https://thesis.eur.nl/col/7014/ List of Publications en https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/50214/ Mon, 10 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>M. Hoffmann</div> Little is known about the presentation and negotiation of German colonial heritage in Africa. Colonial heritage destinations in Africa are popular destinations for participants of the postmodern dark tourism trend, but also manifestations of a negotiation of history by different actors in multi-layered postcolonial debates. By taking both dimensions into account, this thesis focuses on the presentation of colonial history in Africa, examining heritage that derives from German colonization (1884-1915) in today’s independent state of Namibia. How is German colonial history presented in the Namibian cultural tourism landscape and what are the main differences in presenting the colonial past to create meaning in the presence? How do the different population groups on the private sphere, and the postcolonial state manifest their connection to German colonial history? To answer these questions a multi-method ethnography has been implemented, encompassing on-site field work at relevant heritage destinations and museums in Namibia, as well as in-depth expert-interviews with eight individuals who are actively participating in Namibian heritage practices or research. The results of this thesis show that German colonial history in Namibia seems to be presented without elaborating on the dark events of death and violence of that time. This relates to both the narrative of the state, but also to heritage displays by the descendants of the German colonizers and the victims of the Herero and Nama genocide. Whereas official heritage by the state and private initiatives by German-speaking minority focus on monologic presentations of their own (imaginary) versions of history, leaving out the sufferings during German colonial times, the Herero and Nama communities face certain socio-cultural and -economic blockades, that hinder them to present their perspective to the country and the world more actively. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/50212/ Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>D. Kusumastuti Dwi Putri</div> The Role of Local Governments in the Construction of Film Tourism: Setting the Scene on Belitung Island https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/50220/ Fri, 14 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>A. Jenny</div> Visiting settings of movies, TV series, or books is now seen as a significant field of tourism studies. Yet little is known regarding how tourists make sense of their travel experience. Thus, this research focuses on the case of Outlander and how fans experience visiting Scotland. Fourteen interviews were conducted with Outlander fans who had visited Scotland during the time of them being a fan. These interviews show that by visiting the place of their fandom, the trip can have a profound impact on their life. Fans already have a deep connection to Outlander before the trip occurs. However, the trip itself deepens their connection both to the series and to Scotland because they have the opportunity to feel the world of Outlander firsthand. On a theoretical level, this paper adds to the literature on fan or media pilgrimages, by showing how the fictional world effects a fan’s perception of the real world. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/50216/ Fri, 14 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>N. Khachatryan</div> This paper studies the visual forms of representation of Armenia as a travel destination since 17th century until today. It reviews the issue in historical progression, finding the transformations, similarities and/or differences in visual messages created by European travelers and local tourism authorities. Exploring the early drawings by western travelers, this paper builds an iconographic tradition for depicting Armenia through the tourist gaze. Its logical continuation is studied in modern and post-modern visuals, mainly photographs, created by tourists (TGC) and destination marketing companies (DMC) in Armenia. Hence, the central research question of this paper answers how the visual representation of Armenia as a travel destination has developed from 17th century until now, and how is this being negotiated by tourists. The case of Armenia is chosen as a newly emerging tourist destination with ancient history that has been transformed from a Silk Road country to a hidden, off-the-beaten track land, as a location to be explored by adventurous post-tourists. Moreover, this region with its different influences from previous hegemonies with Iran, Turkey and Russia, and its ongoing political conflicts, opens up new possibilities in exploring tourism development in the Middle East. Three periods are categorized in investigating this evolution: pre-modern times of first Western exploration; Soviet era of place branding; and post-modern age in construction of destination image (DI). Main data for the research are drawings and photographs created by several generation of travelers found in early travelogues and modern travel blogs, brochures, posters and post-cards promoted by local DMCs and national tourist organizations (NTO). These images were studied through visual and textual content analysis, mise-en-scene and semiotic analysis. The concepts of these images point on several main aspects of representing Armenia, out of which two dominate throughout the development: nature landscapes (mountains, rocks, canyons), and culture (medieval monasteries, monuments surrounded by nature). The combination of photographs and texts construct an affective image of Armenia as a heavily-cultured hidden country, with sublime nature of highlands. