Strategies for antiracist representation: ethnic tourism guides in Chicago

Researchers often frame tour guides in narrow and agency-revoking ways and theorize an ethnic tourism industry in which marginalized racial/ethnic communities are represented as the Other. In this research, I argue that tour guides in Chicago's urban ethnic neighborhoods resist some of the prevailing racialized constructions of their communities by employing strategies of antiracist representation. As ‘representational strategists’, tour guides use ethnic tourism to develop strategies that put forward alternative – even antiracist – representations of marginalized communities. Through a Chicago tourism project, guides construct representations of their communities that (1) invert the relationship of the host community and visitors by constructing the tourists as the Other; (2) articulate a social history of oppression and resistance; (3) expose the community's social problems such as gentrification, and identify their structural causes; and (4) connect the shared experiences between communities of color. These representational strategies defy the normalized practices of ethnic tourism, as well as the mechanisms of racism, and can be important tools in resisting ideological constructions that perpetuate inequality. They attest to the ways marginalized groups can use representation as an important tool in struggles to define themselves, resist silencing and invisibilization, and challenge some of the assumptions and practices that reproduce their marginalization.     

Latin American Ecotourism: What is it?

Defining – and agreeing upon a definition of – the word 'ecotourism' poses a challenge. This is especially true in Latin America where the buzzword remains a vague term used t o market anything related to nature or environmental tourism. 'Proyectos ecoturisticos' sell everything from community development projects to jet skis. There are pros and cons in using any specific viewpoint – if we insist on high environmental standards and minimal impacts, the costs skyrocket. This places the services and destinations into a 'luxury class' tourism – sometimes without the amenities to which those who pay high-end prices are accustomed. These five-star operations often run into conflict with more humble, grassroots operations. At risk are rural and/or indigenous guides who do not have the financial resources to take part in established guide training programmes – not offered in the field, but usually in the capital city. Good intentions lie behind guide training and accreditation, but if governments or agencies do not empower rural guides and tourism operations, the absence of 'local participation' betrays one of the main components of ecotourism.     

The attitude of potentially less mobile people towards demand responsive transport in a rural area in central Germany

Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) systems are often discussed to expand public transport in rural areas, where conventional buses are often used below capacity. DRT systems can particularly improve the mobility situation for less mobile people or other people who depend on public transport and ultimately prevent them from social exclusion. This paper examines whether people who show characteristics that indicate a mobility deficit are more willing to access the DRT system EcoBus in a rural area of Germany. Using survey data from 156 respondents from households in the EcoBus service area and utilizing linear regression analysis, this study confirms that car availability harms the intended use of DRT and that physical impairment has a positive effect, as identified several times in the literature. Furthermore, the influence of age on the intended EcoBus use depends on the residence place's city size and hence on its offer of daily public services. While residents of a sub-centre of the region are significantly less willing to use the EcoBus with increasing age, there is an opposite tendency for small villages. Thus, in small inaccessible localities, the likelihood of using EcoBus increases with age, suggesting that DRT systems benefit the doubly constrained population, namely the elderly population in localities with few public services.     

Should I stay or should I go? Negotiating township tours in post-apartheid South Africa

This article focuses on township tours outside Cape Town and Johannesburg during the past decade. By examining the subjectivities of guides and tourists, as well as public discourses about townships, I argue that township tours are ethically problematic and ambiguous, but do not go uncontested. Questions about voyeurism and development are negotiated during the tours in a number of ways. First, the morality of witnessing townships – not through the modality of vision, but through participating in contact zones – is asserted. Second, public discourses that valourize the creativity of the poor, and which harness history as a force for reconciliation and development, inform the tours. Third, tour guides attempt to reform charity and to highlight ethical consumption. An ethnographic and discursive analysis leads me to conclude that township tours are part of a larger post-apartheid project of re-imagining and remaking marginalized urban spaces.     

