Tourism is the world's third largest industry, employing high numbers of women in industrialized and developing countries. This text examines the central role played by women in the tourism industry. It discusses the nature of their work and the ways in which tourism creates tensions between the attitude and conduct of tourists and the beliefs and behaviour of local women. By studying a range of tourist destinations across the world, the author demonstrates how women have been excluded from some occupations and how their work in others is associated with ideologies of gender and social sexuality. This work should be of use to professionals and students in women's studies, sociology, anthropology, economics and geography, tourism and leisure studies.