Finally, tour guides act as a middleman between tourists and local people. These guides should speak the local language and understand local customs and therefore be able to help tourists navigate foreign destinations. Even the most conscientious tourists who try to familiarize themselves with the local culture and speak some basic words of the language can run into problems with miscommunication and misunderstanding when they have to manage various situations on their own. The stress, frustration, and/or dissatisfaction that arise from any of these aspects of a trip can affect tourists’ attitudes toward the place and their experience of it.
Solo Independent Female Travel
Although it is recognized that tourists are not a single, homogenous group that will experience places in the same ways, tourism research has not always given these differences much consideration. However, supported by developments in feminist geography, more attention has recently been given to the factors that cause women to experience places differently than men. This is exemplified by the attitudes toward and patterns of solo independent travel (i.e., traveling without a companion or an organized tour group).
Although there are examples of female travelers throughout history, travel has generally been seen as the province of men. Throughout the early eras of tourism, only a small percentage of women had the time, money, and social standing to be able to travel, and very few traveled alone. The prevailing sociocultural attitude was that it was inappropriate for respectable women to travel extensively and simply unacceptable for them to travel by themselves. Those who did were viewed by society as eccentric at best; at worst, they faced a ruined reputation.
Opportunities for women in the more developed Western countries to travel gradually increased over the course of the twentieth century. More women entered the workforce (i.e., the public sphere), became more financially independent, and to some extent, experienced less social pressure to start a family at a relatively young age. The number of women traveling now is nearly equal to that of men, and an increasing number of women are choosing solo independent travel. Yet, attitudes toward women traveling—especially abroad and alone—remain somewhat antiquated.
Box 13.2. Experience: Same Place, Difference Experiences
I have had two very different experiences of Europe. After I got my first job out of college and had a little bit of extra money, I wanted to travel. I was single and hadn’t traveled much before, so I joined a group tour that my parents were organizing through American Express. These were whirlwind multicountry trips, where we covered a lot of territory and hit most of the major attractions but didn’t spend long in any one place. I ended up going on three of these kinds of trips. Everything was arranged for us, from transportation (the transatlantic flight and tour bus) to meals (at the hotel or tourist restaurants). There were some afternoons where we had some time to do our own thing, but, for the most part, we had a schedule and we stuck to it. After I got married, my husband and I started traveling on our own. Now, he does all of the planning for our trips (so I still don’t have to do any of that myself!). We only visit one country at a time, and we choose one central location to use as a base for our excursions. We usually use the rail system to visit other parts of the country or sometimes local buses. Sometimes we’ll plan out an itinerary ahead of time, but we’re certainly flexible based on whatever circumstances arise once we get there.
On our trip to Switzerland, we used Zürich as our base. We had a pretty good guidebook and from its recommendations, we made a half-day trip to visit the Rheinfall. We took the early train out of the city, about twenty-five minutes, to the first stop below the falls. There was nothing there but a little path that took us down to the river where we were able to hike up to the top of the falls. We walked through the café there, which was obviously a tourist trap with kitschy souvenirs, and discovered (with some amusement) that they were charging people to go to the viewing platform that we had just walked by. We didn’t stop but continued on into the town. We walked around a bit there, ate our picnic lunch, and continued along the river until we got to the next stop where we could catch a train back to Zürich.
Just recently, I found a copy of a travel journal that a friend had written from the first group tour I went on. I was amazed to discover that I had actually been to the Rheinfall on this trip. It seems that the tour bus stopped at the café at the top of the falls, and we were given about a half hour to go to the bathroom, get a coffee or snack, and maybe buy a souvenir from the shop. I have absolutely no recollection of this. It’s not that I didn’t have a good experience on this trip—I did. I think my lack of memory is more a function of the type of trip it was. We visited a lot of places in a very short period of time. In fact, one of the frequent complaints in my friend’s journal is that we didn’t have enough time at destinations such as this.
Today, I prefer to travel independently rather than with a group. But, having done both, I know that each has its advantages and disadvantages. As with this example, I like being able to spend as long as I want in a place and have a memorable experience of it. I like having the opportunity to interact with people in the places we go, whether it’s on the trains, in the markets, or at an off-the-beaten path pub. However, you do have to be a little adventuresome. I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to do some of the things we’ve done if it weren’t for my husband. There have been times when I thought we would never find our way or that we would miss the last train back, but it always works out.
