The geography of tourism: An introduction

The geography of tourism is limited by a dearth of published research in geographic journals, the relatively few individuals who actively participate in the sub-discipline, and the lack of prestige the subject matter specialty has in geography. Despite these imperfections geographers make important contributions to the study of tourism because of their unique point-of-view. This characteristic perspective is seen in the context of a conceptual frame-of-reference which consists of a matrix based on two trichotomies. An analysis and interpretation of this framework and its application to the nine substantive articles included in the special issue constitute a majority of the article.     

Directional bias in vacation travel

Vacation travel between regions is usually asymmetrical. This causes a problem when one tries to use a gravity model to forecast inter-regional travel. Although researchers have adopted strategies for coping with this problem, none of these strategies adequately resolve the complication of asymmetrical flows. This paper presents a measure of directional bias that accounts for unequal flows between two regions, and applies it to inter-provincial flows in Canada for the years 1968 to 1978. The directional bias appears to be stable over the period considered, and the index can be easily incorporated into forecasting models. Its use will allow researchers to add greater precision and power to their predictive models.     

The ideology of class and tourism confronting the discourse of advertising

Starting from Baudrillard's analysis of the ideological character inherent in all consumption, touristic consumption, for many reasons ,has a special place in this social semantic. Here, advertising plays an important if not essential role because tourism is a product consumed outside of normal time and daily social space. Therefore the social semantic asserts itselfless through the product itself than through its representation: the discourse of advertising. But advertising discourse is plural, each form having its own ideology, competing with others. Behind the commercial competition lies a competition of social classes, but with a new typology, no longer based on the capital/favor relationship. Four ideological models are analyzed and illustrated with their advertising messages: the traditional model, the clerical/executive model, the youth model, and the “intellectual class” model.