Tourism study record

A detailed Summary of Tourism study record

According to Theobald (1998:411) authenticity means genuine, unadulterated or the real thing. In modern times tourism is frequently accused of destroying authenticity ((a notion which is problematic in its own term), through commoditization of cultures, such as festivals, dance rituals and food which is produced for monetary gain. The definition of authenticity is debatable by many academics; I will try to explore their views on this subject in this essay.

MacCannell, in The Tourist (1999), portrayed the tourist as being on a pilgrimage, a search for authenticity. To define "authentic," MacCannell drew upon the distinction made by the sociologist Erving Goffman between the "front" and "back" regions of social establishments. The front is the place where hosts and guests, performers and audience, or service persons and customers, meet one another; the back is where members of the home team retire between performances to relax and prepare. The back region, as we all know, allows concealment of props and activities that might discredit the performance out front. In a literal sense it creates a staged performance situation, the terms "front" and "back" describe actual ways in which the social roles are enacted. Thi

Urry discusses Feifer's theory on "playfulness". Play, she argues is a main feature of postmodernism and has been incorporated into numerous activities. Play has allowed for a de-differentiation between work and leisure. We enjoy "playing" roles in society. This would suggest that Goffman's theory on public representation is another game we play. We act out many roles in life and when we go on holidays, we enjoy acting the part of the tourist. We know that we are being treated as such. We realise that there is a front stage and back stage and that neither are authentic but we enjoy it all the same and will be fulfilled because we played a part in the spectacle.

· Theobald, W.F. (1998) Global Tourism 2nd Edition, Butterworth - Heinemann

· MacCannell, D. (1999) The Tourist - A New Theory of The Leisure Class, University of California Press

s search for authenticity by the tourist is seen as a compensatory process as tourists seek to recreate structures, authentic lifestyles that modernity has smashed.

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Approximate Word count = 1197
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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Tourism study record

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