Facilitators and Inhibitors of Host-Guest Understanding: The case of Lazize (Italy)

Past research related to host-guest relations has been heavily influenced by the host-guest paradigm, a binary concept assuming a reciprocal relationship among two clearly distinct communities. Recently scholars have questioned the validity of this notion in a contemporary context, but have not widely succeeded in showing what facilitates/inhibits host-guest understanding. Lazise, a popular holiday destination on the shores Lake Garda/Italy is the case study taken  in order to identify and understand facilitators/inhibitors of host-guest understanding through an interpretive approach. The study has resulted in identifying three core themes which facilitate host-guest relations in the context of Lazise, namely romanticization of local lifestyle, self-criticism and perceived authenticity of local culture. Furthermore, two inhibitors for host-guest understanding have been identified, namely lack of cultural sensitivity, and open display of sexual encounters between locals and tourists. The findings are useful for tourism policymakers in Lazise and elsewhere, while a further academic step towards a better understanding of host-guest relations is offered.Past research related to host-guest relations has been heavily influenced by the host-guest paradigm, a binary concept assuming a reciprocal relationship among two clearly distinct communities. Recently scholars have questioned the validity of this notion in a contemporary context, but have not widely succeeded in showing what facilitates/inhibits host-guest understanding. Lazise, a popular holiday destination on the shores Lake Garda/Italy is the case study taken  in order to identify and understand facilitators/inhibitors of host-guest understanding through an interpretive approach. The study has resulted in identifying three core themes which facilitate host-guest relations in the context of Lazise, namely romanticization of local lifestyle, self-criticism and perceived authenticity of local culture. Furthermore, two inhibitors for host-guest understanding have been identified, namely lack of cultural sensitivity, and open display of sexual encounters between locals and tourists. The findings are useful for tourism policymakers in Lazise and elsewhere, while a further academic step towards a better understanding of host-guest relations is offered

Hell is other people? A Sartrean analysis of the Local Gaze

Tourism has often been defined as a linear “way of seeing”, where tourists gaze upon the world in order to consume it as a tourism product. It is now largely understood that “the Gaze” is more complex and overarching, comprising of diverse “gazers” and “gazees”. This paper adopts a Sartrean perspective through building on the concept of “being-for-others”, where human consciousness is brought to light through being gazed upon by an outstander. Accordingly, this research aims at understanding the lived experience of tourists of being exposed to the Local Gaze as a “being-for-others”. An emic perspective is adopted through a methodology and method underpinned in the philosophical underpinnings of phenomenology. Eight participants were recruited through experience-based, purposive sampling and interviewed in-depth. Findings show that the look of the Other increases tourists’ self-awareness and reflection, confronting them with the existential question of being in the world. This results in a struggle of meaning making through the Sartrean concepts of sadism, masochism and indifference, which makes authentic relationship between the tourist and the toured ephemeral at best

Conceptualizing residents' destination brand ambassador behavior

Although destination branding has become increasingly popular throughout the last decades, the role of the biggest destination brand stakeholder has scarcely been researched: the local inhabitants of a destination, commonly called the “resident” stakeholder. Only recently scholars have speculated that residents could be a brand‟s most valuable advocate through showing “residents‟ destination brand ambassador behavior” (RDBAB) and enhancing brand equity. However, what this concept really means has hardly been investigated. This research employs content analysis of related destination branding literature in order to conceptualize the notion of RDBAB. Findings have shown that a general distinction between planned/spontaneous, and promotion/development-related RDBAB can be made. Offline and online word-of-mouth, personal use of promotional material, as well as participation in promotion and development-related events and activities are given as behavioral examples. Finally, a definition of RDBAB is offered based on the findings and suggestions for future studies are given

Tourist Vulnerability: Proposing an emic perspective

Most tourism-scholars have taken an etic perspective on vulnerability, defining the concept as risk for - and largely confined to - vulnerable populations. An emic perspective, defining vulnerability as an experiential state inherent to the human condition, is anyhow largely absent. This study adopts a phenomenological stance and proposes to approach vulnerability in tourism from an emic perspective, transcending conceptualization equaling it with risk management

Hell is other people? An existential-phenomenological analysis of the local gaze in tourism.

