Romance tourism

Researchers exploring how female tourists develop relationships with local males are less inclined to characterise it as prostitution. Pruitt and La Font (1995) studying the links formed between European and North American women and young Jamaican males suggest that there are elements of courtship, emotional involvement and sometimes sexual intimacy. The ways in which the predominantly white affluent women pay for or reward male participation appears to be more indirect than direct. Purchases of meals, drinks, clothes and souvenirs are common. De Albuquerque (1998) has suggested that this is still prostitution rather than romance tourism. Herold et al. (2001) disagree, arguing that consensual romantic relationship is a more apt description and that the sexual component is not a predominant motivator. 

Pruitt, D. and Lafont, S. (1995) Love and money Romance tourism in Jamaica. Annals of Tourism Research 22, 422-440. 

Pruit, D., and S. LaFont. 1995. For Love and Money Romance Tourism in Jamaica. Annals of Tourism Research 22.2 422-40. 

Bauer, T. and McKercher, R. (eds) (2003) Sex and Tourism Journeys of Romance, Love and Lust. Binghampton, NY Haworth. 

Herold, E., Garcia, R. and de Moya, T. (2001) Female tourists and beach boys Romance or sex tourism Annals of Tourism Research 28 (4), 978-997. 

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