Lecture 11

Question 1

What is postmodernism?

Answer 1

Postmodernists emphasize subjective and negotiated characteristics
over more reductionist and rigid notions.
-there is negotiatioin about that the tourist iss
-tousits kinda seen as lesser than and a noussance, thiis is a trope and we need to get over it

Question 2

What can locals refer to tourists as?

Answer 2

Fatuous…
Lazy…
Ignorant…
‘Dumb’…
- Easy stereotypes, you know your ciity and know where evrethiing iss compared to tourists
- Can be seen as ignorant local ways and in the way

Question 3

Why is there such negative connotations towards tourists?

Answer 3

In part because of it’s wealth and power –

the USA gets the brunt of tourism stereotypes.

Question 4

Why is it important to identify stereotypes of tourists?

Answer 4

-important to identiiy stereotypes to expose our biases

These stereotypes are perhaps more about the tourist than the American

Question 5

What are the 7 tourist stereotypes?

Answer 5

Social Media addict
guidebook Hugger
Disillusioned old hand
Package old hand
Package tourist
Backpacker
Delux tourist
Tour group Member

Question 6

What is the social media addict?

Answer 6

“The Wi-fi-hogging, selfie-stick-wielding approval seekers of the tourist circuit…
…indexing, applying “glamour glow” filters and sharing the snaps across multiple social-media plat­forms keeps these smartphone obsessives so busy they have no idea where they are or what they are looking at.”
-modern stereotype, someone is more self absorbed, taking b=pics of themselves but have no interest as to where they are

Question 7

What is the guidebook hugger?

Answer 7

“A highlighter-pen-clutching conformist seeking order in an uncertain world, the GH carries the latest Lonely Planet edition – with a Rough Guide for extra insurance…
…going off the beaten track fills them with dread although, as everyone else knows, the best places don’t appear in any tourist literature.”
-predate social media addict,

Question 8

What is the disillusioned old hand?

Answer 8

“Usually male, usually middle-aged, they have been everywhere you have, but back when it was cool … DOHs remember when “it was all fields around here” and how amazing the town was until tourists ruined it…
…DOH is dismissive of … backpackers, with their smartphones and “save the planet” nonsense. The pampered youngsters don’t even party as hard as he used to, back in the day.”

Question 9

What is the package tourist?

Answer 9

“The package tourist requires nothing more than a nice hotel, a sunbed near the poolside bar and a couple of restaurants within walking distance. PTs aren’t especially interested in reading about a holiday resort … so pre-trip preparation is limited to buying sunblock…
…they can be coaxed into joining a half-day cultural coach tour but only because it finishes at a shopping mall…”
-good if traveling alone, or older and don’t want to walk, or want to be shown around by a expert,

Question 10

What is the backpacker?

Answer 10

“Near identical guidebook-dictated migratory patterns seem at odds with the backpackers’ mantra of being independent spirits. Contempt for package tourists “who make no attempt to understand the local culture”…
…status is gained by time on the road and “living like a local”, although this is less about embracing indigenous traditions and values and more about making the cheapest choices.”
-more authentic experience, judgemental

Question 11

What is the deluxe tourist?

Answer 11

“The DT moves in a parallel travel uni­verse of first-class departure lounges, opulent hotels and designer boutiques, which means the rest of us don’t bump into him very often … these sensual-pleasure seekers flit between luxury spa treatments and gourmet restaurants (preferably an all-glass undersea dining experience)…
	…well-heeled and immaculately dressed, DTs have all the gear but usually no idea.”
-don’t have to wait with the rest of uss, they don’t go with the people in the street, taken around via luxery cars

Question 12

What is the tour group member?

Answer 12

“Often misled by their travel agent, flag-following TGMs think they have booked an upmarket adventure, only to discover the sight­seeing bus is on its last legs and the hotel is due for demolition…
…TGMs can’t remember the names of all nine countries they will be visiting in the next six days, preferring to be educated (bombarded with facts and figures) along the way.”
-common, if you have a sshort period of time

Question 13

What does a stereotype do?

Answer 13

Like all stereotypes, they are oversimplified – taking the actions/traits of a few and placing them on the whole.

Question 14

In the literature how are tourist portrayed?

Answer 14

in the academic study of
tourism, tourists have been represented in an overwhelmingly negative light…
…and often in critical or sociological studies in deference to more ‘superior’ forms of
travel, such as backpacking.
-find the same thing in the literature

Question 15

What are the 4 developments in tourists experience research?

Answer 15

1
“…a reconsideration of the distinctiveness of tourism from our everyday life experiences.”
-toursm is disstinct from everyday life experience, living a different way than we do at home
2
“…a shift from homogenizing portrayals of the tourist as a general type
to pluralizing depictions that capture the multiplicity of the experience.”
-looknig at how every tourisst eens that world differently
3
“…a shifted focus from the displayed objects provided by the industry
to the subjective negotiation of meanings as a determinant of the experience.”
- no longer focusing on what tourism industry is provding, noow at the negotatoin of =meetins between tourist and host
4
“…and a movement from
decisive academic discourse, which conceptualizes the experience in terms of absolute truths, toward relative and complementary interpretations.”
-moved away from tryingi to find abolute truths,

Question 16

How do we understand the wider social discourse of tourism?

Answer 16

-ask tourists what tourist thiink of tourists

Question 17

How doe tourists layperson use of terms?

Answer 17

When tourists categorize, classify and
otherwise label people and leisure travel activities, is never neutral or meaningless.
People talk about their holidaying/travel/tourist experiences (and those of others) in reference to social/cultural discourses of holiday and social life.
People classify their own behaviour in relation to that of others and use terms and categories in specific associated ways.

