Kevin Markwell

Dimensions of photography in a nature-based tour

Abstract This paper reports on an empirical study which explored the spatial, temporal, and social dimensions of photography in a nature-based tour experience. Data sources which were used to investigate the tourist—photography phenomenon included on-site observations, posttour interviews, photographic collections taken by the tour participants, diaries from some of the participants, and the authors narrative of the tour. The paper describes and examines the temporal distribution of photography throughout the duration of the tour, the role of photography in the social interactions of the tour participants, and patterns in the photographic collections and the importance of, and meanings given to, the images contained within them.

Using personal diaries to collect data

Abstract We set out under liravy skies, but Robb [the (our leader] had been assured by phone by the driver ol the Birdsville supply truck that all was well at least to there. We slopped at a very green spot lor a cuppa and were quite ama/ed at the rieh color of tile grass. There was llie rich fresh smell of freshly rained on soil. We passed through more of the edge of the Sturt Stony Uesert and were amused to be traveling through a desert in the light rain which was then falling. As we continued there was more and more green growth and more permanent vegetation than I liad expected. Tlie road became more and more slippery and there in front of us, bogged in a diagonal position across the road, was the supply truck, whose driver liad spoken to Robb by phone. Rob!) did Ins best to stav in a position to pass, but alas, we were bogged.

Artificial Reefs as Recreational Scuba Diving Resources: A Critical Review of Research

This paper reports on the increasing practice of developing and promoting artificial reefs as sites for scuba diving tourism and recreation. A comprehensive definition of artificial reefs is presented that encapsulates the diversity of structures used by marine recreationists, particularly scuba divers, followed by a review of existing literature that specifically examines artificial reefs as a resource for the conduct of recreational scuba diving. Three main thematic areas were identified in the existing literature: social dimensions, socioeconomic impacts and environmental engineering. A typology of artificial reefs is offered to better describe and categorise artificial reef structures according to unit characteristics that may influence recreational use such as material used, appearance, complexity and cost. The paper presents a conceptual model that identifies the components of an artificial reef scuba diving experience and discusses the potential of artificial reefs to act as tourism resources and management tools to redistribute scuba diver numbers away from natural reefs. Directions for future research are suggested, emphasising collection of data on aspects of the artificial reef scuba diving experience to better inform marine resource management.

Festivals, Space and Sexuality: Gay Pride in Australia

Abstract This paper explores the emergence of gay pride festivals in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, in the wake of the emergence and consolidation of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras as one of the pre-eminent international tourism festivals staged in Australia. We argue that to understand the crucial role gay pride festivals play in processes of social change surrounding sexuality Down-Under it is essential to take spatiality seriously. We offer an interpretation of the sexual politics of festival spaces which is committed to relational thinking, openness and recognition of differences and multiplicities. Our interpretation draws on a discourse analysis of lesbian and gay media reports documenting reactions to the establishment of ‘new’ gay pride festivals. Discourses of pride have been negotiated and adopted in quite different ways by each of the festivals examined. Alert to the necessity to take spatiality seriously, gay pride events are shown politically to be ambiguous spaces, which may be sites of ambivalence, or ritualized resistance, or alternatively they may be contested sites.

Perceptions of artificial reefs as scuba diving resources: a study of Australian recreational scuba divers

Abstract Marine-based recreation and tourism activities have experienced substantial growth over the past few decades and concerns about the ecological sustainability of many of these activities have been recognised by researchers, policy-makers and the recreation and tourism industries. One strategy to deal with diver-induced impacts is the creation of new or artificial reefs which, when established, can become substitute dive sites for more naturally occurring reefs. However, there have been very few studies into the acceptability of these substitute reef environments to divers and the social aspects of diving on artificial reefs. This paper explores the perceptions of diving on artificial reefs through a questionnaire survey of a sample of 337 Australian scuba divers. The awareness of artificial reefs as dive sites among respondents was very high, as were the levels of satisfaction with diving on such sites. Many divers recognised the value of these reefs in reducing diver impacts on natural reefs, and the study shows that artificial reefs do hold considerable attraction to divers. It is concluded that artificial reefs have significant potential for broadening the scuba diving resource base and the range of experiences available, and for simultaneously reducing visitor impacts and pressures on natural reefs.

