Chapter 1: Introduction: Building Bridges in European Geographies of Tourism

In an era when European countries and, in particular, the European Union as an institution are facing serious economic and social challenges, linguistic diversity remains one of the defining characteristics (or even strengths) that sets apart Europe as a continent and as an academic domain. Similarly, the way in which European academia deals with multilingualism has serious implications for international relationships, knowledge transfer, and the dissemination of academic production, particularly where the latter influences policy formation at a large scale.

As Phillipson (2003) argues, there has been increasing concern that language policy in Europe (and by extension, in European academic circles) is not inclusive enough and the question remains whether the contemporary expansion of English represents a serious threat to other European languages. Indeed, in discussing the language policies that the Third World inherited from colonialism, Phillipson argues: