In the aftermath of World War I, the beaten paths of tourism guided an increasing number of international tourists to the hinterlands of the Arab Eastern Mediterranean, where they would admire pyramids and Roman ruins. Yet they were not the only visitors: Arab nationalists gathered in summer resorts, and Yishuvi skiing clubs practised on Lebanese mountain slopes. By catering to these travellers, local tour guides and advocates of tourism development pursued their agendas. The book unearths unexpected connections between tourism and the emergence of nation-states in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Arab middle-class actors striving for independence, Zionist settlers and mandate officials presented their visions of the post-Ottoman spatial order to an international audience of tourists. At the same time, mobilities and infrastructures of tourism shaped the material conditions of this order. Tourism thus helps us to understand the transformations of Arab societies in their global context, and its history is a colourful story of the emergence of the modern Middle East.

Jasmin Daam worked as a teaching and research assistant at the University of Kassel (Germany) at the chair for Global History from 2015 to 2020. In addition, she has been a member of the research network ‘The Modern Mediterranean: Dynamics of a World Region, 1800-2000’ since 2016.

"Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Note on Transliteration
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements

1. Introduction
References
2. Space of sovereignty: Abolishing the colonial order of tourism in Egypt?
Turning away: Photographing authenticity in times of transformation
Negotiating tourism: Ambitions and limits of Egyptian tourism development
Recreating Egyptian tourist spaces
Conclusion
References
3. New tourists, new attractions, ‘New Palestine’: Implementing a new tourist space in Mandate Palestine
Relegating the Holy Land to the past: New mediators for the present
The ‘conquest of tourism’: Reaching out to tourists
Creating ‘New Palestine’: Tourism development as a territorial claim
Conclusion
References
4. Contested rule and fragmented space in French Mandate Syria
The two sides of the same postcard
Urban pride and the imperial politics of tourism
No common ground: The divided landscapes of tourism in Syria
Conclusion
References
5. Lebanon: The tourist nation-state
Brochures: Outlining a nation
High Seasons, low seasons: The Franco-Lebanese relationship in terms of tourism
Topography of a tourist nation-state
Conclusion
References
Conclusion: Tourist transformations
A middle-class project
Tourism as a transformative resource
The tourist’s age
References

Index of persons, associations and enterprises
Index of places
Notes on persons, associations and enterprises

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