Erica Wilson

Getting 'entangled': reflexivity and the 'critical turn' in tourism studies.

Reflecting a broader postmodern shift to unmask the cultural politics of research and knowledge-making in academia, tourism studies as a field is demonstrating a notable ‘critical turn’—a shift in thought that serves to provide and legitimize a space for more interpretative and critical modes of tourism inquiry. In response to this critical turn, this paper addresses the central issue of ‘reflexivity’ which, while alive in other disciplines and fields, has received rather limited attention within tourism studies. By drawing on our own personal academic/research experiences working at the crossroads of this turn in thought, we identify a range of ‘entanglements’ that influence and constrain our research choices, textual strategies and ability to pursue reflexive knowledge. These entanglements centre around four broad, but interlinking, themes: ‘ideologies and legitimacies’; ‘research accountability’; ‘positionality’, and ‘intersectionality with the researched’. In writing this paper, we aim to uncloak the current cultural politics in the tourism studies field, deferring as a basis to more mature debates on reflexivity in the social sciences. Ultimately, we stress the need to recognize reflexivity not only as a self-indulgent practice of writing ourselves in to our research, but also as a wider socio-political process which must incorporate and acknowledge the ‘researched’ and our responsibilities to them in the production of tourism knowledge. More importantly, in order to move the perceptions of reflexivity beyond the self, we urge all researchers to find a common territory and engage in the art of reflexivity, irrespective of their ontological, epistemological and methodological binds.

The solo female travel experience: exploring the 'geography of women's fear'

Increasingly, it is recognised that the qualities of human experience are informed not only by the physical world, but also by our understandings of the social constructs that shape our realities. This broader way of thinking allows a conception of space as metaphorical and relational, rather than merely as a physical location or a singularly definable absolute. Drawing from leisure theory on constraints, feminist discourses on leisure/tourism, and the work of ‘new’ cultural geographers, this paper empirically explores Valentines (1989) concept of the ‘geography of womens fear’, as it applies to solo international travel. In-depth interviews with a group of solo female travellers revealed that these women perceived travel fears relating to others’ perceptions, a susceptibility to vulnerability, a sense of restricted access, and a feeling of conspicuousness.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of In-Flight Magazine Advertisements: The ‘Social Sorting’ of Airline Travellers?

The in-flight magazine is one of many industrialised print media to which the traveller is exposed. In-flight magazines, however ‘ideologically innocent’ they may appear, can be very powerful in representing the norms and values to which travellers should supposedly adhere. This paper builds on arguments that there is a lack of research on representation in tourism and focuses in particular on how in-flight magazine advertising produces, mediates and reproduces discourses surrounding air travel. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), advertisements from a selection of Qantas and Air New Zealand in-flight magazines from 2005 were studied. The content analysis of these texts reveals that the magazine advertisements wish to speak to a certain ‘elite’ type of traveller who is mobility-rich as well as financially wealthy, with the time to pursue a raft of travel activities and the money to buy an array of expensive luxury products. Essentially, the paper argues that magazine advertisements can be a subtle (or, perhaps, not so subtle) way of ‘socially sorting’ airline travellers into those who are socially and culturally acceptable airline travellers and those who are not. The advertisements can also be seen as a means of socially sorting the airline traveller from other types of traveller and from the non-traveller. No matter which way the sorting occurs, in-flight magazine advertising appears to be a powerful medium that overwhelmingly appeals and speaks to privileged groups in society.

From lessees to partners: exploring tourism public-private partnerships within the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service

In a “new” protected-area management paradigm which requires close working relationships with a range of stakeholders, it is important that national parks managers recognise the individual interests of each group with whom they are expected to collaborate. A substantial body of research has investigated non-commercial collaborative activities among natural resource managers, tourism organisations and community groups. However, little academic attention has been paid to commercial tourism collaborations, particularly public–private partnerships (PPPs) with tourism operators. PPPs are often more contentious and require careful management to ensure sustainability and political acceptance. This paper reports on qualitative research, exploring the quality and nature of commercial lease arrangements between the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and a number of their private on-site tourism providers. In-depth interviews were conducted with fourteen key stakeholders involved in these partnerships. Based on an emergent approach to analysis, five main themes emerged which define the nature and quality of relationships between NPWS and tourism operators. Ultimately, it is argued that in commercial PPPs, protected-area managers need to move beyond viewing tourism operators as mere “lessees”, seeing them instead as valued and long-lasting “partners”.

The Nature of Nature: How New Zealand Women in Middle to Later Life Experience Nature-Based Leisure

This article explores how women in middle to later life from Aotearoa-New Zealand understand and experience nature in the context of their outdoor leisure. Using a qualitative gender-informed methodology, multiple interviews were conducted with 11 women. Three key themes were revealed: First, nature was more than words, with women transgressing mechanistic conceptions of nature. Second, nature was understood as a sensory experience, defined by the five senses as well as through spiritual description. Finally, for these women, nature was expressed as “a part of me,” demonstrating a deep connection to the outdoors. The study findings help to rethink traditional conceptions of nature-based recreation.

