Of spectacular phantasmal desire: tourism and the Cuban state's complicity in the commodification of its citizens

Tourism is a multibillion dollar industry worldwide that has transformed apparently marginalised locations into hotspots of consumerism. Governments seeking low investment, high‐yield industries have turned to this service industry to facilitate the generation of income for state coffers. In doing so, states have become integral players in the selling of their own citizenry. This article uses the emergence of the Cuban tourism industry to explore how Cuba's socialist state, ideologically existing for the emancipation of its people, works to commodify and, through that commodification, control its populace. This article makes use of a decade's worth of ethnographic fieldwork to illustrate how Cubans engage and negotiate these processes with foreigners, adapting and adopting the state's attempts to commodify their bodies, for their own advantage rather than the state's. The production of these illusionary desires ultimately results in the creation of Cuban phantasms that undermine the state's own selling of the Revolution and ultimately, its control over its citizenry.     

Analysing the media discourses surrounding DJs as authentic performers and artists within electronic dance music culture magazines

This paper critically analyses how the media construct, consolidate and perpetuate discourses surrounding DJs as artists. It explores representations of their status and roles in a selection of dance music magazines (Mixmag and DJ Mag) and the links to wider ideologies concerning music and dance culture such as authenticity, originality, innovation, cultural progression and performance. It considers how the media bestow DJs with artistic credibility and authenticity in addition to the range and type of references used to position DJs within the cultural landscape and hierarchy of electronic dance music culture. Furthermore, it discusses their sensationalist construction as powerful performers and the links between DJ performances and wider discourses surrounding event experiences. This paper concludes that not only do the discourses perpetuated serve to elevate and sustain the cultural status of DJs, they also validate and perpetuate a wider range of ideological notions within dance music culture. It also highlights the power relations between authors, audiences, DJs and promoters and the media’s role in sustaining the social capital of different players, through projecting a vibrant and dynamic culture.     

Becoming a belly dancer: gender,the life course and the beginnings of a serious leisure career

Serious leisure careers have a beginning, middle and end, yet few studies examine the beginning stage of leisure careers dominated by women. Drawing from interviews with male and female belly dancers in the USA, this study examines how people join serious leisure activities. Results show that both men and women were interested in dance, arts and history, had personal ties to belly dance, and wanted an enjoyable form of exercise to match their capabilities when they entered the world of belly dance. Unlike men, the women in this study also experienced major life transitions, such as diminishing familial responsibilities, job and school issues, moving and shifting relationships. These findings have implications for the gendered nature of serious leisure.     

Leading,following and sexism in social dance: change of meaning as contained secondary adjustments

By assigning men the role of ‘lead’ and women the role of ‘follow’, social dance can be viewed as a form of serious leisure that appears to perpetuate a system that positions women as subordinate to men. Interviews with 29 women and 10 men who self-identified as social dancers revealed that women used several strategies to create meanings for following that allowed them to achieve parity with men while operating in an explicitly sexist idioculture. Women’s interpretation of following and the relationship between leading and following was as learning a complex set of skills and abilities that allowed them to make an important contribution to the dance. The meanings women applied to following can be understood as contained secondary adjustments. By viewing following as a performance that requires considerable skill, women can expose the idea that the role of follow is subordinate to the lead as a social construction, and, in the process, use being a follow to subvert the expected social organisation.     

The Hospitality Culture Scale: A measure organizational culture and personal attributes

The hospitality industry has a unique and specific culture when compared to other industries. Because of this, not everyone will want to make this industry a career, as evidenced by the high turnover. Yet, the hospitality industry needs to attract and keep motivated and dedicated employees. This study set out to discover attributes that are unique to hospitality organizations as well as the characteristics and values of a person who would be successful in a work environment that exhibited this culture. This includes determining if a person is a match to the culture of the hospitality industry. In order to identify the variables of hospitality culture, an extensive review of the literature and a panel of industry experts were consulted. The items identified from both groups were used to establish the constructs for a scale, which is called the Hospitality Culture Scale. Seven hundred and forty one hospitality professionals rated the attributes. Principal component analysis determined the final factors for the organizational culture and personal attributes. These constructs included: management principles, customer relationships, job variety, job satisfaction, principles, propitiousness, leadership, risk taker, accuracy, and composure.     

