Artists' positioning in and creating authentic identities through place and tourism in New Orleans's Jackson Square

In this paper, I explore how artist identities are constructed in relation to processes associated with tourism and a tourist site in New Orleans. My analysis draws from literatures concerning art, tourism art, and artist identities as well as from Goffman's work on identity, particularly in relation to impression management through setting, appearances, and manners in front and back regions. Relying on archival and ethnographic data, I show how facets of the ‘venerated artist’ social identity, tourism, and a nostalgic historical geography have privileged the place of artists in Jackson Square's Pedestrian Mall and supported the construction of authentic personal and felt artist identities. However, in these same ways, potentially progressive cultural practices associated with art, place, and identities are foreclosed, creating a variety of exclusionary issues.     

The British working class on holiday: a critical reading of ITV's Benidorm

Informed by the thesis that media representations are influential channels for the birth and reinforcement of discursive constructions, this article will focus on representation in ITV's successful sitcom Benidorm (2007–). The corpus analysed includes the show's first four seasons and 2009 special, which are all the Benidorm materials available on DVD at the time of writing. Given this TV production's subject matter, insights will be provided into Spain's sand-and-sun tourism industry, with particular reference to the resort of Benidorm. Benidorm will be placed within the wider British sitcom tradition and humour will be treated as intersecting with power and social structures and so inseparable from social and national discourses. The interface will be explored between televised humour and the discourses of tourism, with particular reference to current British identity issues such as how British classed identities perceive Other imagined communities, in particular, Spain and the Spanish; and how such identities are performed spatially whilst on holiday.     

Naked and dirty: rethinking (not) attending festivals

This article draws together critical tourism studies and events tourism literature offering insights into the diverse motivations for, and barriers to, attending the predominantly lesbian and separatist feminist festival, Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Augmenting the literature on lesbian tourism, the article deploys a conceptualisation of festivals, such as gay pride, that seeks to contest dominant codes and norms as parties with politics. Using the data gathered from 222 qualitative questions, 10 interviews and 1 focus group, it explores the intertwining of music, feminist politics and temporality in understanding womyn's motivations in attending a separatist festival. Distinctively, it demonstrates how barriers to, and motivations for, attending festivals can be paradoxically mutually formative. In this way, it becomes possible both to question tick-box motivational frameworks and to explore festival times and spaces as (re)making tourist encounters. Thus, the article opens up considerations and theorisations of festival attendee' motivations looking to the complexities of experiences, motivations and time–space interactions.     

Performing identity and culture in Indigenous tourism – a study of Indigenous communities in Québec,Canada

The aim of this paper is to analyze the ways in which Indigenous tourism affects representations of identity and culture, and how tourism practices are described, negotiated and related to development in Indigenous communities. This aim is met through a study, including interviews and observations in Québec, Canada, where Indigenous tourism has received increased attention and economic importance in recent years. Tourism is put forward as positive for economic as well as social and cultural development, through alternative income opportunities and the revalorization of traditions and cultural practices. Individuals from four different ethnic nations were involved in the study: Innu (formerly known as Montagnais), Cree (Eeyou), Wôbanaki (Abénakis) and Hurons (Wendat). From the interviews conducted for this study, we find that Indigenous tourism influences the ways in which individuals see themselves, and how they perceive their identity and culture. Through the production of Indigenous tourism products, the notion of authenticity is challenged, and performed in ways that benefit contemporary life within the communities. But these performances may also reproduce or challenge traditional Indigenous identities, and fuel tensions and conflicts between different groups within the communities.     

The art of development: economic and cultural development through art in San Juan la Laguna,Guatemala

This paper examines how artisans experience economic and cultural changes through art sales to tourists in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala; the aim is to analyse experiences from hosts and producers in art tourism. Using a life course approach, the artists in this area expressed how they do not copy the art of their ancestors, but draw on their past to create new art that reflects their experiences, and sell it to tourists at a price they set. Painting on canvas and murals is a way to overcome historical discrimination based on their cultural identity while they explore and communicate their new identities to themselves and outsiders. Therefore the encounter at the art market strengthens both their economic identities and cultural identities. This is contradiction because the two goals are not necessarily complementary. I argue that the painters in San Juan illustrate the art of development because the painters artfully use their new economic and cultural identities to craft a space to negotiate the terms of the encounter with globalization to struggle for a better life.     

Beyond Sex Tourism: Gay Tourists and Male Sex Workers in Puerto Vallarta (Western Mexico)

Literature on sex tourism has largely focused on the experiences and opinions of heterosexual tourists. Filling a gap in the literature, this article gives voice to male sex workers, and it analyzes their reasons for engagement in sex services addressed to men in tourist‐oriented Puerto Vallarta (Mexico). By doing so, it explores the different layers of sex tourism that go beyond pure monetary transaction. This article also considers aspects regarding sexuality and identity in gay‐friendly Vallarta. It concludes that sexual practices are negotiated, but sexual identities do not. Rather than an identity based on sexual grounds, what binds the sex workers together is a common (gay) lifestyle. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A small place,by Jamaica Kincaid: envisioning literary tourism in Antigua

ABSTRACT

This work departs from a reading of the novelistic essay A small place (1988), by Jamaica Kincaid, to analyse the representation of the tourism industry and of tourists in Antigua (the author's birthplace). From there, we present Kincaid's text as ‘tourist literature’ (Hendrix, 2014), also aiming to contribute to the examination of tourism-centred literary texts. Within the context of literature and tourism studies as well as comparative studies, this paper examines Kincaid's literary text in order to consider the promotion of literary tourism in Antigua. This example is then considered in light of recent contributions from literary tourism, space production, community-based tourism, mass tourism as well as responsible and sustainable tourism. Literary heritage as a resource for the tourism industry could bring tourists and locals closer and conspire to break down barriers between the largely dark-skinned hosts and the white tourists in Antigua.     

Mediating touristic dangerscapes: the semiotics of state travel warnings issued to Israeli tourists

Official ‘travel warnings’ are recurrently published by the Counter-Terrorism Bureau in Israeli media, with the aim of informing potential tourists about the dangers of terrorism aimed at Israelis who travel abroad. These travel warnings, which juxtapose menacing warnings with tranquil visual representations of touristic vacationscapes, have recently gained a considerable public attention and have sprouted discussions around local tourism and identities. In this article, we offer a discursive and semiotic analysis of 55 travel warning articles, which appeared between 1998 and 2010 in printed and digital Hebrew press in Israel. We address visual and textual aspects of the articles and ask how they represent and mediate touristic vacationscapes. Following recent developments (‘turns’) in both tourism studies and media studies, we argue that these warnings articles construct multilayered spatial–visual representations of tourist destinations, which amount to a unique genre of tourism imagery in and of itself. Focussing on travel warnings addressing Israeli tourists who travel to the Eastern shores of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, we find that these combined or hybrid images and spaces present a convergence of two contemporary systems of representation, related to tourism and mass media, respectively, and construct a charged and mediated cultural space in Israeli collective imagination.     

Clustering and compatibility between tourism attractions

Cumulative attraction or compatibility is a powerful factor in locational decisions of retail outlets, but it has received little attention in the tourism literature. Existing studies largely ignore the impact of spatial and thematic clustering on compatibility between tourism businesses. This research questions whether and how spatial and thematic clustering are related to tourist movements between visitor attractions. The study in Cornwall, England, is based on in‐depth interviews with tourist attraction managers and key informants, complemented by a survey of 435 tourists. It provides insights into the relationship between the nature of the tourism product, spatial clustering and tourism behaviour. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Stuff of which Dreams are Made: Representations of the South Sea in German-language Tourist Brochures