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/50218/ Mon, 24 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>A. Lopez Saez</div> Chinese tourists that travel overseas is a growing and relatively recent phenomenon in the tourism industry. Cultural differences between hosts and guests may arise at destinations which challenge the way tourism practices are managed. This study explores the relatively recent phenomenon of the new class of emerging Chinese tourists in Giethoorn, a small town in the north of the Netherlands. Obtaining empirical evidence in the form of qualitative interviews with both experts of businesses in Giethoorn and Chinese tourists visiting Giethoorn, this study aims to answer the following research question: How and in what ways, does the new class of emerging Chinese tourists challenge sustainable tourism practices in Giethoorn? Using thematic analysis, several issues were identified related to sustainability and the adaptation to tourists’ needs, as well as Chinese tourists’ concerns over food and authenticity. The results show that while experts from businesses in Giethoorn are concerned about sustainability in terms of the number of tourists, boats and parking spaces in the area, Chinese tourists focus on the type of food offered and the appearance of the town in terms of authenticity, nature and landscape, and architecture. Understanding Chinese tourist’s needs and demands is key to adapt tourism practices for this type of tourists and for finding solutions which address sustainable issues in Giethoorn. This study adds knowledge about non-Western tourists and their influence in Western destinations. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/50215/ Mon, 24 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>N. Cabbar</div> The European Union (EU) declares itself to be more than a tool for governance or an economic organization. It states to be a mediator to build a common European culture based on a shared history, values, and future. The European Heritage Label (EHL) is the latest cultural initiative of the EU. The EHL gives a precise form about how the EU constructs common European identity through heritage. The thesis researches the use of the EHL to construct a common European cultural identity by European Union and the relation of the national heritage actors in the Netherlands and the sites to this endeavor. The thesis aimed to reveal the material and social experiences, practices and dialogues between people and things. Therefore qualitative research is chosen for methodology. The thesis demonstrated that the EU established a new heritage approach to build a common European cultural identity. In this new approach, tangible heritage places are managed according to intangible values. In order to do that the EHL inherited and combined former approaches from valid tangible and intangible heritage managements from contemporary heritage field. Such approach is a significant alteration of the Eurocentric and traditional way of perceiving heritage. The reason behind establishing a new heritage approach is to use the EHL for stimulating discussions about the values of Europe and the significance of the EU among several actors. Thesis showed that the EU set forth a range of activities to realize this objective. Some activities became obstacles for raising discussion and producing heritage actively in the present and contradict with the new heritage approach. However the thesis also explored that some activities are compatible for debating on heritage and producing it creatively regarding the needs of the European society. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/49315/ Wed, 26 Jun 2019 00:00:01 GMT <div>T. Wever</div> Sinds het referendum over een eventuele scheiding tussen het Verenigd Koninkrijk en de Europese Unie werd aangekondigd, is de Brexit (een samenvoeging van de woorden ‘Britain’ en ‘exit’) volop in het nieuws. Om te bepalen in hoeverre er de berichtgeving over zo’n veelbesproken onderwerp sprake is van bias, is de mate van bias bij de Britse en Nederlandse verslaggeving rondom Brexit onderzocht. Hierbij is gekeken is naar de verschillen over tijd en tussen kwaliteitskranten en populaire kranten. Het onderzoek bestudeert vier Nederlandse en vier Britse kranten en dient als uitbreiding van eerder onderzoek naar de Brexit, referenda en politieke verslaggeving in het algemeen. In de periode 2016-2018 berichtten de Britse kranten meer over de Brexit dan Nederlandse kranten, en de kwaliteitskranten meer dan de populaire kranten. Ook bleek dat de momenten waarop de Brexit nieuwswaardig was tussen de onderzochte groepen sterk correleerden. Dit kan duiden op institutionalisering van de media; de theorie dat traditioneel verschillende media steeds meer op elkaar gaan lijken (Cook, 2006). Het verschil tussen landen en soorten media duidt op de aanwezigheid van gatekeeping bias: journalisten en redacties hebben een significante invloed op de gebeurtenissen die wel of niet nieuwswaardig worden gevonden. Middels onderzoek naar de gebruikte bronnen en de gehanteerde frames in de berichtgeving rondom de Brexit, werd geconcludeerd dat er ook sprake was van coverage bias en statement bias. Tussen landen, soorten kranten en de periodes voor en na het referendum werden niet alle kanten van het debat gelijkwaardig belicht, en werden artikelen vanuit andere oogpunten geschreven. De resultaten van het onderzoek wijzen uit dat de berichtgeving rondom de Brexit een bepaalde mate van bias bevat. Het is voor journalisten goed om zich hier bewust van te zijn, en het onderzoek kan dienen als middel om het eigen werk te evalueren. Zo kunnen Nederlandse journalisten uit het onderzoek opmaken dat ze geneigd zijn om de berichtgeving uit kranten uit het land waar het nieuws vandaan komt over te nemen en dat er in de berichtgeving significant vaker minder bronnen gebruikt worden dan in de Britse krant. Ook voor het volk zijn de conclusies interessant, omdat het onderzoek als fundament kan dienen voor een kritische blik op de berichtgeving in kranten. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56215/ Thu, 23 Jan 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Maouni , A.</div> Visual representations have always been an important aspect of the traveling process due to the fact that firstly, tourism and photography are an inseparable pair and secondly, tourism is a visual experience. Consequently, representations’ influence on travelers’ gaze is undeniable throughout the years. However, often, they become part of the travelers’ mindset and by reproducing them, it leads to the so-called hermeneutic circle. Due to the uptake of social media and digitalization, visual representations have increased dramatically; destinations images are being produced not only by official tourism stakeholders but also from travelers. Therefore, Instagram being a solely visual media platform, it provides ideal conditions to coproduce and co-create the destination image of a place. This research aims to analyze the influence of Instagram’s representations on a specific group of young Greek people when traveling. More specifically, this research investigates the influence of visual representations of Instagram on young Greek people employed in the creative sector; in their tourist gaze as well in their photo-taking and sharing process. The use of in-depth-interviews as a tool to research on the viewpoints and experiences of these people and thematic analysis helped to organize the data meaningfully in codes, which led to the final themes of answering the initial question. All in all, it was concluded that young Greek peoples’ tourist gaze and photo taking process are influenced vastly from Instagram’s images. Nevertheless, it deduced that the respondents follow the hermeneutic circle to an extent and on their own terms; after visiting the main points of interest, they will try to find their own places to explore and capture, a necessary process to have an authentic and real experience. Although they will share pictures of main attractions attached to their unique style, at the same time, they will also share images of new places that they personally found interesting. This leads to the creation of new images in the imagery of destinations. Consequently, the research showed that the sample of young Greek people does not simply follow a pre-defined hermeneutic circle as Urry (1990) suggests, but through their photographs, they can fully experience and re-create the place. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/55424/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Schwarz, C.A.</div> The Portuguese capital Lisbon and the Belgian heritage city Bruges are among Europe’s most popular city destinations. However, both cities have been criticized for the “touristification” of their city centers. In the more mature tourism destination Bruges, attention is aimed at the oversupply of low-quality souvenir shops. Lisbon, on the other hand, has established itself only recently as an international destination. In the context of tourism gentrification, many of the city’s old and traditional retail shops are currently closing and make way for establishments only catering to tourists. Both cities have initiated multi-annual projects to safeguard their urban culture and maintain distinct city identities. Handmade in Bruges rewards local crafts professionals and attempts to render high-skilled craftsmanship more visible in the city. The municipality-led initiative Lojas com História aims to protect Lisbon’s old and culturally significant shops. The projects stand out through their focus on immaterial everyday culture. This research is concerned with how the increasing focus on intangible culture in the context of heritage management and destination development is translated into policy-practice on the municipal level. Eighteen in-depth interviews with central actors of the two policy-projects shed light on contemporary approaches to maintaining attractive and distinct inner cities. This research provides a unique perspective on the intersection of creative tourism development and intangible heritage management by including the projects’ coordinators, tourism intermediaries, policymakers, and the label-holders in the sample. The findings present the McDisneyization of the urban landscape as a perceived threat to local meaning and continuity, motivating the endeavors of safeguarding traditional urban culture. Further, this paper first introduces traditional retail as a form of community-based heritage. The findings shed light on how residents negotiate intangible heritage as the link between the cities’ past and present, which establishes a distinct sense of place. The initiatives represent official attempts to counteracting the homogenization and commodification of urban culture by revitalizing local cultural expressions through bottom-up approaches. It is shown how the projects’ central actors regard the creative tourist with his interest in experiencing local lifestyles as an ambassador for the revitalization of intangible heritage. In turn, intangible heritage is seen as a resource for creative tourism development. Finally, this paper suggests that the different modes of heritage management by the two projects relate to the cities’ stages of McDisneyization. Whereas the rapid changes connected to Lisbon’s tourism-led urban regeneration appear to fuel a rather conservationist approach to urban heritage, Handmade in Bruges makes part of the endeavor of reviving a creative city image through innovation and change. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56211/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Ajami, P</div> The purpose of this study is to understand the narratives of identity, home, and sense of belonging of second-generation Iranian immigrants. Despite the current economic and political situation in Iran, second-generation Iranian immigrants yearn for moving to Iran. Hence, their migration decision is associated with more than solely economic drives and is best explained by their narratives of identity and self. Relying on narratives of identity, my aim is to explore the extent to which their homecoming trips could influence their identity, sense of home and belonging and find its link to ethnic return decisions, which so far has been studied implicitly rather than explicitly. Using a qualitative research design, 14 secondgeneration Iranian immigrants were interviewed. Out of the 14, some actually migrated to Iran and others were considered potential returnees. Five themes were identified from semi-structured interviews: VFR experiences, socio-cultural and political differences, language, life stages and transnational ways of being and belonging, and dichotomy of ethnic return. VFR experiences were found to be the main influence in creating a feeling of being at home in Iran, at the same time a feeling of being an outsider in Iran. Besides, traveling back to parental homeland (Iran) also encompassed experiencing unfamiliar sociocultural and political encounters, whereby the pre-existing sense of belonging to Iran was either dampened or created curiosity to exploring this unfamiliarity as second-generation immigrants. Proficiency in their Persian language was found to be one of the main causes of feeling as an outsider in Iran, yet also as a source of attachment and identity. Meanwhile, second-generation Iranian immigrants’ sense of belonging and home towards Iran was not only derived from their homecoming trips, but they also (re)constructed emotional attachments to Iran by engaging in activities that helped them (re)connect to their roots. Finally, the ethnic return decisions are a multi-layered phenomenon caused by feelings of having hybrid homes and identities. Therefore, they are not necessarily a temporary decision and they indirectly relate to homecoming trips, as homecoming trips contribute to building hybrid senses of home and belonging. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56212/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Birrien-Philpott, S.</div> This research focuses on the motivations, experience and evaluation of participants who take part in the Jack the Ripper walking tour in London. The field of dark tourism shows much interest in the motivations of tourists who take part in dark attractions. However, most of the studies concerning the motivations of tourists focus on death as the main motivational factor in their decision to take part in these dark activities. Despite the fact that Jack the Ripper walking tours focus on death, it is not the main motivational factor in the decision of the participants. Moreover, not much data is found concerning the experience and evaluation of the tourists’ experience. Thus, this research has the purpose of bringing to light the main motivations of the participants, but also analyzing their experience and evaluation of the experience by answering the following research question: What are the motivations, experience and evaluation of participants in the Jack the Ripper walking tours? This research focuses on what motivates a participant to take part in this walking tour, how their motivations and expectations impact their experience and how they evaluate their experience by focusing both on the negative and positive aspects. This project uses qualitative research through the process of interviewing participants who have taken part in the Jack the Ripper walking tour. The collected data has been analyzed thematically in order to discuss the motivations, experience and evaluation of participants. It has been divided in to three different parts. Firstly, the study fovuses on the motivations of tourists by analyzing the common themes that are brought up during the interviews such as the mystery surrounding Jack the Ripper and the case. It also highlights how tourists are motivated by the educational purpose and the chance to experience Victorian London. Secondly the expectations of the tourists have also been analyzed in order to show how much of the expectations lie on the tour guide to create a memorable experience. It also discusses how the expectations of tourists depend also on their preconceived notions and images, which are formed and distributed by the media. Finally, it highlights their experience as the tour guide’s skills are responsible for the outcome of the participants tour. This research discusses how the tour guide has the ability to transport the tourists back in Victorian London through a combination of narratives and story-telling techniques. It explains how tourists go on these walking tours in order to experience on site the pre-conceived images which are present in their imaginations. And finally, the data shows how these experiences perpetuate the distribution of this image of Victorian London while also contributing to the place identity of Whitechapel as a poor neighborhood filled with crime. This paper seeks to contribute to the studies on place identity and tourist motivation by showing how the motivations of tourists and participants are linked and motivated by the preconceived ideas they have of a site. It will also contribute to studies on tour guides by showing how the guide is the most crucial factor of an enjoyable experience. