Fourth International Conference on Tourism and Leisure Studies

Abstract

A tourist takes on a vacation his mind already filled with images. Once he actually reaches the destination he has chosen, these images can be maintained, revoked, transformed or replaced. As noted by Moissec (1977: 55) “tourist space is first and foremost an image (…) a complex, dreamed image, reflected in travel guides and pamphlets, books, paintings and movies (my translation from French).” Morocco, with its rich cultural and natural heritage, offers multiple images to potential visitors. Images of its landscape, its fine dining, its ethnicity and religion all compete in beauty and make tourist imagine an unforgettable exotic trip. From a comparative analysis of sample images submitted by college students (aged 18 to 23) prior and after a fieldwork course in Morroco, this paper aims to answer the following questions: what images do north-American college students have of Morocco? How does a fieldwork course in Marrakech and in the Atlas mountains transform these images? How does the encounter with the “other,” as being part of the course’s requirements, contribute to deconstruct negative stereotypes regarding Morocco and its Muslim inhabitants? How does fieldwork experience change a destination image and construct new ones? Finally, what percentage of these images actually depict identified cultural and natural heritage (by UNESCO or else) before and after fieldwork?