The development of tourist art and souvenirs — the arc of the boomerang: from hunting,fighting and ceremony to tourist souvenir

This paper examines the history and development of tourist art and souvenirs and discusses the reception of such artefacts, alongside works of fine art, within the museogallery system. Beginning with the relationship between cultural tourism and anthropology, it identifies common links between ethnographic artefacts, works of fine art and souvenirs collected in Australia during the latter half of the 20th century. Approaching these objects from the discipline of art history, this research takes as its priority the formal qualities of the artefacts and charts the transition of the boomerang, among other Aboriginal artefacts, from functional tool designed for hunting, to a marker of people and place made for sale as a tourist commodity. Other questions addressed in this research are as follows: What, other than size and price, attracts tourists to certain souvenirs and not others? Where is their final resting place and what meaning is attached to them through the narrative appended by the maker and by the consumer? How is it effected by the resulting location of display? Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism to a realm of memory: the case of a Thai royal craft

ABSTRACT

Modernisation brings the decline of traditional crafts and practices and thereby of their old, linked communities. Memories of these communities might survive though only for a time. A public policy dilemma presents – whether to conserve communities and their crafts as ‘living museums’ (akin to a milieu de mémoire in Pierre Nora’s terms) for tourist titillation; alternatively to merely retain the traces of that culture, as a museum more conventionally understood (lieux de mémoire); or, alternatively again, to accept the ephemerality of culture and its metamorphosis? And, if the last, then how is that to be presented to the discerning tourist? The paper mostly uses the case of the ancient goldsmith community of Wat Koh in Phetchaburi city, Thailand, to reflect on this dilemma. At stake academically are two sets of dialectic opposites: history against memory, and memory against nostalgia – also the contingent dichotomy of tourism and memory.     

The Role of the Tourism Industry in Transforming a Rentier to a Long-Term Viable Economy: The Case of Bahrain

During the past four decades, the tourism industry has emerged as one of the leading industries worldwide. In the Arab countries, however, despite its huge potential, the tourism industry is still in its infancy phase. With the exception of only a few countries, until recently most of the Arab countries almost ignored the economic potential of tourism. Since the 1990s, their traditional attitude of neglect toward the tourism industry has undergone a transformation, a fact that was not lost by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Thus, since the mid-1990s, all of the GCC countries, without exception, have been trying to promote their tourism sector, which soon became a prominent economic sector. The paper concentrates on one tourism development case – that of Bahrain – the least ‘rentier’ within the GCC oil-economies. The main research question addressed by this paper is to what extent Bahrain has introduced a cohesive and economically viable tourism industry that contributes to a more sustainable economy of this country. This exploratory paper examines Bahrain's motivation to promote tourism; its tourism comparative advantage; the major difficulties facing Bahrain's further tourism expansion; and the overall role of the tourism industry in the Bahraini economy.     

The attraction of islands: travellers and tourists in the Cyclades (Greece) in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Islands have long acted as projection surfaces of ever-changing desires. Tourism organisations have drawn most vigorously upon the paradise metaphor in an attempt to position modern island holidays at the forefront of our minds – regardless of an island's location. Tracing the most recent history of our island-longing and illuminating the use of the island metaphor by tourist organisations is the aim of this article. A short account of the history of tourism in Greece (especially the Cycladic Islands) provides the backdrop to an in-depth picture and text analysis of nine official English and German tourist guides to the Cyclades, as well as the English-speaking version of the official Cyclades website. Images and text are coded according to pre-determined themes and contrasted with each other. Investigating islands from the perspective of tourists and tourist organisations, it becomes apparent that the official brochures draw on established island tropes and stereotypical island imagery as a means to attract travellers, and thus follow a long-established pattern of what Western culture considers unique for island locations. Dissonances, however, are emerging as our longing for island locations is contradicted by our need for ease and speed of access, thus negating the sought-after quintessential ‘islandness’.     

