Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
relate to an individual's ability to 'fit in' and the importance of an individual's
competence in a particular context. In choosing holiday travel, individuals are
aware of these normative constraints, and may find it difficult to make choices
that do not fit the norm. For example, Dickinson (2008) found slow travellers
drew on traditional holiday discourses that describe a variety of personal ben-
efits, known as 'push' factors (see, for example, Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1977;
Pizam et al, 1979), and include aspects such as flexibility, freedom, independ-
ence, away from constraints of daily life, relaxation, achievement, a story to
tell and engagement with people and place. This use of the dominant tourism
narrative may be an attempt to normalize the chosen holiday practice.
Dickinson et al (2010b) also observed how individuals were able to give a pos-
itive spin to quite negative travel experiences, be that as a slow traveller or an
air traveller. Thus, people are able to positively reposition their experiences
during recollection.
One strand of thinking on identity originates from the perspective of
social identity theory (Hogg and Abrams, 1988). However, social identity
theory, with its emphasis on 'in' and 'out' groups, may not be particularly
applicable to a tourism context. Firstly, such groups do not have time to
develop during relatively short duration trips. Secondly, Dickinson et al
(2010b) show that individuals move in and out of various tourism travel con-
texts, embracing air travel in one context and slow travel in another; thus
again such groups do not arise. However, there are aspects of social identity
theory, such as the positive positioning of self as described by the 'ideologi-
cal square' that are useful. The ideological square (Oktar, 2001) consists of
the following four moves:
1
express/emphasize information that is positive about us
2
express/emphasize information that is negative about them
3
suppress/de-emphasize information that is positive about them
4
suppress/de-emphasize information that is negative about us.
There is, though, an important exception to this positive presentation of expe-
riences, the presentation of problems with public transport, a core element of
slow travel. Previous research on transport modes in a UK destination and
work on slow travel shows how firmly embedded the idea of problems with
public transport is in this context. For example, there is a discourse about late
buses and trains, and general discomfort on public transport. There is a norm
to engage in a discussion of these problems regardless of direct experience,
given that many people rarely use public transport (Dickinson and Dickinson,
2006; Dickinson et al, 2010b; Guiver, 2007).
Several authors in the tourism field have begun to explore how identities
are created discursively (Dickinson et al, 2010b; Gössling and Nilsson, 2009).
For instance, frequent flyer programmes, which aim to boost airline loyalty,
work by influencing individuals' sense of social status and self-esteem by effec-
tively creating a distinction between different groups of air travellers (those
entitled to the frequent flyer perks and those not). This perpetuates a view that
regular, long-distance travel is associated with social status (Gössling and
