Dan Knox

Understanding tourism : a critical introduction

This text introduces tourism students to concepts drawn from critical theory, cultural studies and the social sciences. It does so with a light and readable touch, highlighting the ideas that underlie contemporary critical tourism studies in a practical and engaging way. Specifically, the authors examine how post-structuralist thought has led to a re-imagining of power relationships and the ways in which they are central to the production and consumption of tourism experiences. Eleven clear, relevant chapters provide an accessible introduction to tourism defining, explaining and developing the key issues and methods in this exciting field. These topics include: • Regulating Tourism • Commodifying Tourism • Embodying Tourism • Performing Tourism • Tourism and the Everyday • Tourism and the Other • Tourism and the Environment • Tourism and the Past • Tourism Mobilities • Researching Tourism

Discourse analysis in tourism research a critical perspective

Increasing numbers of researchers in the field of tourism studies are using discourse analysis as a means of critical investigation when faced with qualitative or textual forms of data, such as written documents, or visual materials such as photographs and brochures. Such data is often representative of how a group of people have made sense of and reflected on their own world and that of others. However, there are many different types of discourse analysis and many different ways in which discourse analysis has been deployed. This paper reviews the attempts of tourism scholars so far and argues that many researchers have utilized discourse analysis in an eclectic fashion. The paper thus differentiates between content analysis, simple textual analysis, semiotic analysis and post-structuralist forms of discourse analysis in order to provide a framework for other tourism researchers to use. In particular, it is argued that discourse analysis should proceed by recognizing that all texts are produced intertextually in relation to other texts, which are in turn embedded within power relations that give degrees of authority. Discourse analysis should thus treat texts as mediated cultural products which are part of wider systems of knowledge. It is argued that discourse analysis is not just interested in what is within the text itself but also in what has been left out and the ‘secret’ meanings that are not obvious. It is also argued that it is important to note the interruptions and disruptions that occur within the flow of qualitative data. Utilizing discourse analysis should mean the development of a more nuanced reading of the data and thus add a more critical edge to much tourism research.

Enhancing Cultural Tourism e-Services through Heritage Interpretation

Cultural heritage is a major contributor to tourism development. Cultural heritage tourism relies heavily on the communication process for attracting visitors and providing them with a satisfactory experience. The tourist encounter can be significantly enhanced through effective and engaging heritage interpretation. This paper argues that there are opportunities for the application of e-Services in the delivery of heritage interpretation through the Internet — optimising results for the fulfilment of both marketing and interpretation purposes. This paper investigates visitor satisfaction with museums, and explores the use of e-Services for both cultural attraction operators and destination managers over a two-stage empirical investigation. Firstly, this study identifies the contribution of heritage interpretation practices to overall visitor satisfaction in museums, and to the best and most memorable experiences during such visits. Secondly, the paper evaluates the integration of e-Services in cultural attraction and destination websites. The results are integrated and developed into practical industry implications for cultural attractions and destinations websites offer of online heritage interpretation.

Intangibles - enhancing access to cities cultural heritage through interpretation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to utilise commodification for the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage in cities by developing interpretative strategies, specifically enabling access to intangible cultural heritage through its tangible parts.Design/methodology/approach – In total, three case studies were conducted in the cities of Amsterdam, Genoa and Leipzig, through a workshop cycle with destination and local tourism stakeholders and citizen representatives, to develop interpretative strategies for the cities.Findings – The paper identifies tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the three cities, and integrates them into stories and outlines the development of an interpretative strategy for destinations independent from, but aligned with, the current marketing and positioning strategy development level.Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine the integration process of interpretative strategies and heritage interpretation of cultural heritage in marketi...

The influences of cleanliness and employee attributes on perceived service quality in restaurants in a developing country

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the service quality of full-service restaurants in Vietnam to explore possible factors that may impact customer perception, which subsequently influences customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Based on the DINESERV model and service clues, the possible dimensions to construct customer perception were realised, and four key dimensions were suggested. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from four urban local full-service restaurants in Vietnam, and factor analysis and SEM-PLS were then performed to uncover the relationship between customer perception, satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Findings The results suggest that customer perception significantly influences customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions, and customer satisfaction itself is also found to have influence on behavioural intentions. Originality/value This is an original piece of work which contributes to the exploration of service quality in developing countries and to the incorporation of cleanliness into analyses of restaurant service quality in particular.

Is Tourist a Secular Pilgrim or a Hedonist in Search of Pleasure

This exclusive department is created to include findings of special significance and to identify areas of subtle research nuances through mutual debates, discourse and discussions. Elenctic method is used wherein knowledge progresses through articulation, aoss-examination and rejection of spurious hypotheses. Thus, probe aims at encowaging scholars to think against the grain by unmasking the stereotype and dogmatic that has taken the mould of research conservatism. Contact the Editor-in-chief for more details. Context The metaphor of the tourist as pilgrim and tourism as a pilgrimage has been an important idea in tourism studies, reproduced in both academic and popular accounts with varying degrees of criticality. This research probe considers a number of different ways of thinking through the degree to which tourists could be said to be either secular pilgrims or hedonists in search of pleasure. As such it considers the meanings, uses and potential extensions of metaphors of pilgrimage and how these relate to religion, to tourism and to hedonism, as well as how all of these categories interconnect. There is no unity of approach to this question among the authors here and this on the whole makes for a lively and stimulating debate. Knox and Hannam extend the metaphor of the pilgrim into the realm of hedonistic tourism through an account of popular and mass tourist practice which considers the role of religion and spirituality as objects of tourist practice. Margry makes the case that secular pilgrim is an oxymoron and that more scholarly effort ought to be expended on identifying the limited but significant commonalities between tourism and pilgrimage. Olsen situates the discussion in relation to secularization and challenges Knox and Hannams playful extension and multiplication of metaphors. Salazar undertakes an analysis of the emergence and development of metaphors in tourism studies to demonstrate their continued utility but also the ways in which they shape representations and understandings. The range of opinions here represents a sustained reconsideration of established terminologies.