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 Convenor:
Rebecca Bennett
Tourism
is under theorised in its popular cultural format. I promote a Cultural
Studies interdisciplinary style of critique of tourist movements,
pleasures, cultures and (sub)cultures by playfully and politically
engaging with tourism’s representation in popular culture.
Bolivia |
Merging
and expanding on Tourism Studies’ economic,
ecological, anthropological and sociological perspectives
finds politics at play within tourism-as-pleasure discourses
to encourage greater reflexivity amongst those who have access
to the economic and social powers found in mobility as leisure.
I am searching for ways tourism might be used to encourage
more respectful exchanges and conversations between hosts
and guests on practical as well as theoretical terms.
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I
do not want to see tourist movements and interactions easily forgotten
upon a traveller’s return. Poverty, immobility, cultural difference
and diversity need to be critiqued as well as celebrated in tourist
exchanges.I encourage a critical tourist literacy that allows travellers
to see possibilities for change and self critique during (and especially
after) their ‘holidays’ without losing the pleasures
experienced being away from ‘home’.
| Enjoyment
and wonder should not be mutually exclusive from politics but
macro-economic hierarchies must be exposed in touristic representation
and practice if tourism exchanges are to be equitable for all
parties involved. It is important to see and hear the people
who can not move through national or international space for
recreation. It is equally important for tourists to be aware
of their own cultural and political limitations in unfamiliar
contexts and to critically see and hear themselves. Tourist
Wanderings is a space for theory, fiction, cinema, television
and corporeal travels to enjoy reflexive tourist spaces at ‘home’,
‘away’ or somewhere in between. |
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Peru
World
Trade Centre buildings
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It is also a space to reveal, discuss and to attempt to resolve
the globally problematic positioning of tourist cultures and
(sub)cultures in contemporary popular memory. A prospective
project that I hope our Hub will investigate is Local Original
Music in Perth in international backpacker communities. I suggest
replacing mutually exclusive “backpacker” nights
in local venues in favour of inviting independent travellers
to experience the Perth local original music scene. This works
to de-homogenise backpacker experiences and pleasures. |
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‘Backpacker’ nights tend to have the same music
in Bolivia as in London and ‘global’ backpacker
anthems such as Bob Marley, Macarena and medleys from the musical
Greece drown out the local contexts in which independent travellers
have placed themselves. Self reflexive awareness of ‘place’
is an important focus if backpacker communities are to become
more thoughtful and equitable travelling environments. To invite
so-called international ‘youth’ culture into Perth’s
‘local’ urban settings will also help to empower,
promote and circulate Perth’s urban popular culture internationally
making the city in its vibrancy a tourist destination, not simply
a base from which to visit the surrounding West Australian beaches,
forests and wildlife. |
Peru |
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Members
Rebecca Bennett
Nadine Richards
Valentin E. Fyrst
Debbie Hindley
Leanne McRae
Mike Kent
Tara Brabazon
Valerie Anne Gowlett
Christina Lee
Eleanor
Laud
Reece Harley
Mike John
Melanie Naumoff
Saumya (Sam) Herath
Katie Ellis
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Isle
de la Sol
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Articles
Conference
Publications |