—Rachel
For the most part within modern societies, the idea that a woman traveling alone is absolutely unacceptable no longer applies; however, these societies continue to perpetuate ideas about female vulnerability. The prospect of negotiating an unfamiliar place can be scary for anyone, especially those who have little previous travel experience. Getting lost, facing language barriers, and dealing with cultural misunderstandings are fears that are common to many travelers. Women often admit their doubts about traveling alone and not having anyone to rely on but themselves. These fears are magnified by tourism industry guidelines for female travelers (e.g., dos and don’ts lists or security warnings), news and word-of-mouth stories (e.g., tourists being drugged, raped, or kidnapped), and concerns from family and friends. After announcing their intentions to travel alone, women are frequently subject to reactions that may range from surprise (e.g., “Are you sure that’s safe?”) to disapproval (e.g., “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”) and even outrage (e.g., “How could you think of doing something like that?”). These reactions may be well intentioned, as they reflect a concern for the woman’s well-being, but they also perpetuate the perception that women are vulnerable and thus solo independent travel is unwise.
Perceptions of acceptable behavior for women and toward women vary widely around the world. Consequently, solo independent female tourists may be judged by the sociocultural norms of the destination and subject to the reactions of local people. In some places, the idea of a woman traveling alone may still be unacceptable. When traveling to other culture regions, women often report feeling conspicuous, receiving unwanted attention, sensing hostility, experiencing some form of harassment, and feeling insecure or unsafe. In particular, women traveling without a male companion may be viewed as sexually available. For example, in some culturally conservative destinations, it may be unusual for a woman to appear in public unaccompanied, and those who do—including foreign tourists—will be thought of as prostitutes. In destinations that have received some female sex tourists, all foreign women may be perceived to be looking for that sort of relationship and approached accordingly.
All of these factors affect women’s travel patterns and the ways they experience other places. They affect whether or not a woman decides to travel alone; if she does travel, they affect where she goes. She may choose to visit destinations that are closer to home, within her own country, or within similar culture regions where she is less likely to stand out. She may also consider her choice of destinations m
ore carefully than a man, considering its reputation for safety and treatment of women. Likewise, these concerns affect where she stays at the destination, including the neighborhood in which an accommodation is located and the level of security it affords.
These factors affect the places she visits at the destination and the type of activities she participates in. She may feel safest within a certain part of the destination, perhaps the front region where there are other people (especially other tourists) that make her feel less noticeable and less of a target. Some types of places are perceived to be less safe than others (e.g., large urban areas with high crime rates or remote, isolated forested areas) and may be avoided. Certain “masculinized” places may also be avoided by solo independent female tourists. For example, in some cultures, the café is a male-dominated space. If a woman enters that space, she is immediately the target of attention, and she may feel her presence is unwanted. In addition, time of day plays a role; a woman might feel comfortable in a particular place during the day, when it is well lit and populated by other women and children, but less comfortable at night when she might be more likely subjected to harassment. As a result, she may choose to stay in or close to her accommodation at night.
In addition, a woman may make other sorts of adjustments during a trip in an effort to minimize the risk of encountering problems while traveling alone. She may modify her patterns of behavior to be more in line with what is acceptable for women in that place, such as talking softly or lowering her eyes. She may change her patterns of dress to fit local norms (e.g., covering her hair in conservative Muslim countries), to be more conservative (e.g., longer skirts or pants, longer sleeves, or higher necklines) so that she attracts less unwanted attention and/or incorrect assumptions, or simply to be more similar to local women and therefore less conspicuous. She may wear a band on her ring finger to give the impression that, although she is not traveling with a man, she is not “available.”
Given real and perceived security issues, a woman may feel that it is her responsibility to not put herself in unsafe places or dangerous situations. Consequently, she has to be constantly aware of her surroundings. This can increase the level of stress associated with travel, which can generate frustration because she is unable to relax and enjoy the experience. Moreover, she may feel that she has an incomplete experience of place because there are certain areas of the destination where she isn’t comfortable going, typically back regions where she would be conspicuous. Likewise, there may be certain activities that she would like to participate in but doesn’t feel like she can.
These constraints play a real role in shaping women’s travel patterns. Not all women will approach travel and experience destinations in the same ways. For some women, these issues may generate suppressed demand. Many women will acknowledge that places at home can also be unsafe, and the experiences faced by solo independent female travelers can also happen to single women at home. However, for women in their home environment, harassment usually occurs in isolated incidents over a long period of time, rather than being compounded during a week-long vacation. Moreover, women at home typically understand the situation and know how to best respond, whereas this is not always the case in foreign environments, which can be extremely unsettling and/or distressing. Yet, many women travel alone. It may be a matter of not giving in to fears or becoming a victim of social pressure. It may be that the rewards of travel outweigh the risks. Many female tourists find that solo independent travel is empowering and fulfilling, as they gain confidence in themselves and a sense of accomplishment for overcoming constraints.