The ways in which the South Pacific islands are represented in German-language tourist brochures is investigated. Our discussion of these brochure representations will examine the contrasts between tourism advertising imagery and the day-to-day interactions of tourists and locals in the islands represented. Informed by literature on motives for travel, tourist brochures, place promotion and commodification, we will discuss how German, Swiss and Austrian tourism operators depend on a deep-seated desire on the part of tourists to engage with a mythical paradisal Utopia. Common to many cultures, Utopia represents dreams of a better reality. We emphasise therefore that in addition to the now well-documented paradisal element of island tourism promotion, German-speaking tourists are enticed to the South Pacific by advertising references to it as a place where dreams may be fulfilled.     

Conceptualising tourism transport: inequality and externality issues

This paper raises several conceptual questions concerning the actual and symbolic representations of inequality and differentiation expressed in leisure and tourism mobility which have significance for members of host communities visited, transport and land-use planning in host areas, tourists and the tourism industry. Within this framework, the paper explores two sets of conceptual issues which are positioned at the interface of transport and tourism. First, transport has the potential to act as a gatekeeper to culture contact, constraining or encouraging host–tourist interaction. Second, the role of tourist mobility at a local level can be critical for issues of inequality and externality effects. The substantial tourism impacts literature has only occasionally addressed social dimensions of leisure transport's external costs, and the transport geography literature has rarely acknowledged the differentiation of tourists and non-tourists competing for transport and transport space. It is concluded that transport and land-use planners need to recognise and respond to tourism's externalities and their implications for inequality and sustainability issues.     

The life cycle of authenticity: neo-nomadic tourism culture in Kazakhstan

The paper presents the findings related to the stages of life cycle of authenticity where Kazakhstani nomadic culture in a post-Soviet heritage evolves towards tourist consumption. Using a qualitative case-study research approach, the analysis of data traces stakeholders’ perception of authenticity of various elements of Kazakhstani cultural tourism. The study intertwines inextricably with the processes of authenticity, commodification and cultural change as Kazakhstani traditions have evolved to a neo-nomadic tourism culture where authenticity becomes a currency at play and a point of differentiation from other tourism destinations. The findings offer an original approach to understand the transformation of authenticity at various stages of Kazakhstani tourism development and explore how authenticity is positioned in the influx of tourists and supporting roles from local governments and organisations.     

From Storyville to Bourbon Street: Vice,Nostalgia and Tourism

This paper contrasts New Orleans' former red-light district, Storyville, and contemporary Bourbon Street, New Orleans' major tourist attraction, to illustrate how history has been revived into a tourist product to maintain the city's appeal as a destination. Nostalgic images are developed for tourism consumption of heritage destinations. The images are idealised versions of the past that alter the authenticity of the historic context from where they came. On Bourbon Street, the Storyville district is utilised as an image to elicit nostalgia of a period no longer actively incorporated into New Orleans's cultural fabric. Through a qualitative analysis of the tourism communication materials, Bourbon Street is analysed as a nostalgic representation of Storyville and its once acceptable vice activities. Activities such as public sexuality, music and dancing, and shopping are ways in which tourists can experience the once legal red-light district. It is argued that what is presented to tourists is a commercial image of the past and its reputation, rather than an accurate portrayal of New Orleans either yesterday or today.     

Tourism and Afro-Antillean Identity in Panama

Throughout its history as a nation, Panama has emphasised its Spanish roots. Having become a postcolonial state, Panama now exploits its multiculturalism for the purpose of attracting tourists. In this context, Afro-Antilleans in the Archipelago of Bocas del Toro – historically marginalised and considered temporary migrants – are developing gendered and racialised identities for tourist consumption, in response to the state's tourism promotion and in pursuit of a complex cultural politics. Tourism provides an occasion for Afro-Antilleans to reposition themselves within the Panamanian nation, vis-à-vis the state and other ethnic groups. ‘Panamanian’ Afro-Antillean identities are also transnational, African and Caribbean; these constructions of difference in the touristic context are inevitably contradictory, at once national and diasporic. This paper explores these complexities and their complex origins: nationalism, regional and trans-Atlantic migration, and tourism. It concludes that so-called globalisation, in this setting, results in a proliferation of conflicting differences rather than in homogenisation.     

