Hazel Tucker

Adventure tourism: The freedom to play with reality

Definitions of adventure tourism and the supposed motivators for the experience of adventure tourism focus on the concepts of risk, danger and adrenaline. Risk and danger relate to a potential for injury and loss. Tourism on the other hand indicates fun, exciting events and safe experience. The focus of this article is to explore the relationship between participants’ emic experiences and the adventure tourism theories prominent in current literature. This exploration is based on observation of participation, conversations and in-depth interviews with nine tourists on a 14-day white-water kayaking tour of the South Island of New Zealand in February 2002. The interpretation of these tourists’ experiences, their understandings, and the response to these stories expand the scope and importance of concepts prominent in adventure tourism. Participants play with the reality of their experience through stories of freedom, identity and status.

A critical analysis of tourism, gender and poverty reduction

Research on gender and poverty reduction through tourism has largely focused on the notion of womens “economic empowerment”. Yet, there is still insufficient understanding about what is involved in enabling women to participate in tourism in development contexts and in ensuring they benefit economically. The paper explores the complexity of the changes that necessarily are involved in the relationships between tourism development, gender and poverty reduction, and it does this through two case studies of non-western tourism development settings, one a rural township and World Heritage Site in central Turkey, and the other a parish in south-western Uganda. The analysis identifies a variety of socio-cultural factors that constrained and enabled women and men to engage in tourism development and to benefit from it. It also explores the ways in which individuals negotiated the gendered discourses by resisting and also participating in particular cultural practices. It is concluded that the relationships between tourism, gender and poverty reduction must be approached through a nuanced understanding of the significant changes that are implicated in these relationships, as well as through a consideration of the fluid and contradictory ways in which women and men are positioned, and position themselves, in relation to those changes.

Undoing Shame: Tourism and Women's Work in Turkey

This paper discusses processes of tourism and socio-cultural change in a Turkish village context by exploring how gender identities and gendered spaces are being reconstituted through tourism-related work. As tourism has developed in the region surrounding the World Heritage Site of Göreme in central Turkey, men have become tourism entrepreneurs and gained tourism employment whilst women have remained largely excluded from tourism work. This is because in Göreme society tourism work is considered a mans activity as it is inappropriate for women to work in the ‘public’ sphere. During the past five years, however, there has been a marked increase both in womens paid employment in local tourism small businesses and in womens micro-scale entrepreneurial activity associated with tourism. Based on long term anthropological fieldwork, this paper considers the processes through which this example of tourism and social change has taken place. It considers some of the broader influential aspects of social change, and it also looks at how the spatial and moral boundaries have shifted in order to allow women to work in the tourism domain.

Tourists and troglodytes: negotiating for sustainability.

Abstract This paper contributes to the continuing discussion concerning the paradox that tourism destroys the object of its desire. An analysis is made of tourism relations and hospitality in a Turkish village, and it is argued that in their close interactions with tourists traveling independently of organized tour groups, local people are in a position to negotiate both their own “traditional” identity in the presence of tourists and the latters quests and experiences in themselves. A dynamic notion of sustainability in cultural tourism is developed, by challenging the assumptions that tourist localities must remain authentically “traditional” to meet with the expectations of tourists.

Narratives of place and self Differing experiences of package coach tours in New Zealand

This article addresses narratives of place and self as they are constructed in the context of package tours. Based on participant observation and interview research conducted on two eight-day coach tours aimed at different age groups, the discussion explores the self-performances of tourists while participating in sightseeing tours in New Zealand. The research showed that the narratives that tour participants either brought with them or generated in interaction while on tour were based on a complex set of meanings regarding place and self. For the older tour group, visiting New Zealand brought some closure to aspects of their lives that had been unresolved, but their experiences also served to heighten their sense of nearing mortality. For the other group, visiting New Zealand on this particular group tour aimed at young people was an opening to new aspects of their identity. This research thus challenges previous conceptualizations of package coach tourism which have not allowed for the multiple ways in which touring experiences serve to write not only touring selves but also toured places.

