Kevin Hannam

Dark and toxic tourism in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

With the development of ‘dark’ and ‘toxic’ tourism, interest in death, sufferings or disasters has grown significantly and there is a need to achieve an in depth understanding of tourists experiences at such sites. This paper is an attempt to explore and understand tour guides interpretations of tourists experiences at the one of the most infamous sites of dark and toxic tourism – the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The paper shows how different types of tourists visit the Zone at different times of the year. It further explores the site interpretations of the tour guides and the increasing influence of the media and video games in the construction of the touristic experience. It is concluded that the benefits and impacts of forms of dark and toxic forms of tourism for local communities and the environment must be further researched.

Independent tourist's automobilities in Norway.

This paper critically examines the methods of transportation used by independent tourists and how importantly they value mobility throughout their journeys. While independent tourists are frequently identified as being adventurous and highly mobile, relatively few researchers have critically examined the modes of transport they use or the importance they play in enhancing and fulfilling their desired experiences. Indeed, most literature portrays independent tourists as habitual users of public transport as opposed to modes of personal transport. In this paper, the notion of automobility – a combination of autonomous and self-directed movement – is explored from the perspective of independent tourists in Norway. A multi-method qualitative study was undertaken which analysed the views of 38 independent tourists at eight different locations. The findings revealed that personal modes of transport were intrinsic features of the journeys undertaken and that they offered alternative sensory experiences in contrast to public transport. Moreover, for many independent tourists, autonomous journeys were considerably more important than the destinations they visited. Thus, for many independent tourists in Norway, demands for control, flexibility and adventure could only be satisfied by using particular modes of transport.

Conflicting Perspectives of Residents in the Karpaz Region of Northern Cyprus towards Tourism Development

The development of tourism has recently emerged as a key factor for the remote Karpaz region of Northern Cyprus. Due to its relatively unspoilt nature and well-preserved traditional lifestyle, community tourism was chosen as the most appropriate product for the regional Northern Cyprus government. This research explores community tourism development in the Karpaz region and evaluates its sustainability by taking into consideration the needs, expectations and concerns of community residents. A qualitative methodological research approach was employed and the study found that there are significant conflicting attitudes between different community residents towards tourism development due to the cultural differences between Turkish settlers and Turkish Cypriot residents. It is concluded that the changing nature of the community due to the migrations from the mainland constitutes both a significant opportunity and threat for the sustainability of the social and cultural identity of Northern Cyprus in terms of its real and imagined “Cypriotness”.

Cosmopolitan education, travel and mobilities to Washington, DC

ABSTRACT This paper examines the cosmopolitan mobilities of young elites that take part in study-internship programmes in Washington, DC, US. In the case of Washington, DC, a large study-internship industry has been developed and this is an important example of how cities can become instrumental in organising specialised elite mobilities. These study-internship programmes (normally called Washington Semester Programmes (WSP)) give both US and international students the chance to study and intern in Washington, DC. Similar programmes exist in many global cities; however, Washington, DC has arguably become a central hub for those who wish to pursue careers in the fields of development politics or in the NGO sphere. The paper illustrates how ideas and stories of mobile careers and the importance of ‘being mobile’ on the job market catalyse student mobility into Washington, DC. Significantly, student mobilities to Washington, DC combine education with aspects of tourism and lifestyle mobilities. Moreover, these programmes allude to ideas of global citizenship through increasing participant’s human capital by enhancing their cosmopolitanism through this educational experience. Likewise, the participants in these programmes buy into those ideas of cosmopolitanism and the added value to their mobility capital through experiencing the political landscapes of Washington, DC.

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.

Contrasting Performances of Tourist and Migrant Mobilities in Norwegian Hostels

Hostels are synonymous with independent tourists and frequently identified as spaces of hospitality that enable a number of touristic performances to take place. These performances include resting, relaxation, destination or route planning, and interactions with other likeminded visitors. However, using Oslo, Norway as a research setting, we argue that such places may also permit a range of other performances to take place due to the increasing use of hostels as temporary and semi-permanent housing solutions for migrant populations. This alternative group of hostel users originated from a plethora of different countries and included economic and political migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Although hostel spaces provided comfort, safety, and platforms for friendships to prosper for non-tourist hostel users, they also served as settings for largely contrasting performances of immobility to take place. Thus, Oslos hostels revealed a range of overlapping acts that resulted in a paradoxical ensemble of entangled tourist and non-tourist performances.