Question 18

According to Cohen what its the 4 tourists typologies ?

Answer 18

1) The organized mass tourist;
Not adventurous / little contact with locals /
stays in a bubble / ready-made packages
2) The individual mass tourist;
More flexible than OMT / still in a bubble with relatively little local contact / organised tours / more personal choice though
-itinierary and they tell them wht to see but they can also go wherever
3) The explorer;
Organises their own vacation / leaves typical tourist areas / seeks comfort in accommodation / willing to leave the bubble though
4) The drifter.
Does not use typical tourism industry / flexible in all ways including itinerary / mixes often with locals / outside of comfort zone of home
-miixing a lot with locals, want a very different experience

Question 19

What is the difference between thee 4 tourist typologies according to Cohen?

Answer 19

ohen argued that the main differentiating factor consisted of the degree of familiarity/strangeness sought or experienced by people in a continuum of types of touristic experiences.

going from familiarity to strangeness as you go down the list
-going from institutional to inidividual as you go down the list

Question 20

What are the 5 different tourist experience typologies according to Cohen?

Answer 20

The recreational tourist;
Looking for physical recreation. Will aim to ‘recreate’ as a form of escape from the strains and stresses of conformity.
-
The diversionary tourist;
Looking to forget their everyday life. An alternative to the boredom and routine of their own society but without any meaning itself.
-just looknig to get away from life
The experiential tourist;
Looking for authentic experiences. Actively seeks meaning and authenticity in the life of others through tourism. Aware of ‘otherness’.
-not justr traveling thorugh a space, and they want the authentic place, they are aware others are there and they are looking for them
The experimental tourist;
Looking for contact with local people. Looking for alternatives to their own society.
-want to finid something different
The existential tourist.
Looking for total immersion in a different culture. Alienated from their own society and more concerned with seeking an alternative.
-looking to change from their everyday life

Question 21

What happens when we go from reecreeatoinal tourist to existential tourists ?

Answer 21

• Decreasingly attached to the centre of their own society as you go down the list
• Increasingly seeking authenticity as you go down list

Question 22

What did Gottlieb say about tourism to challenge Cohn?

Answer 22

Gottlieb challenged Cohen’s view that tourist experience can be
‘meaningless’, or based on ‘false consciousness’ and found that…
“research should proceed from the premise that what the vacationer experiences is real, valid and fulfilling, no matter how ‘superficial’ it may seem to the social scientist”
-was treated as a suuperficial experience, but to vacationer it is very real for them

Question 23

What unique idea did Gottlieb propose?

Answer 23

Proposed a unique idea that Americans often invert their class-based everyday and work roles in their holidays to become…
‘Peasant for a day’ (upper to lower class)
or
‘Queen/King for a day’ (low to up)
…depending on the class of person.

Question 24

What are thee 2 polar types based on Gottlieb?

Answer 24

Higher-class individuals seek to invert to lower-class experiences.
	Lower/middle-class individuals seek to accentuate their status to a higher class.

Question 25

What is the difference between form of institution and type of tourist?

Answer 25

10) “Form” …Visible institutional arrangements and practices by which tourists organize their journey:

“Type of Tourist” …Less tangible psychological attributes, such as:
-tourists’ attitudes toward

Question 26

What do we look at when talking about form of institution?

Answer 26

• Length of trip
• Flexibility of the itinerary
• Visited destinations and attractions
• Means of transportation/ accommodation
• Contact with locals

Question 27

What do we have we come to see the tourist as?

Answer 27

Subjective
and
Negotiated

…based on personal feelings/opinions…
…defined collectively through discussion…

Question 28

Why can tourist be ignorant to other tourist?

Answer 28

“I’ve heard many friends in full touristic swing say that they
don’t want to mix with tourists,
not realizing that even though they don’t mix with them,
they are just as much tourists
as the others”
-ignoring the fac tthat they themselves are tourists even when they say they don’t want to mix with them

Question 29

What is the anti-tourist?

Answer 29

The anti-tourist…
“it is often assumed that many anti-tourists believe that the possibilities of experiencing something authentic and typical are
inversely proportional to the number of tourists present in an area”

This suggests a nostalgic attitude –
when good tourist experiences only happened in the past.
However, McCabe proposes that not all tourists inevitably display such attitudes

Question 30

What area the 3 fundamental stages of the package tourist?

Answer 30

1) Escape from everyday life;
2) Pursuit of pleasure, and;
3) Ontological security (a sense of order/continuity).

Question 31

According to sickens what are the 5 tourist types?

Answer 31

The Heliolatrous:
-wants and expects sunny climates, clean beaches; want and expect a hot/easy/sunny experience
The Cultural Heritage type
-expects to experience the culture/hospitality; go into town, looknig a little deeping into culture and heritage
The Shirley Valentine type
-seeks a holiday romance;
The Raver
-desires sexual adventure; hits the islands to party
The Lord Byron
-wants to be special, involved in the hosts lives.: seeking authentic experience, don’t want to be there for the same reasons the other tourists are there for

Question 32

What is unique about the concept of tourist?

Answer 32

Through these examples and others presented in the reading, we see that…
“many researchers into the tourist experience find similarities in the ways
their respondents construct their own activities
in relation to those of others.”
“…such constructions do
appear to be cross-cultural.”
-research shows this is true across all cultures

Question 33

What do tourist construct their identities in relation to?

Answer 33

Tourists construct identities for themselves in relation to places.
-see themsevels as someone who wants that authentic experience

Question 34

What does it mean to be a smart or local tourist?

Answer 34

Being a smart tourist – reducing your negative impact…

Being a local tourist – what do you think about this sort of tourism – what is this sort of tourist seeking?