Working out: aesthetic labour,affect and the fitness industry personal trainer

In this article, we identify the importance of aesthetic labour to the self-employed fitness industry personal trainer (PT), detailing the ways in which the PT trades on their own physical capital. We examine how these discussions relate to the aesthetic and material dimensions of body work (that is to say, enacted on and through bodies) and the ways in which affective labour, inherent to this type of service work, intersects or delimits physical capital and the embodied competencies of the PT. We argue that the work of PTs helps to deepen emerging discussions and provides a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of affective and aesthetic labour. We assert that the confluences and contradictions between the affective and aesthetic dimensions of work in a fitness industry setting demonstrate that excessive physical capital is perceived as negative for the professional identity of PTs. In conclusion, implications for further research and management are discussed.     

The new economy as a gateway to leisure travelling: experiences of highly skilled Indian professionals in Europe

This article investigates India’s professionals’ tourist mobilities during on-site assignments in continental Europe. The concept of experiential cultural capital is introduced to highlight the sociocultural symbolic significance of experiences of travelling for leisure enabled by one’s professional career. The study (conducted between 2007 and 2013) is based on ethnographic research online and in-depth face-to-face interviews with 76 Indian expatriates working in the information, communication and technology (ICT) sector in Brussels. This complementary approach of online and offline research enabled the observation of practices of status distinction, which deepened the understanding of Indian professionals’ tourist mobility. The data of the lived experiences of leisure travelling enabled by professional career trajectories illustrate practices of capital accumulation. In addition, they show how India’s youth, inscribed in new economy sectors, such as the ICT sector, seize the volatile opportunities offered by changing global economic and political conditions. Moreover, this research indicates how occupational identity is intertwined with particular practices of leisure travelling as the organisational culture might influence leisure opportunities. Therefore, by participating in and managing this symbolic resource of tourist mobility, professionals signal their economic success to their family and peers in order to be recognised as such.     

Extraordinary body-self narratives: sport and physical activity in the lives of transgender people

Physical activity and sports can be regarded as particularly challenging social practices for transgender people, regarding the centrality of the body, gendered structures like changing rooms and competitions, and normative gender ideologies. In the emerging body of literature on transgender people and sport, the main focus has been on mainstream, competitive sports as non-inclusive. In this article, I present body-self narratives in physical activity and sports (PA/S) during different stages of their gender transition, based on interviews with 12 transgender people in the Netherlands. The results confirm that mainstream sports and physical activity spaces like swimming pools are often experienced as relatively unsafe by transgender people, both pre- and post-transition and especially during the ‘liminal’ transition phase. However, apart from places of shame for or control of the ‘wrong’ body-object and places of felt/enacted stigma, the body-self narratives also indicated that PA/S had been important enabling and empowering activities at different times in the lives of transgender people. For example, regarding gender (dis)identification or as coping strategy in de pre-transition phase and for ultimately gaining body-subject awareness, gender recognition and pride of the ‘right’ body-self.     

Towards new tourism policies: The importance of environmental and sociocultural factors

Unrestricted tourism growth could lead to the positive economic effects of tourism being outweighed by significant social and environmental disadvantages, which could in turn translate the economic benefits into disadvantages. This process derives not only from tourism effects per se, but also from changes in the social structure. This article calls for not merely economic and technical adjustments in policies, but for a fundamental political transformation in the conception of tourism and recreation.     

Brand personality and culture: The role of cultural differences on the impact of brand personality perceptions on tourists' visit intentions

Tourism destinations increasingly use brand-personification strategies to evoke favorable consumer reactions. These reactions, however, may hinge on cultural differences. This paper investigates the relationships among nation brand personality perceptions, consumer brand-self congruity, and the visit intention of a country as a tourism destination. Brand-self congruity is examined as a mediator of the relationship between brand personality perception and visit intention. Of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, individualism and uncertainty avoidance are the most relevant dimensions for brand-self congruity. Based on representative samples of consumers from five countries (Italy, the UK, Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia) and using Slovakia as a sample tourism destination, the effect of individualism and uncertainty avoidance on the relationship between brand self-congruity and visit intention is studied. Individualism and uncertainty avoidance moderate the congruity – visit intention relationship – but in a negative way, contrary to our expectations. Important implications are derived for both tourism research and destination management.     