Consumption of Places
As we saw in the last chapter, images are a tremendously important component of tourism representations that are intended to stimulate viewers’ imaginations so that they will visualize themselves at the destination. This sort of daydream generates a demand for the actual experience, or consumption, of place. As a fundamentally place-based activity, places are the primary object of consumption in tourism, which is typically visual (i.e., sightseeing). In fact, tourism is often defined by the act of tourists traveling to other places to see new things.
Sociologist John Urry has described this process of visual consumption as the tourist gaze. In particular, Urry distinguishes between two types of the tourist gaze: romantic and collective. The romantic tourist gaze is a private or personal experience, where the tourist can gaze in peace and feel as though he or she formed a connection with that place. This is typically undertaken in natural tourist sites (e.g., scenic vistas) and spiritual places (e.g., religious temples). Tourists who prefer the romantic gaze consider this the only way to experience such places; consequently, they may think the experience is “ruined” by the presence of others or the perceived inappropriate behavior of others given the character of the site (e.g., loud talking or laughing). In contrast, the collective tourist gaze depends on the presence of people. This occurs in public places that are at least partially characterized by the people found there. For example, the main square or plaza in a major metropolitan area may be a tourist attraction, not just for the architecture of the buildings that define the space, but also for the extent—and cacophony—of life there.8
Whether tourists seek a romantic or a collective gaze, the places chosen must have something distinctive from other places, particularly the places from which tourists are coming. Some places are so different than anywhere else that they automatically attract the gaze. For example, many people feel that Venice is unique and, despite detractions (e.g., hostile local attitudes, high prices, overcrowding), it is ultimately a sight worth seeing (figure 13.4). However, for many destinations, tourist offices must establish that their place has something worthy of being gazed upon. This may be a matter of selecting and promoting a particular characteristic or feature of that place. Trim is a small but attractive traditional town in County Meath, Ireland, with one distinctive characteristic worth visiting: Trim Castle. This restored twelfth-century castle is not only the largest Norman Castle in Europe but also one of the locations for the 1995 film Braveheart. In other cases, the object of the gaze must be created. In one of the most notable examples, the aging London Bridge was sold to a real estate developer who reconstructed it in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for the purpose of bringing tourists to the little-known town.
While efforts to highlight a place (or part of a place) as “worthy” of the tourist gaze often takes place in the form of media representations, it can also be done onsite. Tour guides or self-guided-tour information identifies the sights to be seen. Most blatantly, signs literally identify the places or objects that should be gazed upon and direct tourists to them. Of course, this signposting is necessary, to some extent, to help tourists reach the sights to be consumed. Moreover, this may help destinations concentrate tourists in specific areas (e.g., the preferred sites identified in chapter 11) and steer them away from other areas that might not match up with their expectations. However, someone must decide what is significant or interesting, which may or may not be what tourists would actually choose to see.
Box 13.3. In-Depth: When the Romantic Gaze Becomes a Collective One
From media representations, we are all well familiar with iconic, awe-inspiring scenes such as Half Dome, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, Victoria Falls, Angkor Wat, or the Great Wall of China. Some are purely spectacular natural environments; others combine tremendous human heritage with a dramatic setting. Still others are mystical in ways we can’t always explain. When presented with these images, we can’t help but imagine ourselves there, taking in the gaze. With few if any people present in these images, we can picture ourselves standing alone and appreciating the scene the way we want to and having a semi-spiritual experience of these exceptional places—in other words, the romantic gaze.
Yet, the experience of these places has become decidedly collective as millions of tourists visit every year. Countless cars, RVs, and tour buses create traffic congestion and smog and require extensive parking facilities
located near the site or viewing area for convenience. Both tour groups and independent tourists may roam the site and accumulate in key spots. The concentration of tourists brings hawkers selling a range of products, as well as pickpockets and hustlers looking for opportunities. This mass of people affects the physical quality of the site by trampling paths, accumulating waste, increasing noise levels, and leaving graffiti or vandalizing property. This detracts not only from the view but also the sensory experience of the gaze and the relationship that the tourist has with the object of the gaze (figure 13.3).
Figure 13.3. We normally see photographs of Stonehenge without people, and it is easy to imagine that our experience will be characterized by the romantic gaze. However, this is the scene we are far more likely to encounter today. (Source: Lori Rose)
As places such as these become victims of their own popularity, the much-anticipated romantic gaze is fundamentally changed to a collective one. There are, of course, places sought specifically for the collective gaze. However, when a tourist is expecting a romantic gaze but gets a collective one instead, he or she is likely to be frustrated and dissatisfied. For the sites that have a distinct hold on our imagination, countless tourists will still visit, even though they know that the experience isn’t likely to live up to their expectations. Yet, other tourists will avoid popular sites in favor of others that may be considered secondary or tertiary attractions but continue to offer the more personal experience of the romantic gaze.
An Introduction to the Geography of Tourism Page 40
