zaterdag 12 september 2015

Tourist or traveler, the verdict.

I have done a lot of travelling this year. A week on Crete, a whole month by myself in Peru and Bolivia, and another week of summer school in Jordan. After all these experiences with and contemplations on tourism, where do I fit in? There's more than just the distinction between traveller and tourist: we have distinguished many types of tourists. So what type am I?

First of all, dark tourism. Danger zone tourism as described by D.M. Buda isn't something I enjoy. [1] I do not seek out the risks, I just happen to be in a danger zone. I consider myself a different type of danger zone tourist, namely a 'happenstantial' one.

Then, the fivefold typologie by Cohen. [2] I'm not the mass tourists, looking for some entertainment but not an authentic experience perse. I don't want to 'own' people by taking pictures of them, as Turton states. [3] Neither am I entirely the traveller who doesn't feel connected with her own society and culture and therefore goes on an existential quest in other cultures. I did use travelling in Peru and Bolivia to do some soulsearching though. It was quite therapeutic. But I don't want to stay with only the locals, go hitchhiking and go very far of the beaten track. I know my own culture and am quite fond of it, but it's nice to escape it sometimes and reflect on it from afar. So perhaps the recreational tourist with some existantial features perhaps. The individual existential mass tourist.

It's clear that the typology offered by Cohen is needed in the study of tourism, but the lines distinguishing the different types get blurred when examening the individual.

Truth be told, I am the kind of tourist/traveller who looks rather ravishing on a camel.


Thank you for reading my blog.

Eva

1. Buda, Dorina Maria, Anne-Marie d’Hauteserre, and Lynda Johnston. "Feeling and tourism studies." Annals of Tourism Research 46 (2014): 102-114.
and  Buda, Dorina Maria. "Tourism in Conflict Areas Complex Entanglements in Jordan." Journal of Travel Research (2015): 0047287515601253.
2. McCabe, Scott. "‘Who is a tourist?’A critical review." Tourist studies 5.1 (2005): 85-106.
3. Turton, David. "Lip‐plates and ‘the people who take photographs’: uneasy encounters between Mursi and tourists in southern Ethiopia." Anthropology today 20.3 (2004): 3-8.

1 opmerking:

  1. First of all, you do look ravishing on a camel, but truth be told, this also happened to be an exceptional beautiful camel. ;-) Secondly, I want to tell you that I really enjoyed your blogs and the views you presented about tourism. Before I never really thought tourism that much. But you raised some interesting questions and had presented some views that made me think about myself as a tourist/traveler and about tourism in general. I'm sure that the next time I pack my backpack I'll be thinking about your blog.

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