Distorted representation in visual tourism research

Tourism research has recently been informed by non-representational theories to highlight the socio-material, embodied and heterogeneous composition of tourist experiences. These advances have contributed to further reflexivity and called for novel ways to animate representations. On this background, this article develops the notion ‘distorted representation’ to illustrate that blurred and obscure photos can in fact be intelligible and sensible in understanding tourism. Through an exploration of the overwhelmed and unintended practices of visual fieldwork, distorted representation illustrates how photographic materialities, performativities and sensations contribute to new tourism knowledges. While highlighting the potential of distorted representation, the article posits a cautionary note in regards to the influential role of academic journals in determining the qualities of visual data. The article exemplifies distorted representation through three impressionistic tales derived from ethnographic research on the European rail travel phenomenon: interrail.     

Rethinking authenticity and tourist identity: expressions of territoriality and belonging among repeat tourists on the Greek island of Symi

This paper approaches the subject of tourist identity from an anthropological perspective, arguing for a culturally contextualized analysis that focuses on the interactive and processual nature of these constructions. Specifically, it explores the processes by which repeat tourists on the Greek island of Symi construct their identities as tourists in relation to the place of their vacation experience, local residents and other tourists. It highlights the competitive and often antagonistic way in which these tourists – drawing on ideas about authenticity and demonstrating sympathy with local concerns – seek to incorporate the island as an aspect of their own personal identities and, similarly, create a form of ‘local’ identity in Symi. The picture of tourists that emerges in this case study contrasts sharply with standard analytical formulations that portray tourists as transient and liminal figures, defined almost exclusively by their vacation preferences and experiences, and constituting a category of people that is clearly distinguishable (practically and ideologically) from local residents. As a consequence, it argues for an approach to tourist identity that seeks out linkages between tourists and locals, and which looks more broadly at the views and experiences of tourists beyond the time and space of the vacation.     

Motivational determinates of creative tourism: a case study of Albergue art space in Macau

ABSTRACT

Creative tourism is a new genre of tourism eliciting active tourist participation in learning and experiences. This study explores tourists’ motivations for participating in creative activities, as well as their perceptions of authenticity following a visit to the Albergue Art Space located in Macau, SAR, China. Empirical results indicate that vernacular heritage, service quality and participatory experience are key determinates for developing creative tourism. Sightseeing, social contact, self-improvement and escape emerge as primary motivations for participating in creative activities. In addition, tourist perceptions of authenticity in the context of creative tourism encompass objective and existential components. This study proposes to incorporate aspects of participatory experience into creative tourism products.     

Groomed spaces on Jeju Island: A typology of photographic representations for tourism

Jeju Island is a major domestic tourism destination in South Korea and is an increasingly significant international tourism destination, especially for the Japanese and Chinese markets. The Jeju provincial government strongly supports the tourism industry and has, along with the Korean central government, invested heavily in the construction of tourism infrastructure and tourism promotion. There is an abundance of printed literature available to tourists, in the form of brochures and guidebooks, during their stay in Jeju Island. In this study, the types of photographic representations found in that media is identified using a previously developed typology of four ‘spaces’ and four ‘subjects’. Content analysis of a proportional sample of 4115 pages in 225 tourist guidebooks and brochures determined the frequencies of certain ‘types’ of photographs. Further interpretive analysis probes the intentions behind the imagery, if any exist, towards the representational construction of this island's destination image as it appears to the tourist reader. Theoretical issues related to destination image and its representations are explored in light of the findings and implications for tourism policy and management are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.