Co-passengering and the gendering of a mobile ferry space

Sea ferry travel: the tourists’ liminal experience on the ferry

“…Also, the social relations of liminal communities on a ferry are more complex. However, both cruise and ferry provide social spaces for social interaction, and the experience of co-passenging and shared negative events (such as seasickness) creates a sense of liminal community among different passengers (Royal and Roseman, 2021). Second, tourists on cruises have greater negotiated power in time and space (Yarnal, 2004), while tourists on ferry experience more power discipline in the limited shared public space.…”

“…However, most previous studies quantitatively analyzed ferry experience from the influence factors of passengers’ decision-making such as service quality (Sakti et al , 2021) and motivation (Graham and Russell, 2001). With the spatial turn of transportation research, related research tends to qualitatively explore passenger experience from the perspective of the ferry as a social space (Royal and Roseman, 2021) or life space (Hodson and Vannini, 2007). However, the related research lacks the tourists as special passengers and explores their passenger experience.…”

“…It is necessary to adopt quantitative research to explore whether there are significant differences in tourist experiences based on different types of ferries. The case selected in this study is the regional commuter ferry taking 2–4 h; whether tourists on transnational ferries, such as those from China to South Korea, have similar liminal experiences should be further explored (Royal and Roseman, 2021). Second, the research object is to ferry tourists.…”

L’espace public, tout contre le transport ?

“…La vie sociale des espaces publics embarqués contraste avec celle des lieux immobiles, tout d'abord en raison de la durée et du rythme qu'imprime le temps de transport lui-même. Les sociabilités sont particulièrement manifestes entre habitués, tels ces navetteurs « partenaires de siège » (seating partners) sur le ferry entre Terre-Neuve et l'île voisine de Bell qui jouent aux cartes, tricotent et se soutiennent mutuellement lors d'épisodes de tempête (Royal et Roseman 2021), ou ces « amis du train » (train friends) qui se gardent des sièges dans le train pour Durban, en Afrique du Sud, et surveillent mutuellement leurs effets personnels (Preston-Whyte 1982). Le caractère encapsulé et contraint de l'espace à bord anime aussi un jeu de places entre les passagers, en fonction des préférences personnelles et des conditions de confort, mais aussi de rapports sociaux.…”