Islands and destination image: the case of Ios

This study was conducted to identify the image of Ios as a tourist destination as perceived by the visitors, in order to contribute to the formation of an effective marketing plan. The strengths and weaknesses of the image of Ios were measured and presented, accompanied with a number of recommendations. The findings revealed that Ios has a very strong destination image as a party island, with the majority of the visitors being international young students coming to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and the party mood of the island. As a result, Ios needs to strengthen its image compared to other islands or destinations which offer the same product, by promoting its competitive advantages, such as; the nightlife, the relatively low prices, the relaxing atmosphere and the friendliness of the locals

The complexities of religious tourism motivations: sacred places, vows and visions

The aim of this paper is to understand the complexity of travel motivations to sacred places. Using ethnographic techniques within the Greek Orthodox context, we argue that while motivations are institutionally constructed, they are fragile, dynamic and progressive; being embedded within everyday performances of religion. This calls into question the fixed centeredness and predetermined sacredness of religious sites. Travel motivations become directly influenced by believers’ intimate and emergent performances not only of places but also of religion itself; the meaning of places being based on lived experiences of doing religion and interacting with the sacred, as exemplified in vows and visions. Such understandings are crucial in predicting the effects of failing pilgrimages and the processes of authentication of places, which can help explain visitation patterns

Religiousness as tourist performances: a case study of Greek Orthodox pilgrimage

The aim of this paper is to decipher ways of experiencing religiousness through tourist performances, intersecting textual approaches with the essential embodiment and materiality of the tourist world. Exploring the diversity of religious tourists’ practices within the Greek Orthodox context, two dimensions underpinning religious tourist experience are highlighted: institutional performances and unconventional performances. Focussing on the embodied experience and drawing upon theories of performance, the paper critiques the interplays of body and place to re-conceptualise current understanding of the pilgrimage/tourism relationship. In doing so, the paper proposes that tourism and religion are not separate entities but linked through embodied notions of godliness sensed through touristic performances

Religousness as Tourist Practice.

This thesis interprets ways in which religion is performed within the tourism sphere, moving from a study of textuality towards the essential embodiment and materiality of the tourist world. Embracing recent developments in studies of religion, religious tourism and tourism in general, this research seeks to consider not only the permanent religious structures and the experiences they stage, but also how individuals as reflexive beings become believers through a variety of unpredictable, active and complex performances that are enabled through tourism. Based on post-human theories (Franklin, 2008; Haldrup and Larsen, 2006; Latour, 2005; Picken, 2010; Walsh and Tucker, 2009) and on social and individual constructivism alike, religion is considered a network, of the human, immaterial and material worlds, each of which is assigned agency. Accordingly, the performative approach (Crouch et al., 2001; Edensor, 2000, 2001; Perkins and Thoms, 2001) is considered here as being the most adequate in addressing how religion is experienced multi-dimensionally. Using the example of the sacred island of Tinos, Greece, religious oriented tourism is regarded as a process of experiences in which three moments are performed: pre-trip, onsite, post-trip. The first stage explores religious tourists’ motivations and expectations from the religious trip. The second stage explores religious tourists’ on-site practices and the last stage the potential transformative effects the trip may have on the religious tourists. Rooted in the above, the study also acknowledges the complex process of becoming a religious tourist and of experiencing the holy that extends beyond the strict boundaries of the three stages, which rather seem to interact and to be linked with each other. Religious tourists’ collective and individual performances as well as their engagement with materials are explored using participant observation and in-depth interviews. Having explored the diversity and richness of tourist practices, the study identifies some main themes that underpin religious tourist experience, such as ghostliness, the theo-real and place entrenched sacredness, and discusess issues of authenticity and multiplicity of tourism performances, developing the tourism theory and the idea of pilgrimage within the Greek Orthodox context

Religousness as Tourist Practice.

This thesis interprets ways in which religion is performed within the tourism sphere, moving from a study of textuality towards the essential embodiment and materiality of the tourist world. Embracing recent developments in studies of religion, religious tourism and tourism in general, this research seeks to consider not only the permanent religious structures and the experiences they stage, but also how individuals as reflexive beings become believers through a variety of unpredictable, active and complex performances that are enabled through tourism. Based on post-human theories (Franklin, 2008; Haldrup and Larsen, 2006; Latour, 2005; Picken, 2010; Walsh and Tucker, 2009) and on social and individual constructivism alike, religion is considered a network, of the human, immaterial and material worlds, each of which is assigned agency. Accordingly, the performative approach (Crouch et al., 2001; Edensor, 2000, 2001; Perkins and Thoms, 2001) is considered here as being the most adequate in addressing how religion is experienced multi-dimensionally. Using the example of the sacred island of Tinos, Greece, religious oriented tourism is regarded as a process of experiences in which three moments are performed: pre-trip, onsite, post-trip. The first stage explores religious tourists’ motivations and expectations from the religious trip. The second stage explores religious tourists’ on-site practices and the last stage the potential transformative effects the trip may have on the religious tourists. Rooted in the above, the study also acknowledges the complex process of becoming a religious tourist and of experiencing the holy that extends beyond the strict boundaries of the three stages, which rather seem to interact and to be linked with each other. Religious tourists’ collective and individual performances as well as their engagement with materials are explored using participant observation and in-depth interviews. Having explored the diversity and richness of tourist practices, the study identifies some main themes that underpin religious tourist experience, such as ghostliness, the theo-real and place entrenched sacredness, and discusess issues of authenticity and multiplicity of tourism performances, developing the tourism theory and the idea of pilgrimage within the Greek Orthodox context

Religiousness as tourist practice

This thesis interprets ways in which religion is performed within the tourism sphere, moving from a study of textuality towards the essential embodiment and materiality of the tourist world. Embracing recent developments in studies of religion, religious tourism and tourism in general, this research seeks to consider not only the permanent religious structures and the experiences they stage, but also how individuals as reflexive beings become believers through a variety of unpredictable, active and complex performances that are enabled through tourism. Based on post-human theories (Franklin, 2008; Haldrup and Larsen, 2006; Latour, 2005; Picken, 2010; Walsh and Tucker, 2009) and on social and individual constructivism alike, religion is considered a network, of the human, immaterial and material worlds, each of which is assigned agency. Accordingly, the performative approach (Crouch et al., 2001; Edensor, 2000, 2001; Perkins and Thorns, 2001) is considered here as being the most adequate in addressing how religion is experienced multi -dimensionally. Using the example of the sacred island of Tinos, Greece, religious oriented tourism is regarded as a process of experiences in which three moments are performed: pre-trip, on- site, post-trip. The first stage explores religious tourists' motivations and expectations from the religious trip. The second stage explores religious tourists' on-site practices and the last stage the potential transformative effects the trip may have on the religious tourists. Rooted in the above, the study also acknowledges the complex process of becoming a religious tourist and of experiencing the holy that extends beyond the strict boundaries of the three stages, which rather seem to interact and to be linked with each other. Religious tourists' collective and individual performances as well as their engagement with materials are explored using participant observation and in-depth interviews. Having explored the diversity and richness of tourist practices, the study identifies some main themes that underpin religious tourist experience, such as ghostliness, the theo-real and place entrenched sacredness, and discusess issues of authenticity and multiplicity of tourism performances, developing the tourism theory and the idea of pilgrimage within the Greek Orthodox context.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo