THE TOURIST EXPERIENCE

Transcription

1 LECTURE 1 OVERVIEW OF THE SUBJECT THE TOURIST EXPERIENCE WHO IS A TOURIST? - Out of the ordinary à a movement outside the usual environment of residence or work - Length of stay à from 1 night to a maximum of 1 year - Purpose of visit à recreation, business, education, VFR (visiting friends or relatives) or health treatment (medical tourist) - Remuneration à from within the destination visited is neither receiver nor sought from the trip if you do, you are not a tourist - A discretionary act à particularly for the leisure tourist, it is a voluntary activity undertaken by choice MYTHS OR REALITIES - Most tourists are international and long haul à myth also domestic travellers - To be a tourist is to be leisure tourists à myth seeing friends, business workers - If you travel independently you are a tourist à reality eg. backpackers - To be a tourist it is to be on your annual summer holiday à myth whenever you want DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF TOURISTS - International à travel for an acceptable purpose outside their country of residency o Inbound à travelling outside their own country to another number one inbound tourists to Australia are New Zealanders VFR o Outbound à Australians travelling outside Australia number one destination is also New Zealand, then Indonesia, then USA - Domestic à travel within their country of residence but outside their usual environment of home and work - Internal à inbound and domestic move around a single country - National à domestic and outbound eg. Australians travelling in Australia and going abroad TOURISTS VS. VISITORS AND TRAVELLERS - Visitor / excursionist à used to denote both tourists (one night or more) and same day visitors o All tourists are visitors but not all visitors are tourists - Travellers à all tourists and visitors are travellers, but not all travellers are tourists or visitors o Diplomats o Members of the armed forces o Representations of consulates o Refugees o Transit passengers in an airport or port o Nomads o Temporary and permanent immigrants o Border workers THE TOURISM SYSTEM (LEIPER 1990) DEFINITION OF EXPERIENCE - Experience à the total response of a person to a situation or event - Total response o The mind and body are involved o Includes feelings and perceptions produced through the body o What one thinks, feels and does - Impacted by the environments à human, sociocultural, economic, technological, physical, political, legal - TTGR à where tourists come from eg. Australians travelling overseas - TDR à where tourists go to eg. Australians travelling to Paris - TRR à where tourists leave their generating region to go to the destination region travel

2 LECTURE 4 TOURIST NEEDS AND MOTIVATIONS WHAT WERE YOUR MAIN REASONS FOR TRAVELLING OVER THE EASTER HOLIDAYS? - Relaxation, education, meeting friends and family, escaping everyday life MASLOW S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS - Physiological needs à what we need to be able to live eg. food, water, air - Safety needs à shelter, live in a place where we feel safe - Social needs à need to belong to a group, need to be loved, need to be respected - Esteem needs à - Self-actualisation à being able to actualise our potential and abilities, get external respect from society PUSH / PULL MOTIVES - Push motives (internal) à the intrinsic desires of the individual traveller eg. need to see friends / family, need to relax - Pull motives (external) à the attractiveness of a destination / its tangible characteristics eg. Opera House - Both can combine together to play a role in deciding on a travel destination à can overlap and are discussed in combination with one another CHARACTERISTICS OF PUSH / PULL MOTIVES - An escaping / seeking dimension à seek relaxation / novelty, escape everyday life, boredom, routine à think of push and pull - Multiple needs - Vary within tourists over time à as you age and get more experience, your motives also change and vary - Ongoing needs à constantly have needs as human beings and have to meet those needs through different ways - Present at all stages of trip à have certain needs and motives throughout all stages of the trip not just at the beginning - Cannot be observed directly à not something visibly identifiable easy to find purpose of travel (eg. leisure, business) but hard to understand motives - Difficulty talking about them à hard to talk about the underlying reasons for travel FROM MASLOW S HIERARCHY TO TCL (TRAVEL CAREER LADDER) - Origins of TLC o Ideas of Maslow o The career concept à people s motivation changes with their travel experience - Combined with these two ideas and came up with the TCL WHAT IS TCL? - Five different levels o Relaxation à get away o Stimulation à safety o Relationship à giving love, being loved, maintaining relationships, belonging in a group o Self-esteem and development à developing skills and gaining self esteem o Fulfilment à fulfil a dream - A mix of motivations - Changes with growing experience - Can start at different levels - Criticisms made to the idea of travel ladder o The ladder / hierarchical structure somehow implies that tourists cannot have different motives at the same time, but can have multiple motives working at one point

