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David Bruce Weaver - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Sustainability and Mass Tourism: A contradiction in terms?
2017Co-Authors: David Bruce WeaverAbstract:In certain academic and ideological corners it remains dogmatic to equate Mass Tourism with unsustainable Tourism, thereby rendering the idea of sustainable Mass Tourism a contradiction in terms. An associated conceit is that sustainability is the province of ‘alternative Tourism’ and allied smaller-scale manifestations of Tourism that deliberately eschew the principle and traits of Massification. It is argued in this chapter to the contrary that sustainable Mass Tourism is not only not a contradiction in terms, but rather the largely unrecognized normative form of sustainable Tourism. Affiliated contentions hold that all Tourism, even if it does not resemble ‘Mass Tourism’ at the local level, exists as part of a single increasingly globalized Mass Tourism system, and that there are innate characteristics of Massification that facilitate the attainment of sustainable outcomes. The chapter begins by outlining a three-dimensional model as to what fundamentally constitutes the ‘sustainability’ in sustainable Tourism, however the latter is conceived. The next section then examines the evolution of sustainable Tourism from initial contexts of Mass Tourism/alternative Tourism polarity to repositionings of increased convergence. Enlightened Mass Tourism is presented as the logical culmination of amalgamation. Heavily visited protected areas and urban beach resorts are subsequently investigated as localized manifestations of Mass Tourism that appear to increasingly embody the ideal of sustainable or possibly even enlightened Mass Tourism.
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Beyond the Mass Tourism Stereotype: Power and Empowerment in Chinese Tour Packages
Journal of Travel Research, 2015Co-Authors: Ying Wang, David Bruce Weaver, Anna KwekAbstract:Low-priced tour packages are Mass Tourism power projection sites where providers attempt to restrict tourist power. This study adopts a hybrid design that incorporates dual analytic autoethnography and blog analysis, sharing not only the authors’ experiences and insights into the negotiation between supplier attempts to disempower tourists and reciprocal efforts of tourists to self-empower in all-inclusive tour packages, but also viewpoints of other tour participants collected during the tours and from the Internet. Tour experiences were negotiated through power exchanges. In this “powerscape,” we were subjected to disempowerment strategies, including domination, intimidation, reliance creation, and trust building, while our self-empowerment ranged from active resistance to nonresistance. Different disempowerment strategies appear to solicit specific reactions. Our exploratory study provides insight into the power dynamics implicit in Mass Tourism and identifies several contextual factors that shape power...
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Asymmetrical Dialectics of Sustainable Tourism Toward Enlightened Mass Tourism
Journal of Travel Research, 2013Co-Authors: David Bruce WeaverAbstract:Using resolution-based dialectics, sustainable Tourism is contextualized as an evolving synthesis arising from the need for the capitalist-based Mass Tourism thesis and the ethics-based alternative Tourism antithesis to amalgamate because of internal contradictions that limit their contribution to development. That this synthesis is skewed to Mass Tourism is accounted for by the four alternative Tourism contradictions of unrealistic and unrealized expectations, functional incompleteness, the growth implications of success, and nonreciprocal accommodation. Mass Tourism, faced with a prime contradiction of self-destruction, is experiencing limited paradigm nudge characterized by the opportunistic adoption of practices that complement the dominant capitalist paradigm. Opportunities for expanding the ethical bridgehead in Mass Tourism created by adherence to corporate social responsibility policies derive from the integration of alternative Tourism products within Mass Tourism destinations and itineraries, ac...
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A clear path towards sustainable Mass Tourism? Rejoinder to the paper 'Organic, incremental and induced paths to sustainable Mass Tourism
2012Co-Authors: David Bruce Weaver, Paul PeetersAbstract:The paper forms a rejoinder to the paper by David Weaver (‘Organic, incremental and induced paths to sustainable Mass Tourism convergence’). It fully agrees with David Weaver that a sustainable development of Tourism should focus on sustainable Mass Tourism development and not, as is currently the case, so much on niche products labelled ‘sustainable’. However, it critiques Weaver’s operationalization of sustainability, his assumption that sustainable Mass Tourism (SMT) will be the ‘emergent norm’ due to external factors, and his destination development theory showing different paths that, however, all end in SMT. Finally it is shown that the path development idea might be at odds with systems thinking.
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Clearing the path to sustainable Mass Tourism: A response to Peeters
Tourism Management, 2012Co-Authors: David Bruce WeaverAbstract:Abstract Peeters’ well-considered rejoinder emphasises the utility of a systems approach for framing the planning and management of sustainable Tourism that takes into account global as well as local impacts. All five factors that are alleged to facilitate sustainable Tourism are necessarily dynamic and speculative, and hence contestable, and more attention needs to be paid to the synergistic effects of all five interacting together. A reform-based path to sustainable Mass Tourism convergence, proceeding along organic, incremental and induced paths, is therefore still regarded as a valid macro-perspective on the evolution of contemporary Tourism.
