Sex Tourism

The aim or target of the literature explains what sex tourism is and with the consideration of what is involved now the paper mentions that sex tourism involves opportunities and creating relationships regarding prostitution, what the intention of a visit is for pleasure relaxation or just becoming involved in a sexual meeting also the type of critics who like to travel to do these activities. Now to identify what constitutes sex tourism firstly a sex tourist needs to be recognised but the main perspective involves what sex standards are how to recognise and overcome them. According to Hansen (1997). There are many tourists to go for sexual satisfaction for an enjoyable experience there is also the use of virtual sex there are websites which can be used for sexual experience using cyberspace. Also with the help of another source the paper argues that sex tourism is a way of unorthodox behaviour but according to Kinder (1999) the behaviour is too much that it can also be denied to people because it is a fantasy an act which is not allowed to be fulfilled. With the understanding of the above abstract it has come to my attention that sex tourism can be denied or accepted depending on the social aspect of the way behaviour is shown it is for satisfaction purposes but there are other risks that can be very effective according to Herald(1992) tourists are taking great risk when they are not in their senses they can get diseases such as HIV most sex tourists do not use condoms or carry condoms and with the help of research 34% of people from Switzerland use condoms while abroad. Sex tourism is quite dangerous and for no use of condoms HIV is becoming a consistent problem and spreading diseases in sex tourism countries. With reading the information is very important to have protection when approaching a sexual encounter mating or just having fun there are responsibilities and actions which need to took into consideration the percentage of HIV has increased and it is increasing at an alarming rate so there needs to be an age limit for this. Also teenagers are becoming vulnerable to this as Thailand is well known for sex tourism but the main problem which is not being disused is the consequences which can be caused upon behaviour which is the main theme behind the problem there is a lack of motivation as to how to approach a country involved with these open sources. So in a way all the authors state what sex tourism is what the specifics are but the other two authors touch upon how the behaviour is seen. Now taking this into consideration there needs to be standards as to what needs to be done because there are too many risks and with the help of further analysis more research can be done as to what solutions there are which are probable and helpful in a way to sex tourism. The more information which is found on sex tourism then advantages and disadvantages will allow a person to think of the subject there will be people who will have different views and opinions but the argument does not stop there and it something which should be addressed






• Martin Oppermann1
• 1 Griffith University-Gold Coast, Australia
• Received 12 March 1997. Accepted 5 April 1998. Available online 27 April 1999.
• Chris Ryan,
• Rachel Kinder
• Department of Management Systems, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
• Available online 26 February 1999.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12286016

The general gist I get from this paper is that sex tourism is causing the spread of HIV and STI\'S, and those that par take in sex tourism are those that travel abroad for specific sexual intentions.


Firstly, though there may be much literature, as pointed out suggesting that the HIV virus is being spread in this industry there is literature to suggest otherwise. Vanwesenbeeck et al (1993) conducted a study into the sex customers finding that the majority focused on condom use. The study found that 95% of European men who paid for sex used condoms.

In the paper the referral is made to prostitution, is sex tourism and prostitution the same thing? Travelling abroad for sexual purposes I agree is sex tourism, arguing however, that holidays such as club 18-30 (which is where the promotion of sex is used openly to promote these types of holidays) and sex is one of the main motivating factors for going on this type of vacation is also a type of sex tourism. 18-30 year olds pick these holidays for reasons such as sex... On paper the same reasons why middle class males travel to countries such as the Philippines and Thailand... for sex, the same reasons for club 18-30 holidays. These holidays have the same credentials on paper... \'Going on holiday for sex\' the biggest difference is sex holidays to Thailand etc are those for paid sex purposes.

this brings me onto the argument that is sex tourism not that of going on holiday for sex? The answer I feel is yes... So voluntary sexual encounters like par taking in sexual activities whilst on holiday should be tarred with the sex tourism brush, and paid sex holidays is that as mentioned in the paper is that because this paid sex happens on holiday it is a type of tourism? Paying for sex is prostitution in and country so making into a type of tourism is another way of glorifying prostitution.

Finally, it is suggested that their should be an age limit on the women that are offering such services, because of the HIV risk...but if HIV is being spread across the sex tourism board then age is irrelevant in this case.

Sophie Richardson

University of Lincoln

Grabelnikova has made a point about the connection of spreading diseases such as HIV and STI/'S through having sex and not using a condom. There are no references made in the paper to back this up.

Many youngsters go on holiday with their friends as a way of getting away from family and just going to have a good time away from home. Bauer and McKercher (2003) recognise that when people are on holiday there is certain level of behaviour that is more tolerated than if they were at home, this could relate to the place in which the tourist falls within the social order or even about their body image, with people who are more conscious becoming less worried and become the person they want to be at home. When people go on holiday with friends, they automatically think of the club 18-30's holidays which are holidays that have a reputation of young tourists visiting destinations for a holiday full of sun, sea, sand, alcohol and sex. Although this is a generalisation, as not everyone goes on holiday with friends thinking about sex, it is becoming a more common way of thinking for youngsters when going on holiday with friends.

Moving on, Grabelnikova also pointed out that their needs to be an age restriction however, there is no specific reference as to what there should be an age restriction on and if referring to sex then it needs to be recognised that there is already a legal age limit in some countries but not all. Prostitution is also referred to as sex tourism but are they really the same thing? This is something which can be looked at in further detail for further research ideas.

Overall sex tourism can be interpreted into all sorts of meaning depending on the person and the context that it is used in. It is not a one dimensional term and cannot be easily categorised.This topic is very interesting and intriguing which first attracted me to it however, more research is needed into a topic of such a broad range of opinions and facts. The use of academic references seems to very limited and old which has left a gap in this research as things may have changed in the world especially within the sex tourism sector. More up to date references need to be used in order for research and findings to be reliable.

Bauer, T. G. and McKercher, B. (2003). Sex and tourism: journeys of romance, love, and lust. London: Haworth Hospitality Press.