Tourist Experience
Reconstructing the Tourist Experience: Editing Experience and Mediating Memories of Learning to Dive
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Stephanie Merchant
Through an analysis of the mediative techniques involved in the production of videographic tourist memorabilia (specifically souvenir DVDs of learning to SCUBA dive), in this paper I render visible the often unconsidered aspects of visual media production that result in, not only visual images themselves, but also by extension, the construction of alternate realities of leisure space, tourist performance, and gap-year identity by young tourists and tourism operators. A connectionist approach to the study of memory is advocated highlighting that mediatory technologies, whilst acting as stimulants for recollection, actually inform and construct memories rather than transmitting realistic snippets of past experience. In the paper it is questioned whether "authenticity" is a relevant frame of reference bearing in mind that the "post-tourist" is often perfectly aware of the lack of authenticity in many tourist activities and happy to go along with a pretence. With this in mind, the paper concludes by stating that "reality" is arguably being edited-out of memories concerning tourism’s places and practices through the production of commercially driven and produced "souvenirs."
Managing Overtourism at UNESCO Sites: A Focus on Angkor, Cambodia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Claudia G Green, Sofia Vaschetto
After Angkor Wat was given the distinction of being among Trip Advisor's Top 10 Tourists Landmarks in 2016, many stakeholders acknowledged this recognition as a mixed blessing. The entire Angkor site is an area of 400 square kilometers. It is also called a “living site” which means within the area, there are over 300 villages of local residents living their daily lives and farming. In many cases, the local residents have lived there for centuries and the numbers of people living within the borders of Angkor continues to increase. To complicate matters, the site now receives two million tourists per year. That number is expected to grow to four million by 2020. Teams of Cambodia cultural heritage, tourism, archeology, and destination management professionals and temple guides are engaged in focus groups, brainstorming, benchmarking, and mapping to develop a tactical plan to address these challenges. Through this exercise, we developed a process for evaluating visitor flow, re-designing processes, and taking steps to mitigate the potential negative environmental, social, and economic impacts. The outcome of this process can be used as a guide for other UNESCO sites being challenged by increases in visitation.
Investigating Memorable Experiences with Robotics in Hospitality
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vincent Tung, Norman Au
There are growing applications of robotics in tourism and hospitality. However, few studies have examined what tourists remember and share after their experiences with robots. To address this gap, this working paper captures tourists’ memorable experiences with robotics in hospitality settings based on consumer-generated reviews. These reviews are analyzed across five dimensions: embodiment, emotions, human-oriented perceptions, feeling of security, and co-experience. Excerpts are extracted from the reviews to provide insights into the role of robotics in these travel remarks.