Regenerating urban traditions in Bahrain. Learning from Bab-Al-Bahrain: the authentic fake

Gulf cities are determined to diversify their economies in an attempt to face the new realities resulting from the post-oil paradigm. Knowing the fact that its oil resources are about to dry up, Bahrain is forced to bank on alternative activities in order to sustain its development. For Bahrain, the diversification into the financial and tourism sectors is more urgent than for its neighbours. As a major development strategy, a tangible tendency towards using the visual scenery of their culture and history can be observed in new projects intended to achieve economic diversification. The aim is to create dreams, fantasies and models to attract tourists, travellers and visitors who are ready and prepared to ‘consume’ the ‘authentic’ heritage of such traditional cities. This construction of an image of the past – a persona – is part of what Baudrillard call ‘reality by proxy’, a stimulated environment. This paper uses Bab-Al-Bahrain as a case to investigate notions of ‘hyper-reality’ and ‘hyper-traditions’ emerging from, and imported by, globalisation. This hyper-tradition emerges from the ‘birthplace’ of the tradition it is stimulating. This might also provide a case study of what Eco refers to as ‘authentic fake’. The inevitable necessity of diversifying Bahrain's economy allowed the island to see itself as the financial, commercial and recreational hub for the gulf region. Historically, the old port that was once the main gate to Manama city, the Bahraini capital, actually called Bab-Al-Bahrain (Bahrain Gate), was a commercial pole that extended to the main market (souq). This paper focuses on the area of Bab-Al-Bahrain and its urban and architectural adjacencies to illustrate Bahrain's efforts in promoting its historical and cultural heritage and using it as a vehicle for touristic development. An emphasis on the relation between event, place and the community in the selected context will provide a different vantage point from where to explore the importance of religious festivity and ethnic diversity in tourism development. The paper will also investigate the legitimacy and the complex dynamism of transforming historical heritage into a ‘hyper-tradition’ or a sort of ‘authentic fake’ in order to facilitate the tourists' consumption process of Bahraini culture. It would also argue that tourism changes the host community and influences its ‘authenticity faking’ process.     

Tour guides' interpretation of the Historic Center of Macao as a World Cultural Heritage site

Literature review suggests that little attention is paid to the interpretation of a World Cultural Heritage (WCH) ensemble such as the Historic Center of Macao (HCM). The present study aims to investigate tour guides' interpretation of the HCM and how their interpretation affects tourists' appreciation and understanding of a visited heritage site within the HCM, as well as tourists' interest in other under-used HCM sites. Methodologies include in-depth interviews with tour guides, on-site observations of tour guides and surveys of package group tourists. The findings indicate that tour guides tended to interpret an HCM heritage site as an independent WCH site. In turn, this results in tourists' misunderstanding of Macao's WCH and a lower level of authentic experience at the visited heritage site. It is advocated that the interpretation of any one heritage site of the HCM should connect to the HCM ensemble and other heritage sites within the HCM. The inter-cultural relationship among the heritage sites should be further explored and highlighted in narratives.     

Investigating attraction compatibility in an East Texas city

The study was undertaken in Tyler, Texas, a city of 83 000 population in which the primary tourism attraction is the Caldwell Zoo. The focus was on the compatibility of ancillary attractions to the zoo and their role in adding to the city's cumulative attraction. A sample of 1559 zoo visitors were surveyed. The results revealed that (i) there was a high degree of compatibility between the zoo and other attractions within the city; (ii) tourism spending by those travelling more than 60 miles was significantly higher than those travelling fewer than 60 miles; (iii) expenditures increased as the number of additional attractions visited increased, but started to decrease when the number of attractions totalled to five or more; and (iv) the number of additional attractions visited decreased as the distance travelled increased. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism,Religion and Religiosity: A Holy Mess

Although religion and religiosity are well-known factors for influencing behaviour in different social settings, there is very limited research that explores the links between them and visitation patterns of tourists. In this study tourists' visitation patterns to a heritage site of religious significance (the Wailing Wall, Israel) are explored. Differences are found between tourists based on their religious affiliation and religiosity. The findings also reveal that the tourists' religiosity has different effects on those with different religious affiliations. It is argued that the actual relationships between a tourist's religion and strength of religious belief need to be understood in relation to the site visited, the tourist's perception of it and the meaning he or she attaches to it. The implications for tourism management and the theoretical investigation of heritage tourism are discussed.     

