The main objective of the book, as stated in its introduction, is to explore various contemporary themes concerning the tourist experience. Given the great volume of relative work and the diversity and complexity of the issue, the authors seek to provide a book that will be representative of the current research activity. The book, contributed by leading international scholars of various backgrounds, is consisted of 15 chapters and structured around five major topics:
- 1.
dark tourism experiences;
- 2.
experiencing poor places;
- 3.
sport tourism experiences;
- 4.
writing the tourism experience; and
- 5.
researching tourist experiences: methodological approaches.
The contributors critically explore these experiences from multidisciplinary perspectives and include case studies from different regions, i.e. Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. By analyzing various contemporary tourist experiences, the book offers rich insights into emergent tourist behaviors and motivations.
After the introduction of the editors, Richard Sharpley and Philip Stone, explaining the aims and the structure of the book, the book begins with a literature review of different conceptualizations of the tourist experience, prepared by Chris Ryan (Chapter 1). Chapter 2 evolves around a poorly defined concept: dark tourism. The authors, Tazim Jamal and Linda Lelo, provide examples of dark tourism and explore tourist motives to propose finally that the concept should be broadened so as to include not only death but other dark events, such as historically and socially significant events. Chapter 3, written by Tony Johnston, examines dark tourism (or thanatourism) with the aid of a case study for post war Croatia and Bosnia. By using a mixture of qualitative techniques, the author seeks to establish how space is commodified and concludes that relative research remains exploratory and methodological frameworks are in the early stages of their development.
In Section 2, entitled “experiencing poor places”, the concepts of poverty tourism and rights‐based tourism are examined in three chapters. In Chapter 4, Manfred Rolfes explores the nature of experiences from poor places by presenting three case studies from the townships of South Africa, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the slums of Mumbai, India. In the next chapter (5), Rochelle Spencer studies rights‐based tourism, a proactive attempt not only to educate tourists but also to encourage them to support and enhance local communities through tourism. Based on the case of Cuba, the author concludes that the engagement of tourists and locals is an integral part of the development process, as they both share knowledge. Chapter 6, by Palloma Menezes, provides an exploration of the interaction between tourists and a favela in Rio de Janeiro, as it is viewed and expressed by photographic images.
Section 3 refers to sport tourism experiences. Chapter 7, written by Sean Gammon, studies the role of sports stadia and the extent to which they can provide meaningful experiences even when they are empty or “sleeping”. Chapter 8, contributed by Richard Shipway and Naomi Kirkup, focuses on the experiences of participants and spectators at sporting events, based on research evidence from the Beijing Olympic Games. A key emerging theme of sport tourism experiences is the sense of identity that sports tourists receive whilst immersed in the sport tourism setting. Section 3 closes with a case study from Mac McCarthy, exploring the inherent meaning for participant tourists and players of the Gay Football World Championships 2008.
Section 4 focuses on the ways that the analysis of travel writing may contribute to the study of the tourist experiences. Travel writing has always been closely linked to travel experiences and this is especially true for contemporary travel writing, where emphasis is put on the emotions and experiences of the writer rather than the place per se. Chapter 10, written by Emma‐Reetta Koivunen, provides a comparison of two narratives of tourism experiences at the same destination, which are experienced and written two centuries apart. Chapter 11, contributed by Ulrike Gretzel, Daniel Fesenmaier and Yoon Jung Lee, studies more contemporary forms of travel writing, i.e. consumer generated content, such as online travel blogs. The authors discuss its construction, meaning and consumption by others while presenting research evidence from an online survey. Chapter 12, written by Sarah Quinlan Cutler and Barbara Carmichael, proposes a system for evaluating travel journals and their ability to indicate the level and extent of reflective thinking and learning as a result of travel experiences.
The final Section (5) poses and sheds lights to an important question: which are the most appropriate means of researching the tourist experience? In parallel, it examines the extent to which some innovative approaches could be adopted. Mary Beth Gouthro, in Chapter 13 refers to an anthropologically informed interprevist approach and considers the future of qualitative research in tourism. Martine Middleton in Chapter 14 focuses on two themes: first, the role of the senses in differentiating tourist experiences and the extent to which senses may be culturally patterned and second, the applicability and contribution of Q methodology, a mixed or “qualiquanthological” methodological approach, most commonly used in psychology and political science. Finally, Chapter 15, written by Davina Stanford, uses the concept of Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development as the theoretical basis for developing appropriate communication strategies for visitor management.
Definitely, the book, though not being exhaustive, is adequately representative of the latest research trends in the field of tourist experience. Overall, it could be supported that it fulfills its main purpose. One of its main strengths is that it incorporates a variety of approaches, such as case studies, quantitative methods, online surveys and ethnographic studies. Moreover, it offers interesting insights and “fresh” perspectives of the tourist experience. A possible weakness is that some of the book chapters could be considered highly specialized in some forms of tourist experience but perhaps this is inevitable given the contemporary and exploratory perspective of the book.
The target markets of this book are academics and researchers of tourism, who seek to have a brief overview of current trends in the subfield of the “tourist experience” and come in touch with new insights concerning tourist behavior. Students, tourism practitioners and policy makers may as well find it useful, as the book is written in an easy‐to‐read format, thus constituting it appropriate even for people with limited academic background in tourism.