The “Gaze” is a complex and overarching phenomenon comprised of diverse “Gazers” and “Gazees”. This paper adopts an existential-phenomenological perspective to understand tourists’ lived experiences of being gazed upon by local people. Based on thirty experiences collected from interviews with ten participants, we show that experiencing the “Local Gaze” exposes the tourist as Sartrean “Tourist-esque”: an inauthentic experiencer of positivity, discrimination, alienation and self-consciousness. Moments of true human connections are at best ephemeral. Through an existentialist lens, the study questions the possibility of authentic host-guest relationship in tourism and argues that to maintain hopes for an authentic relationship, the concepts of “Gaze” and – perhaps even of “Tourism” – need to be transcended

Living travel vulnerability: A phenomenological study

Most tourism-scholars have taken an etic perspective on vulnerability, defining the concept as a risk for - and mostly confined to - vulnerable populations. An emic perspective, defining vulnerability as a universal, experiential state of the human condition is anyhow largely absent. Based on forty collected experiences from interviews with twelve participants, this study adopts a phenomenological stance and demonstrates that travel vulnerability is typically lived through different inherent, situational and pathogenic sources, ranging anywhere from potential physical harm and unfamiliar contexts to heightened dependence on the other. The peak experience for the traveller is described as a loss of soundness, where vulnerability actualises from a dispositional state into a transformative experience. Through a Nietzschean lens, the study suggests a different and more complex approach to travel vulnerability, where the concept is embraced and not transcended, lived and not avoided; in order to move towards fulfilling travel experiences

Investigating Local Students’ Support for Inbound Tourism and its Relationship with Place Attachment in Hue City/Vietnam

This study, situated in the touristy city of Huế in Central Vietnam, takes the case of the young Vietnamese, particularly University students, in order to investigate the locals’ support for inbound tourism. It also measured a multidimensional construct of place attachment and determined the influence of this concept on their support levels. Findings have shown that the overall level of support is relatively high, wherein indicators related to pride and identity have generally scored higher than the ones related to economic factors. Female respondents have been indicated to show higher support for tourism inbound to Vietnam and students majoring in tourism have been found to be more supportive of inbound tourism than their counterparts from other faculties. In addition, place attachment was specified to have a significant impact on the respondents’ levels of support for inbound tourism

A queer perspective on heteronormativity for LGBT travelers

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) tourists are considered one of the most profitable and, at the same time, vulnerable and discriminated-against segments of the industry. However, a more detailed understanding of how heteronormativity (the privileged and normalized view of heterosexuality) constrains their travels is missing. As a result, this study takes a Queer Perspective, investigating the role of heteronormativity in LGBT tourists’ perceived travel constraints. Through sixteen interviews with LGBT travelers, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural heteronormativity are identified as constraining factors, and relevant sub-themes are discussed. Finally, this study makes a step towards denaturalizing heterosexuality in a tourism context by giving a voice to an often-overlooked and scarcely understood tourism segment

Still Happy Here? How Chinese Tourists perceive the Service in Hong Kong.

This working paper applied a triangulation of qualitative research methods, namely projective techniques, to gain a more specific understanding of the main reasons for dissatisfaction with Hong Kong service for mainland Chinese tourists. The presented study adds on results from the PolyU Tourism Satisfaction Index 2009 to 2015, where tourists from mainland China show very low satisfaction rates compared with all source markets to Hong Kong. Since the results of the TSI are of quantitative nature, the goal of this study is to gain a more specific understanding of the main reasons for dissatisfaction on a qualitative base. It is hoped that the findings of this research will assist both academics and practitioners in better understanding of the issues and needs of tourists from mainland China towards the Hong Kong tourism industry and to aid the industry as well as policy makers with insights for innovations, quality improvements and standardization