As this tour operator suggests, much of tourism experiences comes down to perspective. While some tourists avoid prototypical sun, sea, sand, sex, and spirits tourism, it clearly holds appeal for many tourists around the world, as evidenced by the tremendous popularity of resorts providing these experiences. In this case, the operator is describing Magaluf, one of the principal resorts on the Mediterranean island of Palma de Mallorca (map 3.1) and a destination often cited as having all of the excesses of S tourism in the region. Like many S destinations, Magaluf was once a small island fishing village. During the 1960s, the Mallorcan municipality of Calvià experienced significant investment in mass tourism infrastructure and high-rise resort development in both Magaluf and neighboring Palmanova. Today, the resort has little appearance of or connection to the rest of the island or the Spanish mainland. The municipality receives well over a million tourists annually, many of whom are foreign. In particular, Magaluf was developed specifically to cater to British tourists and has become a piece of Britain in the Mediterranean. Not only is English widely spoken around the resort, but hundreds of cafés and bars have British names, serve British foods and drinks, and even show British television programs.
Following a downturn in tourism during the 1990s, Mallorcan tourism officials developed a diversification strategy to get tourists involved in other activities throughout the destination. However, local tourism operators often discourage tourists from leaving the resorts as a result of possible inconveniences (e.g., crowded public transportation) or dangers (e.g., pickpockets). Most tourism promotions highlight Magaluf’s beaches, with the promise of beautiful sand, clear water, and the relaxation of sunbathing during the day. While these S’s may be the primary attraction for neighboring Palmanova, they are often only secondary considerations for Magaluf. Also known as “Shagaluf,” this resort is better known for its other S’s and the multitude of bars and nightclubs, cheap alcohol, the 24-hour party atmosphere, and casual sex. In fact, tourism researcher Hazel Andrews found that there was an “expectation that sexual activity was a reason, if not the reason, for being there.”2 The principal tourist market for Magaluf tends to be young adult (from age eighteen to the thirties) British working-class singles. Most arrive in groups on package tours, sometimes for stag and hen parties.
The atmosphere tends to be sexually charged, with references to and an abundance of naked bodies, including topless sunbathers, nudity in cabaret-type shows, exposure during bar crawl drinking games, and even in tourism-related imagery such as promotions and postcards. Tourists are warned about the noise levels of large quantities of inebriated tourists during the peak summer months. Females in particular are warned about unwanted attention, potential harassment, and possibly even rape. Yet, despite a negative reputation, Magaluf continues to appeal to a specific tourist market.
Discussion topic: Do you think that 5S tourism is a good strategy for Magaluf? What are the potential negative consequences of using this strategy?
Tourism on the web: Institut Balear del Turisme, “Mallorca, the Balearic Islands” at http://www.illesbalears.es/ing/majorca/home.jsp
Map 3.1. Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Popular resorts at this Mediterranean destination like Palmanova and Magaluf are based on tourism’s S’s. (Source: XNR Productions)
Notes
1. Islas Travel Guides, “Welcome to Magaluf,” accessed February 8, 2011, http://www.majorca-mallorca.co.uk/magaluf.htm.
2. Hazel Andrews, “Feeling at Home: Embodying Britishness in a Spanish Charter Tourists Resort,” Tourist Studies 5, no. 3 (2005): 251.
Source
Andrews, Hazel. “Feeling at Home: Embodying Britishness in a Spanish Charter Tourists Resort.” Tourist Studies 5, no. 3 (2005): 247–66.
Sex tourism that doesn’t involve commercial sex is harder to define and is therefore less commonly recognized. For example, this may be framed as seeking romance and/or a relationship rather than sex. This type of sex tourism is more often associated with women. In this case, money may not be exchanged for the act of sex. However, there may be an economic motivation nonetheless, as tourists offer their partners drinks, meals, entertainment, and/or gifts during the course of their time together. The relationship that forms may continue after the tourists leave the destination; they may return later or pay to bring the partner to their home. The Caribbean, namely popular 3S destinations like Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, has become associated with this phenomenon, where typically white female tourists become involved with black “beach boys.” This has become so common that women traveling without a male companion at these destinations are assumed to be sex tourists.
In addition, tourists may travel to a destination with implicit or explicit intentions of having sex with other tourists. Again, the atmosphere of popular 3S destinations lends itself to this form of sex tourism, where the focus is on relaxation and pleasure. Clothing may be minimal—perhaps even optional—and alcohol and/or recreational drugs may be present. Inhibitions may be lowered, and tourists may feel freer to have sexual encounters with strangers than they would in their daily lives and home environments. While this pattern has been publicized in the context of students’ spring break, it is certainly not limited to this demographic.
