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Theories of Tourism - Lecture Notes | GEOG 494, Study notes of Political Geography

Material Type: Notes; Class: Sp Top: Middle East; University: University of Hawaii at Hilo; Term: Unknown 1989;

Typology: Study notes

2009/2010

Uploaded on 04/12/2010

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Theories of
Tourism
What is tourism?
Temporary travel for pleasure
World’s largest industry
Involves nearly everyone as either “host” or “guest”
Involves movement across space and is concerned
with place
Tourism presupposes its opposite: work
A global social system?
Tourism and identity
Tourism shapes our worldview
We may make judgments based on a single experience
of a place, e.g.:
o India—“dirty and impoverished”
o California—“crowded and polluted”
o Italy—“romantic and stylish”
o Hawai’i—“tropical paradise”
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Theories of

Tourism

What is tourism?

  • Temporary travel for pleasure
  • World’s largest industry
  • Involves nearly everyone as either “host” or “guest”
  • Involves movement across space and is concerned with place
  • Tourism presupposes its opposite: work
  • A global social system?

Tourism and identity

  • Tourism shapes our worldview
  • We may make judgments based on a single experience of a place, e.g.: o India—“dirty and impoverished” o California—“crowded and polluted” o Italy—“romantic and stylish” o Hawai’i—“tropical paradise”
  • Travel experiences may shape our own identity ( w e do it this way) and the identity of others ( they do it that way) Tourist Types
  • General Division o “Traveler” ƒ works to understand the place, longer trips, individually-planned, self-reliant o “Tourist” ƒ superficial interest, shorter trips, group tours or charters, relies on agents, expects same amenities

o Is the above a valid distinction? o No one wants to be labeled a “tourist”

  • Valene Smith’s 7 Demand-Based Categories o Explorer ƒ small numbers, looking for discovery and involvement with local culture o Elite ƒ special individually-tailored visits to exotic places o Off-Beat ƒ desire to get away from crowds o Unusual

o Existential ƒ tourist acquires a new spiritual center

Tourist Motivations

  • Why do people travel? What do they want to see and do?
  • Most common reasons Americans give for overseas travel: o change of environment o cultural attractions o new experiences o to see how others live o visit family and friends

Motivational Theories

  • Daniel Boorstin (American Historian) o The tourist wants to experience the idea of another culture, not the “real” culture; the tourist wants pre-existing ideas confirmed ƒ Examples: Italy, Japan, Hawai’i
  • Dean MacCannnell (American Sociologist)

o Tourists are searching for authentic experiences in other places and times; assumes modern life is empty and inauthentic o Tourist as modern pilgrim seeking the authentic (compare with religious pilgrimages) o “Site Sacralization”: constructing meaning at the site ƒ Examples: Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower, Waikiki Beach o “Staged Authenticity”: the tourist cannot get beyond the staged attraction and thus cannot experience the authentic ƒ Examples: Polynesian Cultural Center, hotel lu’aus o Semiotic approach to tourism (analysis of signs and how meaning is constructed through them)

  • John Urry (British Sociologist) o Authenticity is not the basis of tourism; rather, the tourist is seeking a change from work and routine, a complete inversion of ordinary life (“king for a day” or “peasant for a day”) ƒ Examples: castles and palaces, experiences with “locals”
  • Umberto Eco (Italian Linguist and Novelist)