3 EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCES OR THE EVERYDAY? - Holidays are full of everyday practices - Where does everyday practice end and holidays begin? (Hannam and Knox, 2010, pg. 89) - Holidays are often an extension of our everyday life eg. still on social media o A lot of the practices we do when travelling are the same as what we would do at home THE EVERYDAY - An environmental bubble is that familiar space in which tourists exist, insulated / protected from the unfamiliar environment (destination) - It is a haven / refuge from the outside world CASE STUDY à TOURISM AUSTRALIA - Experience seekers (category of travellers identified by Tourism Australia) o Experienced travellers o Look for physical, emotional or intellectual / mental challenge o Desire engagement with the local people / culture o Wish to experience destinations, not just witness o Avoid tourist routes, prefer untouched locations - Tourism Australia à knows what to do to better impact the experience of these particular tourists in Australia FINAL POINTS - Not ever tourist is necessarily fired up by motivations à not always the driving factor don t think about what their motivations are, just want to travel - The link between motivation and behaviour is not automatic à not always a clear link - Issue of true or false motives in research - Constraints applied to travel motivation à health, income, time TUTORIAL 3 ARTICLE à WHY WINE TOURISM IS BOOMING IN 2018 AND THE BEST DESTINATIONS TO VISIT - Target audience has changed à more attractive to younger people now WEEK 3 RECAP - Experiencing the body à socially constructed and physical body o Socially constructed à done through history, culture, the media o Physical body à think of the level of fitness, clothes - Media representation and appearance o Disciplined body à trips to a tropical island o Paris à romance, couples o How does the media represent people and places? o Italian shoes à constructed as sophisticated, but physically, it could hurt your feet - Physical presence of the body o More than just the physical body à we have senses and emotions that are also used - How the tourism industry recognises the body o Travel packages eg. spa tourism, wine tourism, adventure tourism - There s no one embodied experience o Based on age, gender, travel experience, who they're travelling with, ability / disability o Social constructionism vs. positivism ASSESSMENT 1B - Brochures à reinforce certain ideas, values and meaning systems - At the expense à news stories, popular culture, Instagram, personal travel experiences - Is there conflict between the two? WHAT IS THE TOPIC ASKING OF YOU? - Our images, ideas and beliefs of people and places - How does the tourism industry shape this? à through the gaze brochures, postcards, advertising - There is no one true image of a place many truths à social constructionism

4 STANDARDS AUSTRALIA AS & AS CATEGORIES STANDARDS AUSTRALIA AS COMPULSORY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS - Walkways, ramps, landings, handrails and grab rails - Doors, doorways and circulation space - Lifts and stairways - Toilets and showers - Controls and floor surfaces - Parking - Entertainment venue seating - Signs - Hearing augmentation-listening systems - Continuous accessible path of travel APPROACHES TO DISABILITY AND ACCESS - There are different ways of seeing disability STANDARDS AUSTRALIA AS ITEMS NOT COVERED UNDER PART 1 (OFFERS ENHANCED BUT NOT COMPULSORY REQUIREMENTS) - Lighting and sound levels - Reach and viewing ranges - Furniture and fitments - Street furniture - Tactile warning and direction tiles - Gateways and checkouts - Vending machines - Telephones and post-boxes - Time delays at lights and pedestrian crossings - Kitchens and laundries MEDICAL APPROACH - Focuses on the individual and his / her impairment (fault) puts the responsibility on their shoulders - Able-bodiedness as the social norm, excluding the abnormal from citizenship - Anyone with a disability are abnormal - Eg. tourist in a wheelchair at the Opera House à medial approach says they cannot access all areas of the Opera House because they are impaired it is their fault SOCIAL APPROACH - Distinguishes between impairment and disability - As the product of the disabling social environment and attitudes à socially constructed attitude of society exclude people from participating in tourism - The individual s embodiment (their impairment) not the cause of their exclusion - The need to focus on disabling barriers, hostile social attitudes and the material relations of power - Eg. tourist in a wheelchair at the Opera House à attitude / perspective / viewpoint of the designer of the Opera House did not take into account the needs of disabled people EMBODIMENT - A result of criticisms made to the social approach impairment and disability are not dichotomous - Combination of both that have an impact on excluding the disabled from society - Not two different things, they come together and contribute to the exclusion - Eg. tourist in a wheelchair at the Opera House à the reason is because they are fatigued because of their condition but also because there aren't access requirements taken into account in the public space UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY (SMALL AND DARCY, 2011 p. 4) DIMENSIONS OF ACCESS - Three dimensions (Darcy 1998) o Physical access Wheelchair or walking aids Ramps and lifts Handrails Circulation space Lower counters o Sensory access Hearing or sight disabilities Tactile surfaces, audio cues for lifts and street crossing Signs and labels Hearing augmentation listening systems o Communication access Alternate media à braille, tape, computer disk, plain English

