Performing Tourist Places

The spectacular and the mundane: Chinese tourists’ online representations of an iconic landscape journey

“…First, there is an imprecise matching between the destination marketing organisation's major presentation of the driving route and the way tourists present their photographic record. As Baerenholdt et al (2004) observe, tourists bring their own meanings and social goals to the settings they visit and enact roles and perfomances which others may not have predicted. The Chinese tourists certainly use the GOR experience to view nature and Australian wildlife, as promoted by Tourism Victoria, but they also use it much more than is emphasised in the publicity material to observe and interact with the society they visit.…”

“…Destination marketers, government authorities, individual businesses and ordinary citizens are all key players (Morrison, 2013;Wang, 2011). Tourists themselves are also core contributors to this image construction process, not only while they engage with the locations they visit (Baerenholdt, Haldrup, Larsen, & Urry, 2004), but also through the process of sharing their experiences (Sigala, Christou, & Gretzel, 2012). Tourists' online photographic posts are arguably worthy of study and research interest because they represent a cutting edge in this shared, image-based communication about visited places (Rakić & Chambers, 2012).…”

‘We had the most wonderful times’: seaside nostalgia at a British resort

“…The beach is an authorised site of performative play for adults as well as children, where one can create by manipulating the environment (Baerenholdt, Haldrup, Larsen & Urry 2004;Obrador-Pons, 2009). Ryan (2010b) observes that beaches are one of the few places where adults can have childlike fun as opposed to leisure and the beach is perhaps the most important stage on which adults can safely re-enact their childhood; when children are present, childish acts of play can become expectations.…”

Touring as a Peircean habit

“…Questions remain, however, concerning the ability of Peircean semiotics (and semiotics more generally) to engage with performance and emotion, both of which are now recognized as fundamental qualities of touring (Baerenholdt, Haldrup, Larsen & Urry, 2004;Edensor, 2000;Rickly-Boyd, Knudsen, Braverman & Metro-Roland, 2014;Rickly-Boyd & Metro-Roland, 2010;Waterton & Watson, 2014). In this research note we wish to argue that the Peircean notion of habit inherently relates to the performative and that it, further, is sufficiently general to incorporate emotionality.…”

“…Secondly, according to Peirce, an object is cognized through its image (the representamen), which is then interpreted (the interpretant). Interpretation is active, it leads to performance (Baerenholdt et al, 2004;Edensor, 2000;Metro-Roland, 2009Rickly-Boyd, et al, 2014;Rickly-Boyd & Metro-Roland, 2010). Interpretation draws heavily upon what Peirce refers to as collateral observation, the accumulated knowledge that we have built up over time.…”