The Nature of Pleasure in Pleasure Travel

Abstract

It is indeed ironic that despite the importance of pleasure as a central theme in both the practice and theory of travel, there is a critical absence of knowledge from which to theoretically and conceptually situate this concept in our field. Given this current state, the purpose of this paper is to undertake a general survey of literature on pleasure, incorporating knowledge from a number of diverse fields including philosophy, evolutionary biology, psychology, neuroscience, social psychology, sociology, and tourism. More specifically, the paper examines sensory or qualitative forms of pleasure and these are compared and contrasted with emotional or attitudinal forms of pleasure, including satisfaction, enjoyment and aesthetics. These different types of pleasure are later organized into a conceptual framework and linked with different temporal frames of pleasure, including anticipatory, on-site, and remembered temporal contexts. This arrangement, along with the interdisciplinary nature of the work, is viewed as a point of departure for further research in the area.

Trends and Directions in Tourism and Positive Psychology

“…It is understood that positive psychological ideas and theories of engagement, like flow, help to define and interpret optimal on-site, momentary experiences in tourism (Ryan 1995). While we acknowledge that there are many aspects of the on-site tourist experience that have been studied using allied concepts such as transcendence (Wang 1999) or kindness and gratitude (Filep, Macnaughton, and Glover 2017; Glover and Filep 2017), of particular interest to tourism scholars in the study of on-site experiences has been the application of flow theory (Wu and Liang 2011), pleasure (Fennell 2009; Malone, McCabe, and Smith 2014; Matteucci 2017) and most recently, the work on humor and positive psychology (Pearce and Pabel 2015; Pabel 2017) and travel and romantic relationships (De Bloom, Geurts, and Lohmann 2017).…”

“…Four different types of pleasure are identified—satisfaction, enjoyment, aesthetic pleasures, and sensory pleasures—and questions are posed such as whether displeasure is the opposite of pleasure or a separate feeling that can be experienced alongside pleasure. Fennell (2009) notes that more research on pleasure is needed, yet little work has been done in his wake to unpack this concept more deeply in the context of a tourist experience. One exception is Matteucci’s (2017) work on the experience of pleasure through sensory gratification derived from tourists’ engagement in music and dance workshops.…”

“…The selection of the following work is based on our review of key positive psychology studies as they relate to three phases of the tourist experience: anticipatory, on-site, and reflective. While Clawson and Knetsch (1966) conceptualized the tourist experience to incorporate travel to and away from a site, we have chosen to focus on the core phases for the purposes of this article, following Fennell (2009) and Larsen (2007). While these stages may in theory overlap, distinguishing them as discrete phases provides a convenient framework to consider the literature in the area.…”

Akrasia and tourism: why we sometimes act against our better judgement?

“…Where we have travelled and what we have experienced whilst travelling has an influence on where we travel and what we do in the future. As such, anticipated, present and remembered temporal frames play heavily on the various experiences of pleasure -satisfaction, enjoyment, aesthetic and sensory forms -that we enjoy in helping us to prepare for future episodes (Fennell, 2009). From this perspective, and in reference of the findings of Pearce and Lee (2005), it may very well be that one's travel career plays a role in the emotional, cognitive and social dimensions of tourists' decision making.…”

“…Reference to the concept of akrasia in tourism is almost non-existent, despite the fact that it is a well-cited concept outside the field. Tourism examples include: Allen and Brennan (2004) on the feeling of a lack of control on tourism and the new South Africa; Fennell (2009) in his discussion on the nature of pleasure in tourism; and Greenspan (2012) in her judgement as to whether to spend a week in Rome or the Riviera after participation in a conference in Italy.…”