5 THE MORE TOLERANT DISCOURSE - Source of the problem o Other intolerant passengers à parents are suffering more o The debate triggered other discourses The crying baby vs. children running around, kicking the back of seats etc. The crying baby vs. obese, smelly, talkative passengers - Rights o All people have a right to travel this is public transport o Families have a right to travel under certain circumstances à relocations, emergencies - Responsibilities / solutions o Other passengers should be more tolerant o Use noise cancelling headphones o Intolerant passengers should travel first class à less babies / young children OTHER TOURISTS - Can contribute to satisfaction of social needs à positive or negative role can lead to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the traveller - But - Can also contribute to holiday dissatisfaction o Family tensions o Conflict between friends travelling together à can lead to dissatisfactory experience o See Wish YOU weren t here! (Heimtun and Jordan 2011) CASE STUDY 1 à FEMALE SEX TOURISM - Example à Bali Gigolos - Sex tourism or romance tourism? - Differences or similarities between male sex tourism and female sex tourism? - Why is the question important? - Power dominance is prominent in the relationship of those involved in sex tourism - Looking for companionship and romance, not necessarily just sex à change the name to companionship tourism or romance tourism MALE AND FEMALE SEX TOURISM (JEFFREYS 2003) SIMILARITIES - Both male and female tourists have economic and racial privilege racial prejudice and stereotyped views impact their behaviour - Host is objectified in terms of body - Both male and female tourists say they are not engaging in prostitution not always paid in money, usually in-kind payments eg. restaurants - The economic and racial privilege of Western tourists in comparison to local sexual partners o Motivated by racist sexual stereotypes and using sex tourism to bolster their privileged race and class status o It is the dominance of their race / status that stands out à they see themselves as better than the local sex workers DIFFERENCES - Numbers à male sex tourists are what stood out, less women are engaged in sex tourism - Power dynamics of male dominance à men remain in control of the sexual interaction hassling, harassment - Male prostitute gains social status - Male tourists à enhance masculine status with mates and helps to cement their male dominance - Creation of superior masculine status o Male prostitute gains social status o Male tourists à enhanced masculine status with mates / help to cement their male dominance WHY IS THE QUESTION IMPORTANT? - Issues of power who is exploiting whom? o Is prostitution an inevitable human behaviour? do women do it too? à gender issue an expression of male dominance o Motivations, effects on host society, range of relationships companionship tourism o Racial and economic implications o Developing countries à it is usually tourists who dominate the locals, not necessarily for sex tourism more males dominating females

6 LECTURE 12 SUBJECT REVIEW AND REFLECTION FINAL EXAM - 2 hours 10 minutes - 12 questions FOR EACH TOPIC - Relevance of social constructionism in relation to each topic you reviewed - What is the relevance of all of this to the tourism industry what does it mean / what are the implications to the tourism industry WEEK 1 OVERVIEW WHO IS A TOURIST? - Five characteristics o Out of the ordinary à outside their place of residence o Length of stay à more than one night, less than one year o Purpose à traditionally for leisure not anymore: business, VFR etc. o Remuneration à not supposed to travel to gain income at any point in time o A discretionary act à voluntary choose to travel DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF TOURISTS - International à cross the boarder o Inbound à other tourists to Australia o Outbound à Australians leaving the country to other countries - Domestic à travel within the country but still outside the normal residency - Internal à within Australia domestic or international - National à either Australian domestic tourists or Australian tourists who travel outside Australia WEEK 2 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM - Positivism à one reality that is objective from the observer - Social constructionism à many realities how people come together, interact and make a reality / truth not the ultimate truth out there, therefore creates reality FOUR UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS - Knowledge is sustained by social processes and interaction à reality is negotiated, therefore changeable o Reality is created through people coming together, negotiating the reality, making sense of reality and creating that reality o Because it is created socially, it is changeable - Historical and cultural specificity o Socially developed à can be changed throughout time o Eg. cow à some cultures view it as holy, others eat the meat o Blank canvas à society paints that blank canvas how we make sense of those different things is because we are born in a society and then employ that meaning onto us - Knowledge and social action go together o If society has a certain meaning to a concept o Eg. Drunkenness à previously seen as a crime and imprisoned now seen as an illness rather than a disease o Meaning has changed over time and changed the way something is seen - A critical stance towards taken-or-granted understanding of the world and ourselves à be suspicious of our assumptions about reality o Because reality is constructed and meaning is given to different concepts through negotiations through different members of society à should always question our assumptions may not be the ultimate truth o Power relations à always try to question power relations if one society gains supremacy / power over the others, then one group is more privileged as opposed to other groups who are marginalised / minority