Tourist guide reflections on the spatialities of mass tourism: a case study of Finnish package tourism in Crete

Abstract

Vainikka, Vilhelmiina (2016). Tourist guide reflections on the spatialities of mass tourism: A case study of Finnish package tourism in Crete. Fennia 194: 1, pp. 64-78. ISSN 1798-5617. The mass tourism destination is a well-known spatial category for large-scale tourism practices. However, little critical attention has been paid to the construction of the category itself in relation to the spatialities of different social groups. This study scrutinizes the situated spatial relationships within mass tourism in a flexibly conceptualized mass tourism destination. Social constructionist methodology and different place theories are utilized in order to analyze tourist guides' reflections of Finnish mass tourism in Crete. The positionality of the guides to mass tourism spatialities was tested with a twofold interview agenda: asking the guides to evaluate their own spatialities and those of their clients. Drawing parallels between the mass tourism destination and the seaside resort are not straightforwardly supported in these interviews. The daily movement of the guides, their destination knowledge or discussions about the destination and their leisure-time activities all shape their relationship with the destination and produce spatialities that are evaluated in relation to their clients' spatialities. The guides construct two ideas of spatiality of mass tourism, intensive and extensive, through which spatialities are interpreted at an ideological and practical level. These spatial constructions reflect the hybrid character of the contemporary mass tourism and contextualize the mass tourism destination as different combinations of situated spatial experiences. Based on the results the academic research should utilize different user perspectives to the theorization of mass tourism destination.

Finding Opportunities in Uncertain Times. The Case Study of a Tourist Guides Venture in the EU

“…This method is also applied in tourism research i.e., to investigate overtourism [70], motivation and satisfaction of event attendees [71], bicycle tourism [72], the meaning of borders [73]. Examples of case studies regarding tourist guides concentrate, i.e., on education and training [74,75], mobile applications [76,77] or professional and personal aspects of tourist guiding [52,78] and organizational culture [79]. The cognitive possibilities offered by the CS method encourage to use it for gathering detailed knowledge on the process of starting and functioning of a tourist guides organization in times of crisis.…”

“…The third function lies in the promotion of local economies (with a focus on local communities) by inciting tourists to buy local products and services [50]. The performance of above-mentioned functions is possible if the local guides maintain a detailed knowledge of the areas visited with tourists [51] and a close relationship with the place [52] and host communities.…”

Conceptual foundations of the category of tourist destination

“…Mass tourism destination is characterized by an extreme concentration of tourists there. Usually, these are all-inclusive resorts, and guided package tours organized by tour operators and agencies (Vainikka V., 2016). Alternative tourism concerns a variety of approaches: eco-tourism, agro-tourism, community tourism, ethical tourism, etc.…”

Political influences on the roles and characteristics of ethnic tourism industry employees: a case of Korean-Chinese tour guides

“…Not only in the Asian countries, but also in Europe, GPTs were developed to accommodate the rapid growth in demand and provide trips at lower prices (Rossello & Riera, 2012;Vainikka, 2016). The mass tourism destination is a well-known spatial category for large-scale tourism practices.…”