Vilhelmiina Vainikka - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Tourist guide reflections on the spatialities of Mass Tourism: a case study of Finnish package Tourism in Crete
Fennia – International Journal of Geography, 2016Co-Authors: Vilhelmiina VainikkaAbstract:Normal 0 21 false false false FI X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} The Mass Tourism destination is a well-known spatial category for large-scale Tourism practices. However, little critical attention has been paid to the construction of the category itself in relation to the spatialities of different social groups. This study scrutinizes the situated spatial relationships within Mass Tourism in a flexibly conceptualized Mass Tourism destination. Social constructionist methodology and different place theories are utilized in order to analyze tourist guides’ reflections of Finnish Mass Tourism in Crete. The positionality of the guides to Mass Tourism spatialities was tested with a twofold interview agenda: asking the guides to evaluate their own spatialities and those of their clients. Drawing parallels between the Mass Tourism destination and the seaside resort are not straightforwardly supported in these interviews. The daily movement of the guides, their destination knowledge or discussions about the destination and their leisure-time activities all shape their relationship with the destination and produce spatialities that are evaluated in relation to their clients’ spatialities. The guides construct two ideas of spatiality of Mass Tourism, intensive and extensive, through which spatialities are interpreted at an ideological and practical level. These spatial constructions reflect the hybrid character of the contemporary Mass Tourism and contextualize the Mass Tourism destination as different combinations of situated spatial experiences. Based on the results the academic research should utilize different user perspectives to the theorization of Mass Tourism destination.
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Stereotypes and Professional Reflections on Mass Tourism: Focusing on Tour Operators, Mass Tourism Destinations and Mass Tourists
Études caribéennes, 2015Co-Authors: Vilhelmiina VainikkaAbstract:Mass Tourism is a historically significant phenomenon. For decades, it has been a source for stereotypes within academic research and in public discussions. This study addresses stereotypes of Mass Tourism by giving voice to travel agents and tourist guides working for Mass package tour operators. They were asked to comment and reflect on the statements about phenomenon in which they are working. The Finnish socio-cultural context is discussed as well as the positionality and contextuality of the interviewees. In total, 20 interviews were conducted. The results show that there is no one way to understand these stereotypes: Both professional groups contextualized and scaled the universalist statements in multiple ways. In Tourism research, more attention should be directed at how the categorization of Mass Tourism is done as a discursive practice and what kinds of effects it has to the theory and practice.
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Rethinking Mass Tourism: Professional discourses of contemporary Mass Tourism and destinations
2015Co-Authors: Vilhelmiina VainikkaAbstract:Mass Tourism is a concept that has been used for decades in academic and public travel discussions, and thus it serves a purpose. Mass Tourism is often used to refer to the early phases of air-based Mass Tourism since the 1960s, concerning the remarkable growth in tourist numbers, democratization of Tourism, standardization of products and societal transformations. It is also used to emphasize certain motivations, behaviours and values in Tourism that are seen as typical for Mass Tourism separating it from other contemporary or ‘alternative’ forms of Tourism. This distinction frequently produces taken for granted or simplified categorizations both in Tourism studies and in public discourses. Within Tourism studies discussions about the conceptualization of Mass Tourism between different traditions have been almost non-existent. In this study, my interest is in the different ways Mass Tourism can be conceptualized. Tourism is now a larger phenomenon than ever and transformations have occurred in its production and consumption, demanding that the limits and possibilities of the concept of Mass Tourism need to be evaluated in new ways. This thesis contributes a conceptualization of Mass Tourism by addressing the academic discourses of Mass Tourism and discursive practices of professional social groups. The idea of Mass Tourism is approached from different strands of constructionist thought in order to create dialogues. The situated nature of knowledge and researcher positionality are also addressed in relation to knowledge creation of Mass Tourism. The thesis concentrates empirically on the stereotypical form of Mass Tourism, charter-based package holidays in the course of contemporary transformations in Tourism. This Finnish case is useful because Mass package Tourism has traditionally been ‘travel for all’, offering a more democratic context for discussing the possibilities and limits of the Mass Tourism category. This dissertation consists of four studies that each shed light on the conceptualization of Mass Tourism with different materials and frameworks. The majority of the thesis is based on the empirical material that includes two sets of semi-structured interviews of 29 charter package Tourism professionals. Pair interviews were conducted in 2011 for Finnish-based travel agents and individual interviews for Finnish tourist guides took place in Crete in 2013. Secondary material of academic research writings on Mass Tourism was utilized in one of the studies. The findings of the study reveal that Mass Tourism is a concept with a lot of historical weight, which guides its current categorization and interpretation in both academic and industry institutional settings. However, Mass Tourism is not easily defined, thus based on this study I propose a framework for more dialogical conceptualization of Mass Tourism. The framework starts with the contextualization of Mass Tourism (knowledge) as situated and proceeds addressing the plural-singular relationship of the ‘Mass’ as a dynamic ‘Mass effect’. These formulations are in connection with three intertwined possible versions of Mass Tourism: a quantitative category, a model(s) in Tourism or as a ‘super-umbrella’ concept for contemporary travel. I encourage the research community to consider these aspects in relation to one another and position different cases within the framework. The framework shows that Mass Tourism conceptualization is a multidimensional process that includes choices with effects. This study suggests that the usefulness of Mass Tourism as a concept for research lies in building its future bases on inter- or post-disciplinary dialogues, which could better serve critical academic inquiry, and give purchase to the concept in describing Tourism of today.