Perhaps not surprisingly, research has shown that, although many people have reported engaging in any one of the above behaviors, few would describe themselves as sex tourists.2
Nature Tourism
Nature tourism is a product that represents a diverse set of activities set in or based on the appreciation of natural attractions. These attractions may include unique natural features, landscape scenery, or the wildlife of a particular place. Such features may be protected as parks and preserves; in particular, the national park designation plays a role in the creation of opportunities for nature tourism, as both domestic and international tourists make a point to visit these places. Nature tourism may be the primary tourism product for a trip or one type of activity participated in during the course of a trip. For example, birding is a specialized nature tourism product that has been growing in recent years. The practice of bird watching and listening is particularly popular among older, affluent tourists, traditionally from more developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, who enjoy traveling to new places in search of opportunities to observe different species. Dedicated tour companies, such as Birding Africa, provide entire trips oriented around the practice.
Although nature tourism may be positioned as niche tourism in opposition to mass tourism such as 3S, this product can also provide a diversionary activity for mass tourists. In the case of the Caribbean, islands depend on sun, sea, and sand to attract tourists. However, these destinations also promote nature tourism as an activity tourists can participate in for a day, or part of a day, during their vacation. This is not the primary motivation for the trip, but it allows tourists to experience more of an island than simply resort areas on the coast. These products may be packaged as nature walks or hikes, in which guides highlight local flora and fauna (figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2. Recognizing the most powerful pull factor for the Caribbean, one of the first attractions described for the island of Curaçao is its beaches. However, nature tourism provides a secondary attraction for many tourists, such as the ones shown in this photograph who are participating in a nature walk in Christoffel National Park. (Source: Tom Nelson)
As the global tourism industry has been growing, more destinations around the world have utilized their natural attractions and developed a nature tourism product. There are, of course, good examples of nature-based tourism activities in which tourists have the opportunity to experience unique environments and/or wildlife with few negative impacts. At the same time, there are bad examples of nature being exploited for the purpose of tourism. This has generated considerable debate about how nature tourism should take place and resulted in the evolution of the ecotourism concept (see box 3.2).
Box 3.2. In-Depth: The Ecotourism Concept
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The term ecotourism is frequently used as a synonym for nature tourism. In theory, there is overlap between the two products; in practice, there may be little distinction between them. However, the concept of ecotourism is intended to go beyond activities in nature and/or appreciating nature. The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”1 The concept was intended to maximize the benefits of tourism and ensure both economic and environmental sustainability. An argument can be made for tourism if it is shown to be as profitable as other, more environmentally destructive activities, such as logging or mining—or in fact, more profitable in the long term. However, this depends on the preservation of environmental resources that provide the basis for tourism. At the same time, local people must be part of tourism. These people should be involved in activities to ensure that the tourism developed fits within their values and lifestyles. They should directly benefit from tourism, not only to improve their quality of life, but also to ensure that they have a stake in it and will provide the necessary support.
Destinations around the world have attempted to translate the ecotourism concept into a tourism product, with varying results. Places such as Costa Rica and Kenya have become associated with ecotourism, while others offer some type of experience called ecotourism. As such, researchers argue that it may be useful to make a distinction between hard and soft variations of ecotourism that exist in practice. In this model, “hard ecotourism” is a niche product involving small numbers of tourists who are explicitly interested in wilderness experiences as well as ensuring the sustainability of their actions. Typically categorized toward the drifter end of the spectrum, these tourists visit more remote destinations where there are few other tourists and tourist services. Ecotourism is the primary focus of the trip, which may be physically and/or mentally demanding. This may be done as part of a specialized tour package through a company such as Gap Adventures, but it may also be undertaken independently with the use of informal local resources.
“Soft ecotourism” has been criticized as just a different label for nature tourism, with little of the concept behind ecotourism. This variation provides mass tourists with an opportunity to have an “ecotourism” experience as part of their larger trip. These tourists have a more superficial interest in environmental issues. Their experiences are shorter and may be even just a day trip to a natural area that is relatively close to the principal destination region and has the appropriate infrastructure (e.g., paths, bathrooms, refreshments, etc.) to accommodate a large number of tourists. Consequently, interactions with nature are facilitated by a guide and tend to be more superficial. These hard and soft positions are, of course, two ends of a spectrum, and there are many examples of experiences that fall somewhere in between.
Thus, while ecotourism was intended to provide a sustainable framework for nature tourism, it has, to some extent, become just another buzzword to generate interest in tourism. This has led to the development of certification programs to help ensure that products being labeled ecotourism are, in fact, environmentally sustainable. For example, Ecotourism Australia is one of the most long-standing ecotourism accreditation systems. This organization developed a set of guidelines for various levels of environmentally sustainable tourism, from nature tourism that uses specific measures to minimize the impact of tourists’ activities on the environment to a comprehensive form of ecotourism in which operators strive for the highest levels of sustainability. Businesses can then use this certification to support their claims of sustainability to knowledgeable tourists.
Discussion topic: Search for an ecotourism product on the Internet. Do you think that the experience/activity described should be considered nature tourism or ecotourism? Why?
Tourism on the web: Ecotourism Australia, “Welcome to Ecotourism Australia,” at http://www.ecotourism.org.au/
Note
1. The International Ecotourism Society, “What Is Ecotourism?” accessed November 20, 2010, http://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism.
