Academic Freedom in the Tourism and Hospitality Literature: A Review and Call for Action

Abstract

Academic freedom, the cornerstone of intellectual inquiry, has been a subject of reflection and debate. Whereas it is a fairly common topic in disciplines such as higher education, relevant discussion in tourism and hospitality is limited: a systematic review, described in this chapter, revealed a mere five articles within the literature in this field. The chapter highlights the need to focus on academic freedom from an interdisciplinary perspective in order to further develop tourism and hospitality's reputation. A call for action is made by underlining potential constraints to academic freedom in this context and how removing these barriers can promote innovation and nurture a new generation of professionals. Overall, more voices and joint efforts are needed to foster academic freedom. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Jun Wen, Metin Kozak, Joshua Aston and Wei Wang; individual chapters, the contributors.