Elite sport culture and policy interrelationships: the case of Sprint Canoe in Australia

In recent years, elite sport policy has received considerable research attention. However, to date the emphasis of such studies has been the examination of policies as stand-alone entities and the ways each policy may impact athlete performance rather than how policies influence each other. This study explores the elite sport policy interrelationships of Sprint Canoe in order to explain the dynamic links between policies and how they may affect performance. To explore these links in depth, interviews with coaches, high performance managers and athletes from Sprint Canoe in Australia were conducted. The findings of this study offer a contribution to the existing literature on elite sport policy and go beyond the mere exploration of sport and country-specific policy contexts. They showcase the role of a sport’s culture on shaping policy linkages and interrelationships. The practical implications of recognising where sport policies require attention and how to achieve improvements are discussed.     

The influence of national culture on the strategic use of salesperson pricing authority: A cross-country study within the hotel industry

At some hotel properties individual catering sales managers are empowered with the authority to make price adjustments, but at other properties they must ascertain the permission before adjusting prices. This research collected and analyzed data from 392 hotels in 28 countries and found that national culture has an influence on the price empowerment decision. Specifically, catering sales managers are more likely to be granted pricing authority in: (1) individualistic societies than in collective societies; (2) low power distance cultures than in high power distance cultures; and (3) low uncertainty avoidance societies than in high uncertainty avoidance societies.     

传统与复建历史文化街区文旅融合特征与路径——基于符号学视角

历史文化街区既是城市文化的重要地标,也是旅游发展的重要资源,由此成为新时期文旅融合的重要实践载体。本研究基于符号学视角,选取黄山市屯溪区毗邻的屯溪老街和黎阳in巷分别作为传统与复建历史文化街区代表,基于扎根理论构建历史文化街区文旅融合的符号学理论框架。实证分析表明：传统与复建两类历史文化街区均形成了主题定位、文旅功能、空间布局、物质载体、业态产品、旅游服务六方面的文化和旅游符号,前者以传统文化符号居多,后者以现代旅游符号居多;两类街区文化和旅游符号融合的独特性、凸显性、融合性和适应性等特征差异明显,前者偏向地域文化的独特性,后者偏向旅游介入的适应性。据此提出传统历史文化街区“旅游趋向”和复建历史文化街区“文化趋向”的文旅融合路径,两类街区在文化传承与旅游发展中应加强文化资源符号化、资源功能多元化、符号空间整合化、文化符号全景化,促进文化产品价值化、旅游服务品质化,以实现历史文化街区可持续发展。     

Consumer culture,the mobilisation of the narcissistic self and adolescent deviant leisure

The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the consumer packaging of adolescent deviance through commodified leisure. It argues that under conditions of neoliberalism, deviant leisure is commodified by industry, emptying deviance of its political potential, selling it back to adolescents in the form of narcissistic self-identities. These self-identities appear to challenge authority, albeit produced within youth culture and marketing, purchased and consumed in the belief that it is resistance. Forms of adolescent deviance and narcissism are normalised as challenging, exciting and risky while providing associations with power, wealth, celebrity and physical beauty. In the final analysis, we explore some possibilities for the resistance of market-based constructions of self-identity for adolescents in western consumer cultures.     

Police culture,tourists and destinations: A study of Uttarakhand,India

The present study examines the quality of service provided by police officials at tourist sites in the Uttarakhand region, India and its impact on the level of tourists' confidence in the police. The study also investigates the role that police culture plays in determining quality of service and the effect of leader behavior in moderating the relationship between them. A survey method was used for data collection from the police officials and the onsite tourists. Data analysis was carried out using CFA and an SPSS macro named PROCESS. Results showed that police organizational culture has a direct influence on tourists' confidence in the police and police service quality partially mediates the relationship between the two; also leader behavior positively moderates between police culture and service quality. This study adds to the literature on tourists' confidence in the policing of tourist sites, police culture, leader behavior, and police service quality.     

Critical factors in the identification of word-of-mouth enhanced with travel apps: the moderating roles of Confucian culture and the switching cost view

The constant changes in new technology are affecting China's tourism environment. Tourists have become increasingly reliant on travel apps when searching for a tourism destination. This study reinvestigates whether the perception of an app advantage influences word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions through satisfaction and stickiness in the dynamic tourism environment of China. Mediation–moderation hypothesis is applied to build a conceptual framework of support for a proposition explaining how travel apps influence WOM. This study also explores the role of Confucian values and switching costs in this context. These findings provide important insights into why and when travel apps influence tourists’ tourism behaviors.     

