Introduction Tourism the characteristics of tourism The tourist attractions The characteristics of the tourist (identities) Learning Outcomes 2:Identify a range of concepts in analysing media texts (travel brochures and tourism videos) 1
The Tourist Q: List any places you have visited for pleasure in the last two years? Q: Why did you choose to go there? Q: Would you go back? (If you want you can discuss with someone sitting next to you) 2
Characteristics of Tourism Leisure activity Temporary Away from home Organised work Permanent Home Holiday brochures Meanings are encoded Shared understandings Meanings are produced and circulated Lifestyles Mass tourism characteristic of modern life and is a status Social practices of tourism Visiting other cultures is not new 3
The extraordinary Experiencing the extraordinary through travel The sacred and profane Durkheim To know the sacred one has to leave ordinary life Tourists may be looking for the authentic Gazing on reconstruction of real life Q: What places are tourist shrines (in your own country or elsewhere)? Q: What are your expectations/hopes when setting out on a holiday? Q: How are these met by the actual experiences you encounter? 4
Characteristics of Tourism The guides produced tell us What we will see/what we are expected to see/how to understand and interpret what we see Representation of certain places in certain ways E.g. Paris as city of Romance Urry (The Tourist Gaze John Urry) Conventions of everyday life left behind Liminal space enable us to experience heightened emotions May be artificially constructed 5
Tourist attractions Consider a tourist attraction you know e.g. Niagara Falls Different groups may see this differently For example Planners, officials, people who live and work there, people employed in the tourist industry, tourists Unwelcome despoilers to a place Income through tourism Nexus of shared understandings through conflicting interests, individual experience, economic interest, policy decisions Lead to the created environment 6
Tourism and Identities Homogenous identity the tourist Tourist identity exists in relation to the hosts Identities are relational Identified by different clothing, language, cameras etc. May not come into contact with local people except those who work in the tourist industry Huge industries service tourist needs But there is no single tourist type Tourist seeks recreation and diversion Traveller seeks perceived authentic (https://youtu.be/z9fh8u7izjc ) 7
Tourist Gaze Tourist gaze Experience of looking on unfamiliar world Romantic gaze demands solitude, privacy and personal relationship with the object Collective gaze requires other people carnivalesque e.g. Disneyland Tourism mass industry, pleasure seekers Creation of historical sites and historical lifestyles as visitor attractions (heritage) 8
Animals and Tourism Animals used in tourism Tigers in Thailand Tigers in Thailand exposed Crocodile and live chicken Our view of animals depends on whether we see them as having inherent value Moral agents or moral patients Cohen rights: species by species basis Eco-tourism may take animal interests into account But animals may still be exploited for commercial use. 9
Summary of Key Ideas Ideas about the tourist and characteristics of tourism Ideas about the tourist/traveller and the tourist gaze The sacred and pilgrimage Different interests in tourism (with different interpretations Identities in relation to tourists Animals and tourism Tourist brochures as media and cultural studies texts Tourist advertisements can be studied as well 10
References Barker, C. (2008) Cultural Studies. Theory and Practice. London, Sage. Fennell, D. A. (2012) Tourism and Animal Rights. Tourism Recreation Research. Vol. 37(2), pp. 157-166. Giles, J. and Middleton, T. (2008) Studying Culture. A Practical Introduction. Oxford, Blackwell. Longhurst, B., Smith, G., Bagnall, G., Crawford, G., Ogborn, M., Baldwin, E. and McCracken, S. (2008) Introducing Cultural Studies.Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd. 11