Source
Weaver, David B. “Comprehensive and Minimalist Dimensions of Ecotourism.” Annals of Tourism Research 32, no. 2 (2005): 439–55.
Adventure Tourism
Adventure tourism is a product that combines aspects of nature (above) and sport tourism (below). Like nature tourism, this product is typically predicated on natural attractions; however, the emphasis in adventure tourism is more on the activity that takes place in that environment as opposed to appreciation of that environment. Like sport tourism, adventure tourism is based on physical activity; however, the emphasis in adventure tourism is typically a physical activity that tourists wouldn’t normally participate in at home and is more dependent on the natural resources of a place. These activities may require specialized equipment and training or skill, and there is some degree of excitement and/or perceived risk. Examples of adventure tourism might include zip-lining in rain forest canopies, kiteboarding, whitewater rafting or kayaking, mountain trekking, rock climbing, spelunking, and skydiving.
As with ecotourism, there are hard and soft variants, depending on the actual level of risk involved. Hard adventure tourism is more likely to be the focus of a trip that takes place in remote locations, while soft adventure tourism may be an activity for mass tourists closer to well-developed destination areas. Although these activities occur in destinations around the world, places that have become most associated with adventure tourism are some of the most remote. For example, Nepal offers adventure tourism activities such as mountain trekking and rock climbing in the Himalayas. Zimbabwe offers bungee jumping at Victoria Falls or whitewater rafting on the Zambezi River (figure 3.3).
Figure 3.3. Adventure tourism often involves physical activities in spectacular natural environments. Whitewater rafting on Class IV rapids provides enough adrenaline-inducing excitement, while the spectacular scenery of the river gorge further enhances the experience. (Source: Velvet Nelson)
Sport Tourism
Sport and tourism have historically had a symbiotic relationship. Definitions of sport tourism include both travel to participate in sports and to watch sporting events, but for our purposes, we will consider the latter under event tourism (below). In the hard variant of this product, sport is the primary motivation for a trip; in the soft variant, sport may be a leisure activity that tourists participate in at some point during their trip. This general product encompasses a range of activities that span not only different types of sports but also different seasons and environments. Sport tourism may be dependent on the resources of the local environment, as with adventure tourism, but this product may be more dependent on a specific type of infrastructure or facility. For example, the inherent physical geography of a place may play a role in golf, but the course design is often a more important factor.
The activity may be one that the tourist is involved in at home during his or her leisure time. Avid golfers often plan trips where they travel to play different courses. They may wish to try new courses or experience famous courses associated with major professional golf tournaments, such as Pebble Beach in California or Augusta National in Georgia. At the same time, the activity may be something that the tourist has only limited opportunity to participate in when they are in their home environment. In the flat states of the plains or the warm southern states, people may have a desire to participate in winter sports, but they don’t have that opportunity at home. Therefore, they have to plan a trip to a mountain state, such as Colorado, to fulfill this demand.
Winter sport tourism is one of the most prevalent sport tourism products. Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowboarding are popular winter recreation activities that provide the basis for winter sport tourism. Some ski resorts in Europe date back to the late nineteenth century, while the oldest in North America date back to the early twentieth century. Many of the world’s more developed regions have major winter
sport industries. This is particularly true in Europe, where the Alps are one of the world’s premier winter sports regions, and in North America, where many resorts are located in the Rocky Mountains. Other activities that tourists might participate in during a winter vacation might include snowshoeing, sledding, or ice skating; however, these activities are less likely to be the primary motivation for a trip.
Summer sport tourism, or warm weather sport, includes a much more diverse set of activities. Again, golf tourism is one of the largest summer sport tourism products that now have a presence in destinations around the world. Other activities may include bicycling (figure 3.4) or horseback riding tours. Water sport tourism is also immensely popular at coastal destinations and includes activities such as swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, wind surfing, jet skiing, water skiing, sailing, fishing, and more. While these activities may take place at any number of coastal destinations, some have particularly been associated with water-sport tourism. For example, the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands is known as a sailing destination, while Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos is known as a scuba destination.
Figure 3.4. Variations of bicycle tours are now being organized in destinations around the world. In the case of this tourist, bicycling across Switzerland is the primary objective of her trip. At other destinations, tourists may have the opportunity to spend a day of their vacation sightseeing by bicycle. (Source: Sara Schnabel)
Rural and Agricultural Tourism
Rural tourism is an often hard-to-define product that may encompass many of the activities described above based on natural attractions; however, there is typically a human component as well. The U.S. Census Bureau defines rural areas as all of the land and people located outside of urbanized areas and urban clusters.3 Therefore, this includes both small towns and wilderness areas, and very different types of tourism activities are likely to take place in each. Thus, rural tourism is more often associated with the general sensibility of “rural” that pertains to life in the countryside. Rural recreation activities such as scenic drives, country picnics, hunting, or fishing may be included in this product.
An Introduction to the Geography of Tourism Page 8