‘I just push through the barriers because I live for surfing’: how women negotiate their constraints to surf tourism

Surf tourism is a rapidly growing sector, involving millions of surfers travelling both domestically and internationally. Surf tourism has also experienced an upswing in female participation. The purpose of this paper is to explore how active female surf tourists negotiate any constraints they may face in participating in surfing, and in their surf travel. Employing a qualitative, interpretive approach, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 female surfers to explore how they negotiated such constraints. What was evident was that personal, socio-cultural and practical constraints limited these women prior to or during their engagement in surfing and surf-related travel. Through thematic analysis, this study found that women negotiate their constraints in three key ways: by maintaining a positive attitude towards all aspects of surf tourism; by thorough planning and preparing for their surf tourism, and through being passionate about surfing and surf travel. Most importantly, it was evident that the negotiation of constraints revolved around an ‘its worth it’ attitude. Moreover, a desire for challenge and being pushed out of their comfort zone was identified. These results are discussed with regard to existing negotiation theories focusing on womens resistance to leisure constraints. The findings show similarities to womens negotiation strategies in adventure and solo travel contexts, but also challenge previous assumptions that constraints can only be negotiated with non-participation. Furthermore, this research has confirmed more recent assumptions that the successful negotiation of constraints can also act as an enhancement of the tourism experience.

Business as usual? barriers to education for sustainability in the tourism curriculum

There is little research on how “sustainability” is embedded within tourism programs. This article draws on findings from a study of education for sustainability within the 1st-year business/tourism curriculum at an Australian regional university. Using an interpretive methodology, interviews took place with 16 academics regarding the barriers in trying to incorporate sustainability. Three key themes were revealed: (1) a crowded curriculum; (2) staff and student resistance to sustainability; and (3) the realities of a complex, multicampus institution. These impediments will be important to consider if we want to engender a more transformational approach to sustainability leadership in tourism education.

Adventure and the Gender Gap: Acknowledging Diversity of Experience

Abstract Traditionally, descriptions of adventure recreation have tended to incorporate a limited range of physically isolated and challenging activities (Attarian, 1991; Ewert, 1986). More recently, the concept of adventure has been used quite broadly within the leisure field (e.g. the ‘adventure’ of visiting nature; tourist promotions of ‘adventurous’ fun), but popular media portrayals of adventure continue to promote the extreme and remote. While these latter risk-laden portrayals reflect the experiences of a few, it is the premise of the authors that a broader perception and experience of adventure can be found in more everyday events and activities. In support of recent feminist research (Collins, 2000; Humberstone, 2000), this paper describes women’s perceptions and experiences of adventure and suggests that adventure recreation has wider parameters than previously acknowledged. Based on results of semi-structured in-depth interviews with eighty two women participants in adventure activities (e.g. solo travel, white water kayaking), the findings show that women struggle to identify with popular media presentations of adventure, but they do experience individual adventure in multiple ways. Through personal challenges and newness, adventure can be experienced without the requisite of extreme physical challenge or exclusive remoteness. Subsequently, we suggest that broader social and professional meanings of adventure need to be acknowledged, allowing people to identify with adventure and the benefits to be gained from adventure recreation.

Empowering young people through participatory film: a postmethodological approach

Children and young people’s voices have often been neglected in tourism research, and this is particularly the case when exploring tourism from the host community’s perspective. The lack of children and young people in tourism research has been attributed to the slow engagement and adoption of alternative and critical methodologies which open up new and fresh ways of interpreting reality. The paper aims to explore the potential for participatory film to uncover the perspectives of marginalised members of the community such as children and young people. We also discuss the use of participatory film as an epistemic philosophy, and as a post-disciplinary form of methodology (or ‘postmethodology’) which is ideologically grounded. The findings suggest that children and young people feel strongly about their community and display feelings of anger and frustration towards tourists who are perceived to not respect the community and the environment. The methodological contribution of this paper lies in the use of an innovative and voice-generative participatory visual method to empower young people to actively participate in tourism research.

Shaping destination image and identity: insights for Arab tourism at the Gold Coast, Australia

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how destination image can be shaped, created and crafted, from an induced-source, supply-side perspective to better cater to Arab visitors, drawing on empirical research conducted on the Gold Coast, Australia. Design/methodology/approach – Two sequential stages of research were implemented. The first stage conducted an analysis of websites to compare and contrast the image of the Gold Coast projected with the image perceived by Arab visitors. The second stage conducted semi-structured interviews with professionals from two destination marketing organisations (DMOs) directly responsible for marketing the Gold Coast to Arab visitors. Findings – Key findings indicate that the DMOs sought to portray a strong destination brand to Arab visitors, specifically around its current branding of “Gold Coast: Famous for Fun”. The Gold Coast has highly evolved strategies to target Arab visitors, including productive working relationships between DMOs and strategic partnerships with t...