Today I reread parts of a paper I submitted for Anth 424
last year; its topic was ghost tours in Los
Angeles, so chosen because it was both appropriate for
the particular class (anthropology of the supernatural) and could feed into the
research for my thesis project. Its
background goes into defining tourism and some particular aspects that apply to
both general, mainstream tourism as well as ghost tours.
After reading, I came up with a few general concepts which I
may wish to further explore when re-exploring tourism’s defining
characteristics:
Types of Tourism (may overlap):
- Adventure
- Luxury
- Escape
- Consumption
Requirements for Tourism (not all apply to every type):
- Comfort & safety
- Varying degrees of organized activity; or, activity with a
purpose
- Expected highlights (landmarks & activities)
- Documentation
Comfort & safety – Especially in adventure or eco
tourism, this differentiates tourism from other, non-touristic instances of
travel (though the boundaries may blur a bit).
There is an understood sense that tourists will remain safe and
relatively comfortable. Tourist services
are first and foremost businesses, and as such need to follow certain legal
& ethical constraints; when things go wrong, businesses are liable (unless
legally-binding consent forms are involved).
Landmarks have signs all around them – signs of warning, or guidelines
to lead the visitor across the proper path, attempting to minimize incidents of
injury or death. These signs are placed
to maintain the safety of its visitors as well as its associated workers.
Organized activity/activity with a purpose & expected
highlights – Tourists visit places with particular goals and generally attempt
to maximize their time; some places/activities are of a higher priority.
Documentation – In my personal experience, before leaving on
any vacation, my friends & family always tell me to take lots of
pictures. While photos & videos are
the most common way of documentation, other forms include text-based updates in
real-time, through Facebook, Twitter & other blogs/social media websites. It’s my impression that there is an
overwhelming sense that a vacation didn’t really happen unless it was
documented. There’s a common phrase that
is often used for any kind of unusual situation (at least in my generation),
and applies here as well: “pics or it didn’t happen.”
These are just a few thoughts... If anyone reading this has an idea or two to contribute (or completely disagrees!), I'd love to hear from you.
*BONUS QUESTION* – What are some instances where the boundaries between tourism & non-tourism are a bit blurred?
