and leisure can contribute to more just and equitable futures.

In an era of rapid global change, questions of social justice have moved from the margins to the centre of public, political and academic debate. Discourses of social justice have become increasingly embedded within social and cultural life across national and transnational levels (Cock et al., 2025). Initiatives such as the establishment of the Centre for Social Justice, global movements like Black Lives Matter, and the United Nations’ World Day of Social Justice highlight growing recognition of inequality, exclusion and injustice at multiple scales (Cock et al., 2025). At the same time, pertinent issues within the broad realm of social justice, such as climate justice, gender and LGBTQ rights, the right to fair work and more, are far from being universally agreed on.

Controversies surrounding the social justice dimensions of events- and tourism-related policies have become more visible, amplified by mainstream and social media, and have raised international awareness of malpractice, inequality and exclusion (Finkel, 2015). This is highlighted by Büscher (2017), who argued that ‘Tourism [events, hospitality and leisure], as any form of commodity production, produces inequalities’ and simultaneously ‘depends upon inequalities’ (p.657). Research in these areas has explored social justice issues in relation to gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, migration and refugee experiences, disability, social class, environmental justice, intersectionality and other themes. However, there is no single agreed-upon definition of social justice, nor consensus on how its principles should be implemented in practice. Moreover, within academic research, Stewart (2014) highlighted the distinctions between descriptive, explanatory and transformative approaches to social justice research, raising critical questions about whether scholars should aim merely to analyse injustice or actively seek social change through praxis. Furthermore, a social justice lens raises fundamental questions about whose interests are prioritised, how benefits and burdens are distributed, and how inequalities linked to power, representation and access are produced or challenged through policies, practices, and consumption (Finkel, 2015). Thus, there remains a clear need to critically examine how tourism, hospitality, events and leisure intersect with ongoing power imbalances and processes of marginalisation (Cock et al., 2025).

Against this backdrop, this symposium brings together academics and practitioners to discuss social justice in tourism, hospitality, events and leisure, from conceptual, empirical, practical and methodological angles. We will explore themes including but not limited to:

• Social justice, ethics and responsibility in tourism, hospitality and events
• Integration of social justice debates in tourism, events, leisure and hospitality education
• The Right to Leisure: Reimagining leisure as a fundamental human right rather than a luxury.
• Community impacts, participation and empowerment
• Inequality, power and representation in destinations and organisations
• Race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and intersectionality
• Disability, accessibility and inclusive design
• Migration, labour, precarity and workers’ rights
• Environmental justice and sustainable futures
• Methodological and theoretical approaches to social justice research (e.g. creative/visual/participatory methods)

Any questions about the symposium, please reach out directly to: [email protected]

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Host or Publisher Edinburgh Napier University