Abstract
► Discusses the methodological potential of arts-based participatory approaches. ► Explores participant involvement and empowerment in an arts-based participatory project. ► Addresses public engagement and (co)transformation in tourism enquiry. ► Engages with the ethics of data ownership and anonymity in tourism.
This paper contributes to tourism’s conceptual, methodological and ethical debates by discussing the potential offered by arts-based participatory approaches to enrich tourism knowledge and promote co-transformation at a number of levels. To demonstrate the value of this approach, we discuss how a group of Central and Eastern European (CEE) migrant women engaged with a research project and created artworks to represent their trajectories, mobilities, identities and tourism employment experiences. We outline the benefits and limitations of the methodology and explore how it impacts on: participant involvement and empowerment; voices, self-representation and public engagement; participant, researcher and community (co)transformation; ownership and anonymity.