Concluding comments

Here it is; the last blog! In the first I have promised three objectives, out of which I have discussed two. So the last question remains: Did I experience this trip differently in comparison to previous because of the gained knowledge?

The answer is yes.

Although we had a tight schedule and could not decide on our own, I did experience it differently because of the knowledge as well. When I was walking in Amman, passing all the cafés, shops, restaurants, I thought about urban tourism. When I was shopping for souvenirs, I thought about whether it was staged authenticity. At the dead sea I thought about the gaze and all the senses. At the US AID I also thought about the gaze. And in general, every time someone grabbed his/her camera, I thought about the gaze. Huh, why then?

The camera can be seen as an extension of the eye, with which one records an object in a specific way. Hence, with a photograph the view (hence, the tourist gaze) can be framed. When looking at everyone’s pictures, I noticed some had a different focus (although most of them were ordinary touristic pictures), which can be explained by this theory (Urry, 1990).

Many theories that crossed my mind while travelling I haven’t even discussed, such as religious tourism (at Mount Nebo and the Baptism site) or the media nexus, with Lawrence of Arabia that was mentioned both in travel books as by the travel guide, but there are no blogs left anymore.

Conclusively: during this module as well as in Jordan I have learned that tourism exists in many forms; muscular tourism, urban tourism, mass tourism, techno tourism, just to name a few… 

It all has its own characteristics and therefore, everyone can experience the joy of travelling!

References
Robinson, M., & Picard, D. (Eds.). (2009). The Framed World: tourism, tourists and photography. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Edensor, T. (2009). Tourism. Elsevier
Urry, J. (1990). The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and travel in contemporary societies, theory, culture & society.

Are tourists positive for the host community?

Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for Jordan. One way this has become clear to me, is that Jordanian men are not allowed to talk to women, but Western women are an exception, as this is a source of income that they are dependent of. In short, they need the tourists and in that way, the arrival of tourists is positive for Jordan. However, there are some negative effects too.

Valene Smith (2012) has explored the influence of Wealthy Western tourists upon local cultural context. One possible consequence might the demonstration effect. This implies that the locals take over the life-styles/habits of tourists. According to Al Haija, a change was prevalent in clothing style, language and communication of some Bedouin men in communities near Petra, following their work with Western tourists. 

The wealthy tourists in interaction with locals, dependent of the tourists’ wealth, creates an unequal power relation (Williams, 1998) This might cause tension, for example because a large amount of money has been spend to renovate the historical/touristic sites, whereas the infrastructure to some villages is still poor (Haija, 2011). Moreover, there might be tension because of religion, since Jordan is a Muslim country. Fortunately, most tourists in Jordan were respectfully dressed. An unbalanced power relation may also lead to commodification (see ‘’Is Jordan ‘spoilt’?’’).

A possible solution to negative adaptations of host communities is the development of sustainable tourism by the WTO. Sustainable tourism tries to establish a balance between environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development. In that way, the authenticity of the host communities can be preserved.

Of course there are both negative as positive aspects of tourism towards the host community. However, the arrival of tourists has brought many profits and jobs, whereas the tension as a consequence of the unbalanced power relation is not that prevalent in my opinion. Therefore I believe the positive effects outweigh the negative effects, especially with the rise of sustainable tourism. 

Conclusion: go and visit Jordan!

References: 

Smith, V. L. (Ed.). (2012). Hosts and guests: The anthropology of tourism. University of Pennsylvania Press.

 Al Haija, A. A. (2011). Jordan: Tourism and conflict with local communities.Habitat International, 35(1), 93-100.

Williams, S. (1998). Tourism geography. Psychology Press.

Tourism in conflict areas; complex entanglements in Jordan. Journal of travel research. 

What kind of tourist am I?

Finally I will answer that question I have asked in the beginning: What kind of tourist am I?

Erik Cohen (1979) has determined five tourist typologies based on the tourists concept of the ‘centre’ of its world. It  ranges from the recreational tourist to the experimental tourist. The centre of the recreational tourist is in its own society. This implies that tourism is a way to escape from daily-life, and that little quest for authenticity is present. The existential tourist is completely alienated from its own society, and has the deepest quest for authenticity.

Another way to diverge tourist experiences, is to make a division between tourists and travellers. Travellers make ‘trips’, where they experience the destination, whereas tourists go on holiday. The travellers are also known as the ‘backpackers’, and are closest to the existential tourist. The tourists as described here imply mass tourism and are closest to the typology recreational tourist. (McCabe, 2005)

Between those extremes are the diversionary tourist, which is not attached to any society, and only travels to avoid boredom. The experiential tourist is alienated from its own society and seeks therefore for authenticity during travelling. However, they are aware of their ‘otherness’, which the experimental tourists are not. (Cohen, 1979)

When examining the tourist typologies of Cohen, I consider myself the recreational tourist, since I know that my centre is situated in the Netherlands. However, I do seek for authenticity and I am not a mass tourist. During holiday I do want to experience the country, eat the local food, try to understand the society. Moreover, the division between the traveller and the tourist is based on two extreme situations, and I believe I am neither (or both) of the two.

In Jordan, I believe that we also fit in the category recreational tourist, since we had a guide, we didn't use local transport and viewed mostly only the touristic sights. Unfortunately we were not able to engage with the locals. However, the mass tourist that eats fries at snackbar 'Friet van Piet' in Spain is still a totally different way of travelling!

References:

McCabe, S. (2005). ‘Who is a tourist?’A critical review. Tourist studies, 5(1), 85-106.

Cohen, E. (1979). A phenomenology of tourist experiences. Sociology, 13(2), 179-201.