Sun, sea and sexual violence: the political economy of party tourism

Abstract Why is sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) permissible in party tourism destinations, and what are the factors enabling its silencing? We use a 2019 case of alleged rape in the resort of Ayia Napa, Cyprus, as a starting-point from which to explore this question. Existing research on SGBV in tourism is limited, focusing mostly on survivors who are workers rather than tourists. Therefore, we develop an original framework that understands SGBV as the result of the socio-spatial and political–economic dynamics within ‘tourism bubbles’. Drawing on existing literature on Ayia Napa and other party tourism destinations, we apply the framework to reveal 1) how tourism businesses create liminal bubbles centred on non-stop partying; 2) how these bubbles promote excessive, predatory masculinities; and 3) how capitalist competition among tourism-dependent economies pressures stakeholders to protect these bubbles to sustain place reputation and preserve economic revenues. These dynamics mask and reinforce the gendered hierarchies that enable SGBV, while silencing allegations to prevent economic damage. We conclude by highlighting the implications of our framework for examining and addressing SGBV not only in party tourism but also in other types of tourism bubbles, arguing that SGBV is linked to the structural violence and inequalities inherent in the tourism bubble as a model of tourism development.