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56213/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Hayes, M</div> In an increasingly globalizing world, cities, regions and brands are recognizing the importance of creating a unique identity to sustain their relevance and escape homogenization. Many humans are also feeling threats of losing their ability to define and express their self-identities and often look towards travel as a way of (re)discovering the essence of their true selves (Wang, 1999). Often these travelers are seeking authentic interaction (MacCannell, 1976), a place for self-expression (Wang, 1999), and, at times, the ability to positively impact their host community (Schnell, 2013). Since drinking spaces have often been seen as a frame of reference for the set of practices that constitutes a beer culture-rituals, traditions, social interactions, specific aesthetics, and a sense of community and are vehicles to express shared values, meanings and interests (Gammelgaard & Dörrenbächer, 2013), it is possible that visitors to a brewery experience can achieve their travel goals. This thesis researches the question, How can visiting a brewery experience affect a visitor’s formation of place attachment to the location? And the sub-question How can perceived authenticity increase this feeling of place attachment? Theoretical background research on place attachment, authenticity, neolocalism, sociality and sharing, heritage and storytelling, and how breweries shape their communities compared relevant investigations to create a framework for my study. Qualitative research including interviews and participant observations discovered themes including: (1) breweries ability to create atmospheres that feel authentic, (2) the ability for visitors to express their self-identity through breweries, connecting them to place identity, (3) breweries’ common practices of creating personalized, interactive environments that create a level of involvement in visitors, (4) the unique experience provided by breweries, often aiding the search for neolocalism, (5) the ability to share experiences and have social interactions that feel authentic, (6) the connection between breweries and local businesses, local community and local environment, (7) breweries’ dedication to their original location and other ways they display their heritage and culture, and (8) the perceived quality and visitor satisfaction achieved during brewery experiences. These themes analyzed against the theoretical background found a combination unique to breweries that are able to create place identity and place dependence, the two components of place attachment (Kyle, Graefe & Manning, 2005), as well as perceived authenticity which further constructs place attachment (Wang, 1999). Furthermore, the successful formation of place attachment at breweries can also lead to the success of the community since most, including each brewery that was studied, participate in economically and environmentally sustainable practices. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56216/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Rees, P. van</div><div>Es, N. van</div> x https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56217/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT Scherer, R.Hoebink, D.Since the emergence of natural history museums during the Enlightenment they have studied and displayed the biodiversity of the Earth system. Today, this biodiversity and life on Earth are threatened by the destructive agency of humankind that caused numerous environmental challenges, as well as habitat loss and extinction of many creatures. The recognition of the irreversible impact of humanity on its environment has given rise to the term Anthropocene as naming for the current geological epoch but also as a conceptional term that gathers challenging implications of scientific, social, and cultural relevance. The related discourse is drawing attention to the importance of a profound re-thinking of human-nonhuman relationships and questions the wholeness and adequacy of modernist dualistic perspectives to tackle current environmental issues. This master thesis explores how this new discourse has entered natural history museums, by analyzing the way museum professionals reflect on humans, nonhumans, and their mutual relationship in the context of the main concepts of the Anthropocene discourse. In-depth insights of curators, directors and public engagement managers of thirteen natural history museums have been gathered through semi-structured interviews The findings of the research show that the Anthropocene discourse noticeably shapes the current presentation of and reflection on human-nonhuman relationships in natural history museums. Museum professionals increasingly start to consider social, political, and ethical questions where previously natural history display waslimited to the field of natural science research. At the same time, the study has found that there are inherent characteristics of natural history museums and the way they approach human-nonhuman relationships – such as the notion of conceptual equity of all creatures - that hold a great potential to contribute to the Anthropocene discourse themselves. Even more, their position at the intersection of science and the broader public makes natural history museums important advocates for a mutual and respectful relationship between human and nonhuman beings. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56220/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Sebus, P.</div><div>Mannheimer, E.</div> As an emergent way of doing tourism that is rapidly changing urban spaces, the phenomenon of new urban tourism has not been clearly demarcated before in academia. Whereas previous research has set the base for new urban tourists’ characteristics and behaviour, this study aims to further define the notion of new urban tourism and way in which places are constructed by its tourists through their performances. The main research question provides the structure for this thesis and is as follows: ‘How is place image mutually constructed through long-term new urban tourists’ performances and tourism structures created by professionals in the field?‘. Through use of a qualitative case study of Rotterdam involving twelve semi-structured interviews with new urban tourists and three with professionals familiar with the city’s tourism policies, supplemented by content analysis of three policy documents, thematic analysis of the data resulted in four main themes. Firstly, Rotterdam’s policies show how frontrunners and long-term new urban tourists share common ground yet slightly deviate from new urban tourism. The second theme shows how this long-term tourist group fits in with the new urban tourist typology. Yet, they are more likely to construct place image built on constructive authenticity and are heavily influenced by liminality. Thirdly, the activities through which long-term new urban tourists construct authenticity show how they continuously search to live like a local and explore, perform reflexive behaviour and show first signs of a reaction to new urban tourism through pomposity, but mostly highly value immersing and connecting with a place and its people. This connection starts with encounters, comparable to Urry and Larsen’s (2011) Tourist Gaze 3.0, but then further solidifies through understanding a place, establishing emotional- and most prominently personal connection, calling for a possible Tourist Gaze 4.0. Fourthly, it is portrayed whereas shortterm visitors form a place image based on front stage behaviour, long-term new urban tourists engage in immersion with the back stages, which allow for creation of a lasting sense of authenticity. While place branding in its traditional, direct form – being the use of a marketing slogan – is still engaged with by institutions, new urban tourists indicate to prefer branding through an indirect and interpersonal approach like word-of-mouth branding. This supports the main argument that while there can be mutual awareness in the construction of place image, a new urban tourism experience and place image is mostly constructed through new urban tourists’ own activities and construction of authenticity, which is strengthened and added to in the case of long-term tourism https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56214/ Mon, 15 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Kenan, A.</div> At the turn of the year 2019 to 2020, the pandemic covid-19 announced its arrival, with unprecedented global impacts. Global warming can, according to climate science, result in more frequent and comprehensive global crises similar to covid-19. A frequently discussed remedy for global warming is to restructure society in a way that fits the principles of sustainable development. It is advocated that such a restructuring would require a paradigm shift, away from the Dominant Social Western Industrialised Paradigm (DSP), which according to Thomas Kuhn’s rationale of scientific revolutions, occurs as a result of a scientific crisis, and covid-19 could be a such a crisis. Therefore, this thesis seeks to explore how the direct and indirect impacts of covid-19 influence the perceptions of the environment; and explore how these changes can be understood in terms of potential normative, cultural changes that would represent a more sustainable paradigm. In the period of the pandemic in the Netherlands, from April 13th, 2020 to May 6th, 2020, 13 Dutch citizens were interviewed on how they experience the pandemic, both generally and in regard to environmental topics. Contributions from the field of social psychology like: The Stone Age Biases Framework by van Vugt, Griskeviscius and Schultz (2014); Individual barriers for behavioural change proposed by Manolas (2015); Dunlap, van Liere, Mertig and Jones’ (2000) construct of the New Ecological Paradigm Scale and; Baker’s (2016) premise for sustainable development are used to identify potential changes that could imply behavioural or cultural changes in line with a more sustainable paradigm. The results suggest that covid-19 impact the respondents’ lives considerably and changed the way they think about environment related topics and their own lifestyle. It illustrates that: 1) people experienced the unique situation of the pandemic as a time for reflection around their personal lifestyle and habits; 2) It reveals that the pandemic impacts perceptions around current approaches to development and a deep concern for how the world is currently arranged in terms of environmental distress; 3) The pandemic materializes the state of the world and the need for change, due to before and after images of the environment with and without human activity; 4) It highlights that the pandemic impacts perceptions around community and cooperation; 5) It reveals a general perception or belief that that the majority of society are ignorant to environmental issues. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56221/ Wed, 17 Jun 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Verspaget, L.