Host-guest dating: The potential of improving the customer experience through host-guest psychographic matching

ABSTRACT This article argues for the potential use of lifestyle segmentation in order to achieve psychographic matching between hosts and guests in Bed and Breakfast and homestay accommodation. The discussion draws on research conducted in home-hosted accommodation in New Zealand and Scotland that highlighted the central role that the host-guest interaction plays in guest experience and satisfaction. The idea is then developed as to the potential for tourism boards and other promotional bodies to conduct psychographic profiling on homestay hosts so that potential guests might match themselves for potential com-patibility with hosts. Whilst points of caution are noted, it is argued that such profiling could increase the possibilities of successful host-guest interaction and thus the quality of experience of both guests and hosts.

Managing a world heritage site: the case of Cappadocia.

ABSTRACT Whilst World Heritage Site (WHS) designation is often valued for the increased tourism and associated economic benefits it brings to a region, it can simultaneously lead to the disenfranchisement and marginalisation of local communities. Focusing on the WHS of Göreme-Cappadocia in central Turkey, this article addresses the contested nature of Cappadocias heritage and tourism landscape by discussing the uneasy relationship between the Byzantine historic remains, the Göreme local community and cultural tourism. The discussion critically examines the issue of inclusion and exclusion relating to the heritage presentation and interpretation at this WHS. In conclusion, recommendations for achieving a better level of sustainable cultural tourism through better inclusion of multiple stakeholders and values are made.

Webs of power: multiple ownership in tourism destinations.

It has been widely noted in the tourism small business literature that collaboration between groups of businesses operating within clusters contributes both to business development and the success of destinations and regions. This paper aims to contribute to the research on tourism destination networks by focusing on multiple ownership, or portfolio entrepreneurship, where more than one small or micro business within a specific destination are owned by the same entrepreneur. Courtown in Ireland and Goöreme in Turkey are presented as two case studies in which the existence of multiple owners was identified. The implications of multiple ownership on tourism operation in these two destinations are examined taking, first, a supply side approach in studying the effect on the firms and products in the area of Courtown. Second, a demand side approach is taken by assessing the implications of multiple ownership for tourists in Goöreme. Factors considered include implications for inter-firm cooperation, barriers to entry for potential firms and the tourist experience. It is concluded that the practice of multiple ownership creates webs of power which embroil tourists and significantly impact on the business structure and operation of the tourism destination.

Tourism ‘things’: The travelling performance of the backpack

The study of material culture is gathering momentum in tourism research. The following article illustrates the performance of the backpack in backpacking travel. On extended trips from home, backpackers depend on various objects and other material ‘things’ to guide and assist in their journeys. Amongst these ‘things’, the backpack is one of the most important. This material object is synonymous with backpacking travel. In the article, however, the authors depart from the level of symbolism and propose that this object is performative within backpacking. Through reflection on their own experiences of travel, the authors show that a large part of backpacker identity creation and embodied performance is tied to the performative effects of the backpacks that backpackers carry with them. In short, the article proposes that these material objects do important things. But what do they do? In what ways do these objects perform? These fundamental questions give rise to the authors’ call to follow innovative leads in contemporary discussions of materiality to account for the social performance of tourism ‘things’.

Sustaining Adventure in New Zealand Outdoor Education: Perspectives from Renowned New Zealand Outdoor Adventurers on the Contested Cultural Understanding of Adventure.

New Zealand is renowned as a place of adventure. This representation is enhanced by individuals who have gained world recognition in outdoor leisure pursuits. These adventurers ability to sustain their adventure identities has considerable impact on their lives but also on the sustainability and validity of adventure as an educational avenue. Guided by the ideas of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper examines and interprets renowned New Zealand adventurers’perspectives of adventure. Analysis of autobiographic adventure texts, memoirs, web pages, externally authored articles in print media and where possible individual interviews focuses on the context, traits, skills and values associated with adventure experience. The adventure narratives in these accounts are predominantly an individual experience focused on personal challenge, control and decision making. The adventure identities are presented as or portray themselves as role models of an adventure experience that is critical to social development and human sustainability. They all share a positive perspective of the educational benefits of adventure experience, but have divergent ideas on what should be understood as adventure. Their ‘true’ adventure is in conflict with the popular representations, such as bungy jumping thrill, reality TV stunts or survival epics.