Mobility is the ability or means and accessibility of people and materials to travel across space. Therefore, mobility can be socially constitutive and socially constructed meaning mobilities both shape and are constructed by society and space. Tourists are highly mobile, they travel to, around and back to their home location from their destination, thus tourism and mobility are closely related and interlink with one another. This essay will analyse and examine how the paradigms of tourist mobilities shape aspects and the nature of society and space, across spatial and sociological themes.
Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries and is growing, with 21 million more overnight international tourist arrivals between January and June …show more content…
Tourists thus change the society in the destinations they travel to by exchanging cultures with local residents, breaking down a mosaic view of the world, split into isolated cells of different cultures or identities, into interconnecting networks between the home of the tourist and the place or places visited (Crang, 2014). The creation of social networks and travel connections alters the spatial relationship between space though the perception of how distant or near one location is from another, both in ease of access and social connection. How connected one place is to the rest of the network also alters societies perception of its distance in relation to other areas. Connected places feel closer while unconnected places, for example deserts and places with a very low human population densities, feel further away. This shaping of the spatial relationship is prominent in tourist areas, where a high volume of people from variable backgrounds and places travel and interact with a different landscape and culture. Therefore, tourism itself creates a relationship between the tourist and the local host or resident (Sharpley, 1994). Tourists can travel to destinations, and bring objects or materials and embodied emotions or traditions of their own culture or identity with them. Therefore, tourists are able to give mobility to objects, which can shape the society and space of the destination as local residents adopt or appropriate aspects of the tourists’ lifestyle. Furthermore, the destination can shape the behaviour of the tourist so that when they return home, they behave differently or in a similar way to some of the local residents at the destination. For example, tourists may place souvenirs from their holiday in their home with a special
Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries and is growing, with 21 million more overnight international tourist arrivals between January and June …show more content…
Tourists thus change the society in the destinations they travel to by exchanging cultures with local residents, breaking down a mosaic view of the world, split into isolated cells of different cultures or identities, into interconnecting networks between the home of the tourist and the place or places visited (Crang, 2014). The creation of social networks and travel connections alters the spatial relationship between space though the perception of how distant or near one location is from another, both in ease of access and social connection. How connected one place is to the rest of the network also alters societies perception of its distance in relation to other areas. Connected places feel closer while unconnected places, for example deserts and places with a very low human population densities, feel further away. This shaping of the spatial relationship is prominent in tourist areas, where a high volume of people from variable backgrounds and places travel and interact with a different landscape and culture. Therefore, tourism itself creates a relationship between the tourist and the local host or resident (Sharpley, 1994). Tourists can travel to destinations, and bring objects or materials and embodied emotions or traditions of their own culture or identity with them. Therefore, tourists are able to give mobility to objects, which can shape the society and space of the destination as local residents adopt or appropriate aspects of the tourists’ lifestyle. Furthermore, the destination can shape the behaviour of the tourist so that when they return home, they behave differently or in a similar way to some of the local residents at the destination. For example, tourists may place souvenirs from their holiday in their home with a special