Nostalgia,Identity and Tourism: Bollywood in the Indian Diaspora

In today's global world of movement our personal identities are changing. So, ‘where is my “home”?’ and ‘what is my “identity”?’ have become essential questions in one's life. In recent times, more and more diasporic communities visit their homelands, perhaps to reroot their identities. This study explored the influence of Bollywood movies in the Indian diaspora's identity construction and notions of home and tourism behaviour to India. Findings revealed that the Indian diaspora's imagination of India is strongly informed by Bollywood movies. Yet, different generations of the Indian diaspora have different reasons for travelling to India. The first generation's nostalgia arises from watching Bollywood movies, and as a result, creates a motivation to travel to India. The second generation's main to travel behaviour to India is to experience the new ‘modern’ country, portrayed in the affluent surroundings of contemporary Bollywood movies. And, for those first generations, who have never seen India before, Bollywood movies enable them to romanticise their homeland and create an urge to visit India. Thus, Bollywood movies have immense importance in the Indian diaspora's identity construction, promote diaspora tourism and constitute a huge opportunity for economic development.     

Alternative Literature and Tourist Experience: Travel and Tourist Weblogs

Backpackers are becoming an increasingly emblematic part of the global travel scene and backpacker enclaves are more and more visible in tourist destinations. This paper analyses the role of iconic literary nomads – both travel writers and writers who travel – in the shaping of ideologies specific to the international backpacker subculture. Adopting Schein's (1985) concept of culture as consisting of the 'layers' of assumptions, norms, rituals, heroes/heroines and symbols, the writings of seven 'literary nomads' are evaluated and contextualised within different ideologies and practices connected with the backpacker 'scene'. The paper underlines the visibility of backpacker ideologies in the work of the famous iconic writers analysed.     

Tour Guide Styles and Penal History Museums in Canada

Although the existing penal tourism literature examines displays at penal heritage sites, little research has explored the work of tour guides within them. Drawing from interviews and observations, this article assesses the styles of tour guides working at penal history museums in Canada. We situate carceral guides' styles along a continuum encompassing those who claim to convey historical facts as well as ones who explicitly engage in staging and performance, which are primarily responsive to penal tourists' expectations for fun and entertainment. In the discussion and conclusion, we address the practical implications of this assessment of guide styles. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Historical blueprints of tourists’ paths from Poland to the former USSR

ABSTRACT

This article is a contribution to the developing body of research on tourism within the region of the Central and Eastern Europe. Our aim is to explore if and how Polish tourists to the former Soviet Union incorporate a historic past in their imaginaries. Sixty interviews carried out between 2008 and 2012 are analysed in order to establish if there are references to the past in tourist accounts although the fact history was not a major travel motivation. We were also interested in how the past co-creates tourist experiences and destination images. We found out that tourists may question dominant versions of historic memory in their straightforward references to the past. We also discovered that sources of memory are multiple and include not only first-hand memory but also family memory as well as non-representational memory. Some tourists purposefully suppressed the past. We suggest that more attention should be paid to ‘traces’ of the past in tourism imaginaries.     

The evaluation of demand responsive transport services in Europe

Over the last decade Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services have grown in popularity for several reasons including: the shortcomings of conventional regular bus and taxi services; shortcomings of special transport services; and new developments in community transport. Traditional dial-a-ride services have often been criticised because of their relatively high cost of provision, their lack of flexibility in route planning and their inability to manage high demand. The potential for overcoming these limitations may be realised through the introduction of telematics-based DRT and this has been widely demonstrated, for example, in recent research funded by the European Commission (e.g. the DGXIII-funded SAMPO and SAMPLUS projects). This paper provides an introduction to the concept of telematics-based DRT services and presents the results of the evaluation of a set of DRT technologies and operations at urban and rural sites across Europe. The paper offers discussion in terms of the key issues that influence the introduction of DRT services.     

Understanding the meaning of the ‘journey’ to budget travellers

The purpose is to construct a hermeneutic understanding of the significance of the journey to budget travellers. Narrative interviews were gathered from budget travellers. This research confirms the complexity, holistic reflections and personal travel history associated with the journey. The participants' narratives indicated the primacy of personal authenticity instead of cultural authenticity. The sight became a landmark to distinguish the destination, participants' geographical placement and some of their travails on their journeys. The nomothetic significance of the journey involved the meaning themes of personal development and liminal encounters and meaning factors of styles, visual cues and problem solving. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.     

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.