Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
conditions, then, consumption becomes a means by which status and social position can be
displayed and maintained and used as a strategic resource.
Tourism, individuation and space
Of course the question that needs to be addressed here is: how does this apply to tourism and
the production and consumption of space? In order to answer that question we need to
consider just what the main elements of tourism are. I would argue that the basis of tourism
is the consumption of time and place, which is both constructed and mediated by an associ-
ated bundle of tangible goods and services, and the less tangible benefi ts derived from them.
Taken as a whole this constitutes the tourist experience. As noted above, contemporary
patterns of consumption differs from earlier forms because it has become increasingly differ-
entiated, shifting away from mass production and consumption into nicheing and market
segmentation (see Lew,
Chapter 23 i
n this volume). This is a process that has been evident in
tourism for some time (Meethan, 2001) and one that shows no immediate signs of change, as
tourism becomes more spatially diffused and increasingly individuated (for example see
Harrison, 2003; Maitland and Newman, 2004; Wearing
et al.
, 2010).
For example, Wearing
et al.
(2010: 52) argue that tourism, as a form of embodied social
interaction, allows us to explore the ways in which the self is both created and reworked
through an ongoing process of self construction (see also Meethan
et al.
, 2006). Take back-
packing for instance, a form of tourism that in some ways is the embodiment of individuation
(Hannam and Ateljevic, 2008; see also Duncan,
Chapter 14 o
f this volume). Beginning with
the 'hippy trail' of the 1960s (there were of course antecedents, such as Lee, 1971), this form
of tourism has now grown into a global business that is now institutionalised as the 'gap year'
with its own niche tour companies, hostels, budget hotels and employment agencies (see for
example
www.realgap.co.uk). E
ven given the increasing popularity of such tourism, it is still
a relatively small market. However, the increasing shift towards individuation in tourism can
also be seen in the rise of online bookings (Harvest Digital, 2007), research for holidays and
also the ways in which blogs and other forms of e-communication are used.
There has been a notable decline in the volume of business conducted by mainstream
traditional travel agents as a direct result of the increase in online bookings (Hyde, 2008; Pan
and Li, 2011). In a useful summary of the literature on vacation planning, Hyde notes that
infor mation concer n ing destinations is gathered f rom a var iet y of sources such as f r iends, rela-
tives, guidebooks, travel agents and the internet, but that the internet now dominates online
sales for air tickets, but is less dominant in sales of package holidays (Marcussen, 2007, cited
in Hyde, 2008: 717).
There are many reasons for this. First is the way that internet use per se has become more
commonly accepted as a means to purchase a wide range of goods and services, and also
because it offers consumers access to a sometimes bewildering array of markets that are both
global in their spread and also niched in their product offer. Consumers can shop around for
the best deals or alternatively can create their own individualised travel itineraries. In turn,
this has seen the development of tourist 'routes', that is, a projected or possible itinerary from
which the individual can pick and choose their own tailored product. Take, for example,
Cape Route 62 in South Africa, which is described as 'the tourist route in the Western Cape
and Eastern Cape, South Africa, that meanders between Cape Town and Oudtshoorn, the
Langkloof and Port Elizabeth' (
www.route62.co.za). W
hile travelling along the route people
can go wine tasting, play golf, visit farms, spas, nature reserves and art galleries, and stay in a
variety of different accommodation such as farms, guesthouses and self-catering, and as such
