Towards a history of tourism in Solomon Islands

Researchers of tourism histories have mainly focused on documenting the process as it has happened in the Western world. It is suggested that this is because the academic study of tourism has traditionally been a Western discipline. This paper initiates the documentation of the historical development of tourism in Solomon Islands, a small island country in the Southwest Pacific. The British colonial experience and the proximity of Solomon Islands to Australia have both been strong influences on the directions tourism has taken throughout the last century— for better and for worse. The construction of this tourism history indicates the diversity of sources that researchers must consult in order to pull together the disparate threads of the story.