Do Tourists Travel for the Discovery of “Self” or Search for the “Other”?

Abstract

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, cross-examination and rejection of spurious hypotheses. Thus, probe aims at encouraging scholars to think against the grain by unmasking the stereotype and dogmatic that has taken the mould of research conservatism, holding back acquisition of new knowledge.The question of why tourists travel is a fundamental one in tourism that speaks to both how we define tourism as a phenomenon for study and how we build our understanding of its nature, processes, consequences and future. The debate and discussion covered in these three papers take a critical approach to this question but from three very different perspectives. Moscardo begins by providing a selective review of some of the key papers that have addressed this question beginning with The Tourist and finishing with discussions of the links between tourism consumption and identity (Bond and Falk 2012), the new mobilities paradigm (Cresswell 2010) and research into people who can but do not travel (McKercher 2009). Along the way she argues that despite a substantial growth in tourism as a research field in the 40 years since MacCannell's (1976) seminal work, very little progress has actually been made in addressing this fundamental question. Dann adds a number of significant references to the discussion and suggests a wider range of possible answers can and should be considered. He disagrees with taking a psychological needs approach to the question of why tourists travel, but concurs with the critique of the way tourism researchers have addressed this question. McKercher argues for a simpler answer, tourism is essentially a selfish pursuit and provides a variety of evidence to support this stance. The overall debate provides important reviews of critical papers in this field, highlights the challenges that exist in addressing this question, offers some ideas for meeting these challenges, and reaffirms the importance of returning to fundamental questions in tourism research.

The psychological process of travel destination choice

“…Personality and motivation are both proven to affect visit intention. However, the confusion between the two is common (Moscardo, Dann, & McKercher, 2014).…”

COVID-19 and Tourism: Analyzing the Effects of COVID-19 Statistics and Media Coverage on Attitudes toward Tourism

“…Socio-psychological motivations for travel include education, escape, kinship relationships, novelty, prestige, relaxation, regression, self-exploration, and social interaction [32]. Both sociological and psychological reasons for travel have been studied extensively, though both approaches have drawbacks [33]. Maslow's classic hierarchy of needs, which positions self-actualization at the top of a pyramid with physiological needs on the bottom, forms the foundation for several tourism principles despite its simplistic construction.…”

Ethical issues in tourism and hospitality research

“…This raises the question of where these researchers find their ethical frameworks (Moscardo, 2010). The lack of apparent interest in tourism research ethics could also be attributed to a tourism-centric bias where researchers focus solely on what is happening within the established tourism literature rather than also maintaining connections with trends in the wider academic literature (Melissen and Koens, 2016;Moscardo, 2014). It is also possible that some tourism researchers follow their respective institutional regulations with regard to research ethics, assuming no need for critical discussion of ethical issues beyond these institutional requirements.…”