Tourists’ walking rhythms: ‘doing’ the Tunis Medina, Tunisia

Abstract

The contemporary medina of Tunis is intimately connected to the various urban development stages of the city at large. Despite its UNESCO status and undisputable attractions, the medina is peripheral to Tunisian tourism development. Yet its maze of streets is walked on a daily basis by numerous tourists, who bring flair, choreographies and rhythms which also constitute the medina. While there are a growing number of studies focusing on tourists' movements, using technologies that allow for accurate mapping of timespace trajectories, I argue that we have much to learn from the embodied ways in which tourists move in an unknown terrain. Inspired by Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis, this paper explores tourists' rhythms and modes of walking, including their performances, body languages, stops and advances, and gaze interactions. Drawing on a combination of mobile methodologies, interviews and online comments, I argue that tourists engage in many different walking rhythms, which shift quickly according to the situation. It is the complex manner in which tourist bodies, rhythms and urban forms intersect within the contemporary city that contributes to the construction of the city itself. Rythmes des touristes à pied: promenade dans la Medina à Tunis, en Tunisie RÉSUMÉ La médina contemporaine de Tunis est étroitement liée aux différentes étapes de l'ensemble du développement urbain de la ville. Malgré son statut d'UNESCO et ses attractions touristiques incontestables, la médina est secondaire par rapport au développement touristique tunisien. Pourtant, au quotidien, de nombreux touristes se promènent dans le dédale de ses ruelles et apportent une touche de style, des chorégraphies et des rythmes, qui eux aussi constituent la médina. Bien qu'il y ait un nombre croissant d'études qui se concentrent sur les mouvements des touristes, en utilisant des technologies qui permettent une cartographie exacte des trajectoires spatiotemporelles, je soutiens que nous avons beaucoup à apprendre des façons incarnées dont les touristes se déplacent sur un terrain inconnu. Inspiré de l'analyse du rythme de Lefebvre, cet article explore les rythmes et les modes de promenade des touristes, incluant leurs comportements, langage corporel, arrêts et progrès, ainsi que les

Tourist’s mobilities: Walking, cycling, driving and waiting

“…In terms of tourism mobilities, rhythmanalysis has offered a fruitful avenue of investigation for understanding relationships between recreational walkers, walking experiences and places (e.g. Küpers & Wee, 2018; Sarmento, 2016; Stevenson and Farrell, 2017). As Edensor (2010) outlined, walking practices and values are informed by particular socio-cultural discourses and historic contexts.…”

“…As Edensor (2010) outlined, walking practices and values are informed by particular socio-cultural discourses and historic contexts. For example, Sarmento (2016) investigated how tourists move through unknown places using rhythmanalysis, finding improvisation to exist alongside patterns of unease and mirroring local rhythms, contributing to place-making. Johinke (2018) discusses the importance of sound in terms of the embodied experience of walking tours.…”

Taking a walk: The female tourist experience

“…It's a way to see things. RosaThe importance of walking as a means of transportation is acknowledged by tourism researchers: Sarmento (2017) observes that walking is the main way in which tourists move through and negotiate space.…”

Spatiotemporal Contingencies in Tourists’ Intradiurnal Mobility Patterns

“…This is evident in the formation of destination images, relying on both “cognitive” and “affective” conceptions of the destination (San Martín and Rodríguez del Bosque 2008), and also in the final outcomes such as visitors’ satisfaction and destination loyalty (Bigné and Andreu 2004; Yuskel, Yuskel, and Bilim 2010). In terms of intradestination behavior, cultural background has been shown to affect choices such as accommodation, mode of transport, and movement patterns (Dejbakhsh, Arrowsmith, and Jackson 2011) while behavior was claimed to change with activity context (Sarmento 2017). While these findings present new knowledge regarding the formation of behavioral patterns, they are limited in the sense that most of them relate to a subset of the multiple aspects motivating spatial behavior.…”