Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the distinction between perception and cognition is, however, a heuristic
device rather than a fundamental dichotomy because in many senses, the
latter subsumes the former and both are mediated by experience, beliefs,
values, attitudes, and personality such that, in interacting with their
environment, humans only see what they want to see.
(Walmesley and Lewis 1993:96)
Consequently, an individual tourist's knowledge of the environment is created in their
mind as they interact with the unfamiliar environment they are
Figure 5.9:
Perceptions of place
visiting (or a familiar environment on a return visit). Pacione (2001:353) observed that
'Certain places are regarded as distinctive or memorable through their unique
characteristics or imageability' and so have a strong
sense of place
. This may be
explained in terms of the attachments people have to a specific place, gained through
experience, memory and intention, a condition described by Tuan (1974) as topophilia.
While this may have more relevance to leisure and recreation, as people's daily lives are
deeply rooted in their locality, such issues also have a relevance for urban tourism as
visitors become more confident and at home in a place they visit to develop some degree
of a sense of place.
According to Powell (1978:17-18) an image of the environment comprises ten key
features which include
• a spatial component accounting for an individual's location in the world
• a personal component relating the individual to other people and organisations
• a temporal component concerned with the flow of time
• a relational component concerned with the individual's picture of the universe as a
system of regularities
• conscious, subconscious and unconscious elements
• a blend of certainty and uncertainty
• a mixture of reality and unreality
• a public and private component expressing the degree to which an image is shared
• a value component that orders parts of the image according to whether they are good or
bad
• an affectional component whereby the image is imbued with feeling.
