Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to the extent to which these elements are present. Walking allows insights into
the contemporary nature of the locality, often referred to as a sense of place.
For some researchers, open spaces are an integral part of the tourism product.
For example, Orba¸li and Shaw (2004, p93) comments that 'the
spaces in
between
and the
links
between key attractions or activity nodes are the unify-
ing elements of urban tourism'.
Most tourists explore urban spaces independently and in small groups of
friends or family. Some will do this without any knowledge or interest. They
will simply be seeking a walk that yields some feelings about a place. Others
will come prepared, using maps, guidebooks and on-street interpretation. In
some destinations walking trails have been formalized so that tourists can fol-
low pre-described routes, embellished with interpretation and designed so as
to offer a unique experience of the city. Lumsdon and Spence (2004) studied
the design of 33 urban trails in the UK and concluded that most were initiated
by local government, but that the design rarely took into account the needs of
the users, residents or businesses in the vicinity. At many destinations there are
also guided tours where guides tell the story of the resort or locality to tourists.
Tour guides use their 'ability to manipulate unruly elements of the city into a
coherent narrative' (Wynne, 2008, p5). Wynne undertook 78 interviews of
tour guides and joined 58 tours to describe the world of the tour guide, con-
cluding that they are important culture carriers who are able to condense
history and culture into a palatable form for the tourist.
In terms of Cittáslow, walking is an essential part of the tourist experi-
ence. The slow traveller is invited to take time to explore each street, to piece
together the history of the place (Markwell et al, 2004). They are also enticed
to enjoy the hospitality of those providing locally produced food and bever-
ages, a key point that is promoted by most slow travel blogs on the internet.
The concept is expressed by travel writer Amanda Kendle (2008, p1):
My experience is always that a place feels, how can I put it,
more
exhilarating
, when you see it on foot. There's something
about getting around entirely under your own steam, no doubt
combined with a healthy dose of exercise-produced endorphins,
that leaves a special memory of a trip where you spent a lot of
time walking.
Lumsdon (2004) provides an insight into the way in which destinations and
tour operators fail to market their cities as places to explore on foot. He
undertook a study of hundreds of images presented in brochures of European
and North American cities, using semiotic analysis, and concluded:
the collected images presented by the tour operators serve a pur-
pose to define and signal
heritage
to the market. In terms of
David Engwicht, this appears to be a very narrow mapping of a
mental landscape … There's clearly a need for the tourism mar-
keter to re-appraise the heritage appeal, which is essentially
static and to seek opportunities to differentiate by depicting
