Helen Farrell

Taking a hike: exploring leisure walkers embodied experiences

Abstract This paper uses ‘walk-along’ interviewing to investigate embodied experiences of walking on the South Downs Way, a long-distance trail in southern England. Using a qualitative methodology – encompassing 93 walk-along interviews and auto-ethnographic reflections of two walker/researchers – it explores how walkers conceptualise their own walking experiences and captures this information while they are walking. It contributes to and extends the emerging body of literature which explores people’s experience, specifically aiming to develop a deeper understanding of leisure walking experiences in the dynamic space of the walk. It examines a range of bodily sensations and emotional states associated with the leisure walking experience in the context of temporal and environmental aspects, identifying those feelings that are innate and those which are mediated by external conditions. Current experiences intertwine with memories of other places and times in a process where connections are made between mind, body, the immediate physical environment, self and others, and disconnections from everyday life and the wider environment. These connections and disconnections create a sense of perspective, achievement and well-being.

Redressing the balance: Inverted hierarchies in the tourism classroom

The research evaluates a collaborative case study to co-create the curriculum for a tourism undergraduate module. In three course design team (CDT) meetings, students selected and discussed topics and learning styles. Qualitative analysis revealed that the students involved strove to be independent learners. They favoured active learning styles and ‘non-vocational’ aspects of tourism. However, university bureaucracy represents a block in the design process. The paper concludes by advocating a more equal relationship between students and tutors. This involves a shift in power relations, inverting traditional hierarchies in which teachers act as gatekeepers of knowledge and students are passive recipients.

Networking among rural tourism entrepreneurs

In this paper we explore the role of in-migrant owners of small tourism firms in promoting entrepreneurship and developing competition in the tourism economy of Northumberland. We hypothesise that through a combination of extra-local networks and local embeddedness these business owners are not only succeeding themselves but they are stimulating other local businesses by increasing local trade, heightening competition and raising standards and aspirations. The role of in-migrants is further explored in theoretical terms. Their networking behaviour and the importance of what Saxena [1] terms “relational capital” in the process of integrating rural tourism into the wider local economy is of particular interest given that some of these business owners are recent arrivals into the area. Of further interest are the links between place, community and local products, services and activities. The ability of in-migrants to create a sense of place and as well as embedding their businesses within the local economy is discussed.

An investigation of a GIS-based methodology for the sustainable, participative management of walking routes in Ireland

This thesis has identified and tested a methodology for the sustainable planning, development, auditing and routing of Waymarked Ways (walking routes). In testing and comparing the methodology on two routes in Ireland, a range of results have been gathered. Findings suggest that the approach is appropriate and effective in managing waling routes in the context of the study and in including community participation in the management process. Two study sites with different landscapes and infrastructures and varying levels of attractiveness for walking were used during research, and they were found to be quite different in their route management procedures. The methodology employed landscape character assessments, CORINE land cover data and checklist surveys to investigate the landscape and physical conditions of the routes studied. Counts were conducted of route users, and user questionnaire surveys were conducted. Interviews with local stakeholders and focus group sessions using the GIS were conducted to assess local opinions and draw on local knowledge of the area and the walking route. The participative techniques tested for the research are offered as a means of improving route management at the local level, for improving communication between local and central management bodies and for exchanging information among all interested parties. The research recognised that community involvement is essential if walking routes are to be sustainable, and the relative lack of success and popularity of routes is believed to be influenced by a lack of interest at a local level, by the image of the area, as promoted to advertising and the media and by the landscapes that the routes pass through. Where possible, all data was stored and analysed in GIS. Main data sources were the Ordnance Survey Ireland discovery series maps, landscape character assessments, CORINE land cover layers, inventories of facilities, environmental and planning designations from the local authorities and from the heritage service and data acquired from focus group sessions, questionnaires and interviews.