Space and place in gay men’s leisure

Abstract This paper explores the use of spaces and places by gay men as sites for leisure in the industrial city of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Eleven gay men were asked to photographically document the places / spaces in Newcastle which had significance to them, and the resulting photographic collection was subject to content analysis in order to uncover any discernible patterns. The men were later interviewed about their photographs and this information was used to help understand the ways in which these men make use of place and space within the city, and the meanings they attach to those places. The categories of photographs which accounted for just over 80 per cent of the 106 photographs were ‘beats’ (27%), privately owned places (25%), and commercial leisure service providers (32%). The associated interviews revealed some of the techniques and strategies employed by these men to construct and live their lives within an overwhelmingly heterosexual territory.

Constructing, Presenting and Interpreting Nature: A Case Study of a Nature-based Tour to Borneo

Abstract This paper examines the ways in which the experience of nature is mediated via its construction, presentation and interpretation within the specific domain of tourism. It is argued that the concept of nature is characterised by ambiguity and contradiction, and that the understandings of, and meanings attached to, nature by tourists are not constant, fixed or homogenous. The data for the paper were derived from a study of a three-week nature-based tour to Malaysian Borneo, in which the author acted as tour leader. A range of complementary research methods was used, including participant and systematic observation, in-depth interviews and analysis of participants’ diaries, photographs and postcards. These data shed light on the ways in which tourists experienced nature and, specifically, on the role of interpretation as a mediatory practice in their experiences.

Ethical and sustainability dimensions of foodservice in Australian ecotourism businesses.

The first decades of the twenty-first century are witnessing growing public interest in the ethical and sustainability dimensions of food production and consumption. Increasing numbers of consumers are buying meat that has been produced using ‘free-range’ rather than intensive, ‘factory-farm’ methods and for seafood harvested from sustainable fisheries. This paper examines the ethics and sustainability of food provision within the specific context of ecotourism. The websites of a sample of Australian accredited ecotourism businesses were subjected to content analysis to assess the extent to which ethical and sustainability dimensions of food production, distribution and consumption were mentioned and discussed. Findings suggest that overall very few ecotourism businesses mention ethical and sustainability dimensions of food on their websites. Food and wine ecotourism operators were more likely than ecolodges or wildlife tourism operators to acknowledge aspects of ethical sourcing of food and food sustainability. Operators with the highest level of ecotourism certification did not perform better than other operators in terms of the website descriptions of their foodservice business practices in relation to ethics and sustainability.

Platypus diplomacy: animal gifts in international relations

Abstract Making use of government archives, media coverage and family biography, this paper examines a little studied aspect of human-animal relations: the use of live native fauna as gifts for diplomatic purposes. Gifts of platypuses from the Australian government to their British and American allies in 1943 and 1947 reflect the status then enjoyed by iconic Australian fauna as a resource to be exploited in the national interest. The great scientific and popular interest generated by the platypuss distinctive characteristics imbued these animals with the cachet required to serve as a powerful statement of international goodwill. However, these same qualities made the platypus difficult to keep in captivity and its export a great challenge. This article examines the motives for platypus diplomacy, the process through which it was conducted and its significance for human-animal relations in Australia. Subsequent legislation has increased the protection of the platypus such that no further platypus diplomacy has been attempted and none have been exported for half a century. The use of the platypus to enhance Australias standing with other nations marked a transitional stage in the evolution of attitudes to Australian native fauna.

The serpent's stare meets the tourist's gaze: strategies of display at the Australian Reptile Park

This article explores approaches to the display and subsequent viewing of reptiles, a group of animals that simultaneously fascinate and repulse, through a case study of a wildlife attraction, the Australian Reptile Park (ARP), established in 1959 by charismatic naturalist Eric Worrell. From its inception, Worrell explicitly situated the parks activities within the domains of research, education and conservation. The park also provides venom from snake and spider species for the development of antivenom, positioning the park within the additional domain of public health. Today, the park assertively markets itself as a nationally significant tourist attraction. Through analysis of archival material spanning the parks 50-year history, interviews with former and current staff and associates, and ethnography of visitor experiences, this article provides an analysis of the strategies used to exhibit, interpret and make meaning of the captive animals at the ARP within shifting frameworks of presentation from modern to postmodern. Underpinning this analysis is a critical focus on the way the park has negotiated tensions between entertainment and education in the context of its role as a visitor attraction.