Shayan Lallani is a historian of tourism and globalization, specializing in the cultural history of the US-Caribbean cruise industry.
His research explores how the rise of the mass-market cruise industry has shaped cultural exchange and economic relationships between the United States and the Caribbean. He examines the historical impact of tourism on local communities, its role in reinforcing global power structures, and the ways in which cultural identities have been negotiated within these transnational spaces. His work has appeared in Globalizations, Journal of Tourism History, Food, Culture & Society, and Games & Culture.
Shayan’s book, Engineered Paradise: Cultural Power and the Making of the Caribbean Cruise Industry—forthcoming with the University of Illinois Press—examines the modern cruise ship as a sophisticated cultural production system that packages global difference into themed, consumable experiences for the American middle class. By tracing the industry’s evolution since the 1960s, it reveals how these floating resorts act as mobile sites of corporate power, using orchestrated simulations of authenticity and controlled port enclaves to shape how millions of travelers perceive the Caribbean and the wider global order.
Beyond his research, Shayan applies these insights to destination development, advancing initiatives that prioritize sustainable economic growth and meaningful cultural storytelling in the tourism sector.
Shayan Lallani, PhD 