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Travel agent discourses of Mass Tourism: beyond stereotypes?
Tourism Geographies, 2014Co-Authors: Vilhelmiina VainikkaAbstract:The widely used term ‘Mass Tourism’ is often considered as a self-explanatory concept that refers to an unpleasant and an overcrowded form of Tourism. Nevertheless, contemporary Mass Tourism is a complex phenomenon and different actors within the Tourism industry conceptualize it in different ways. In this study, Mass Tourism is understood to be socially constructed and negotiated through discursive practices. This is a case study that analyses how Finnish travel agents of Mass package tour operators engage with Mass Tourism. The discourse analysis of pair-interviews is focused on the attitudes and aims of agents’ responses. For the travel agents interviewed, the term ‘Mass’ evoked outsider perspective, negative meanings and was mostly considered as a historical and taken-for-granted category. Through practical examples of package Tourism, they challenged the stereotypes of ‘Mass Tourism’. Package Tourism was illustrated through discourses of restriction, possibility and dynamism, whereas Mass Tourism was...
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Rethinking Mass Tourism
Tourist Studies, 2013Co-Authors: Vilhelmiina VainikkaAbstract:For decades, Mass Tourism has been a widely used term in Tourism research, and it still has no clearly agreed definition and content. There has been growing interest among scholars to address Mass ...
Anna Ribas - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Mass Tourism and water efficiency in the hotel industry a case study
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2017Co-Authors: Ariadna Gabardamallorqui, Xavier Garcia, Anna RibasAbstract:Abstract Mass Tourism, which has traditionally been associated with an unsustainable use of natural resources and intensive land use, is frequently identified as a major environmental stressor in coastal regions. Nonetheless, Mass Tourism resorts typically have a compact and vertical urban configuration and have been shown to make more efficient use of water resources than other low-density tourist destinations. This article investigates how the main variables identified by the literature as determinants of water consumption by hotels influences water efficiency in hotels in Lloret de Mar, a well-known Mass Tourism destination on the Costa Brava in Spain. The results of a generalized linear mixed model show that large, high-rise hotels that attract thousands of tourists annually also benefit from economies of scale in terms of water efficiency.
Ariadna Gabardamallorqui - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Mass Tourism and water efficiency in the hotel industry a case study
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2017Co-Authors: Ariadna Gabardamallorqui, Xavier Garcia, Anna RibasAbstract:Abstract Mass Tourism, which has traditionally been associated with an unsustainable use of natural resources and intensive land use, is frequently identified as a major environmental stressor in coastal regions. Nonetheless, Mass Tourism resorts typically have a compact and vertical urban configuration and have been shown to make more efficient use of water resources than other low-density tourist destinations. This article investigates how the main variables identified by the literature as determinants of water consumption by hotels influences water efficiency in hotels in Lloret de Mar, a well-known Mass Tourism destination on the Costa Brava in Spain. The results of a generalized linear mixed model show that large, high-rise hotels that attract thousands of tourists annually also benefit from economies of scale in terms of water efficiency.
Xavier Garcia - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Declining water consumption in the hotel industry of Mass Tourism resorts: contrasting evidence for Benidorm, Spain
Current Issues in Tourism, 2019Co-Authors: Antonio Rico, Xavier Garcia, Jorge Olcina, Carlos Baños, David SauríAbstract:Water consumption may be declining in tourist centres and cities of the Western Mediterranean. The paper presents data showing the decrease of water consumption in the Mass Tourism resort of Benido...
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Mass Tourism and water efficiency in the hotel industry a case study
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2017Co-Authors: Ariadna Gabardamallorqui, Xavier Garcia, Anna RibasAbstract:Abstract Mass Tourism, which has traditionally been associated with an unsustainable use of natural resources and intensive land use, is frequently identified as a major environmental stressor in coastal regions. Nonetheless, Mass Tourism resorts typically have a compact and vertical urban configuration and have been shown to make more efficient use of water resources than other low-density tourist destinations. This article investigates how the main variables identified by the literature as determinants of water consumption by hotels influences water efficiency in hotels in Lloret de Mar, a well-known Mass Tourism destination on the Costa Brava in Spain. The results of a generalized linear mixed model show that large, high-rise hotels that attract thousands of tourists annually also benefit from economies of scale in terms of water efficiency.