Examining the Influence of Rapport between Players and Dealers on Customer Satisfaction,Revisit Intentions,and Word-of-Mouth in the Casino Industry: The Moderating Role of Gender

This study explores the role of rapport between players and dealers in the casino industry. More specifically, based on a literature review, it was proposed that (1) rapport positively affects three outcome variables: customer satisfaction, revisit intentions, and word-of-mouth; (2) customer satisfaction has a positive influence on revisit intentions and word-of-mouth; and (3) gender plays a moderating role in this process. Based on the proposed hypotheses, a conceptual model was developed and tested using empirical data from 227 casino table players. Data analysis results showed that rapport is an important determinant of customer satisfaction, revisit intentions, and word-of-mouth. In addition, it was revealed that customer satisfaction bears a significant impact on revisit intentions and word-of-mouth. Lastly, gender has key moderating functions in the relationship between (1) rapport and customer satisfaction and (2) rapport and revisit intentions. The possible interpretations and managerial implications of these findings are provided in the last part of the article.     

Towards a model of cross-sectoral policy development in leisure: the case of sport and tourism

Whilst leisure studies has now become an established field of academic analysis, there is still little literature on the dynamics of the leisure policy process, particularly in the area of cross-sectoral liaison. This paper attempts to synthesize previous research relating to general policy dynamics in developing a model of cross-sectoral policy development. In developing this model, particular attention is given to two major ESRC funded projects of the 1980s – work on Inter-Governmental Relations and Government Industry Relations – which produced two recognizably different models of the policy process. A combined model is proposed which is used to examine and compare the structures of the sport and the tourism policy communities and to analyse how these structures might effective the emergence of a sport-tourism policy network. In conclusion, the extent to which the model this paper develops might be applicable to other areas of leisure policy is discussed.     

Empirical investigation of the relationship between serious leisure and meaning in life among Japanese and Euro-Canadians

ABSTRACT

Serious leisure (SL) is a specific leisure experience characterised by perseverance, leisure career, personal effort, durable benefits, unique ethos, and identification with the activity. As it results in self-actualisation and self-expression, Robert Stebbins has proposed that SL does not only increase participants’ hedonic well-being (e.g. pleasant feelings), but also enhance their eudaimonic well-being [e.g. meaning in life (MIL), self-expressiveness, virtue]. Although this argument makes logical sense, it has not been empirically tested. The purpose of this research is to empirically examine the relationship between SL and eudaimonic well-being focusing on MIL. We used data from 207 Japanese and 202 Euro-Canadian middle-aged and older adults collected through a cross-sectional online survey. After multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, multiple mediation analyses were conducted to test whether SL core characteristics impacted MIL or its sub-dimensions (i.e. purpose, coherence, and significance) both directly and indirectly via personal and interpersonal rewards of SL. Results suggested that among Japanese, SL was positively related to MIL both directly and indirectly via SL’s personal rewards. Among Euro-Canadians, the direct link was limited to only a few MIL sub-dimensions, and indirect effects were not significant. These mixed results were discussed in relation to SL, eudaimonic well-being, and culture.     

Young Muslim Women and Sport: the Impact of Identity Work

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship between young Muslim women’s identity work and their involvement in sport and physical activities. The concept of ‘identity work’ is used to underline the dynamic aspect of identity construction. The study is based on life‐history interviews with 21 Muslim women with immigrant backgrounds living in Norway, aged between 16 and 25 years. The study demonstrates how young Muslim women’s identity work is influenced by their ethnic and religious collective identities. While some of the women situate themselves clearly within their ethnic identity, others challenge the boundaries of their ethnic identity and some of the young women choose to focus more on religion than ethnicity. The study illustrates two major patterns that link young Muslim women’s identity work to their involvement in sport and physical activity. First, being a young woman and participating in sport is seen as a challenge to the boundaries of their ethnic identities. Therefore, young women who position themselves clearly within the framework of their ethnic identities are not interested in sport because doing sport is not seen as a respectable femininity. The young women who challenge the ideal of femininity by participating in sport have experienced being sanctioned or harassed because they participate in sport. Second, among those who regard religion (Islam) as a more important source of identification than ethnicity, being physically active is seen as important because of Islam’s health aspects.