</div> Over the past years, event tourism has developed into a widely covered field of study, with practical implications in event management and image building. However, little is known about how event tourism can shape and portray place image. Furthermore, research is lacking in this portrayal of image whilst a destination is preparing for an event, or when the event gets canceled. This thesis explores how the place image of Rotterdam is portrayed in relation to Eurovision 2020 as event tourism. By performing a qualitative content analysis on 45 news articles covering the Bidding, Preparation, and Cancellation stages of the event, this thesis aims to answer the following research question: “How does AD Rotterdams Dagblad portray the image of Rotterdam in relation to Eurovision Song Contest 2020, and how does this image shift in various stages of this coverage?”. With this question, this thesis aims to provide new insights into how these stages surrounding event tourism can shape and portray place image, to further develop and find connections in existing theory on the image of Rotterdam, and to provide an example for other cities and event planners in planning. The news articles portray Rotterdam as a city that is always finding ways to improve itself, by using what is lost to create something new. Many of these improvements are shown to be generated by feelings of inclusivity and connectedness, with Rotterdam and Rotterdammers using Eurovision to provide them with a celebration for all. During the various stages of coverage on Eurovision 2020, the portrayal of the image of Rotterdam gently shifts from a city full of confidence in the bidding stages, to a city preparing to create a successful event while improving its image during the preparations, and finally to a city that takes the Corona Crisis to show its resilience. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/56218/ Mon, 24 Aug 2020 00:00:01 GMT <div>Schmid , S.</div> Research in carnival studies mainly focuses on the origins, purpose and the interpretation of symbolism of carnival traditions. Moreover, most scientific research is conducted focusing on the historic development, while only little research is focusing on contemporary variations and the role of carnival for society today. Therefore, this thesis puts the experience of people into the spotlight by answering the following research question: What role does carnival play in society today and how do participants create identification with carnival? Hence, it concentrates on how people make sense of carnival and how their identification process enables them to foster community cohesion. The base of this research is interviews conducted among participants of carnival associations. By using a thematic analysation approach the respondents’ statements were sorted into themes, which were brought into context in order to answer the research question. As a result of numerous changes in society, but mainly due to growing prosperity and mobility, carnival is not the only opportunity to escape from constraints of daily life, diminishing one of its traditionally ascribed functions for (national) society. However, when looking at it on a more local scale, carnival still plays an essential role in (local) community, as it creates a neutral space, where regardless of a person’s societal background, people can come together. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/57177/ Wed, 02 Jun 2021 00:00:01 GMT <div>Geradin, Sarah</div> Traveling to visit places for their stories is not a recent phenomenon. Yet, the development of pop culture through media has pushed this phenomenon even further, forcing the tourism industry to consider the influence of pop culture on tourists. Compared to TV shows, movies and literature, folktales have received less attention from scholars. Yet, folktales and tourism can be combined to create an experience that blends reality and fantasy, that produces a more unique, original, and sometimes even more authentic experience for tourists. Consequently, a majority of tourism research focussed on the tourist perspective, leaving the local community perspective merely a side note. Therefore, this study looked at how locals evaluate and perceive the touristification of folktales. 16 Interviews were done in the Belgian Ardennes, a region still in the figuring things out when it comes to the touristification of folktales. Folktales and tourism are two important characteristics of the Belgian Ardennes. Tourism is one of the main economic sectors of the region, and folktales and traditions are what makes the region so rich and unique. The outcome of this study showed that the interviewed locals were supportive of the touristification of folktales as they perceived it to be a way to have a meaningful experience, to reconnect with their heritage, and to preserve and valorise it better. It is the impacts often associated with touristification of which the interviewees were more sceptical. Therefore, they perceive certain ways and places to touristy folktales to be more meaningful than others. However, the connections of interviewees to folktales and to tourism in the region influenced their answers, providing more nuanced outcomes. From a conceptual approach, the way locals perceive and evaluate the touristification of folktales also seems to be influenced by a more popular approach to folktales which tends to be static compared to the scholar approach that sees folktales as dynamic. This results in an interesting discussion on the conceptualisation of folktale touristification. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/60967/ Wed, 09 Jun 2021 00:00:01 GMT <div>Marilena Nikoloudia</div> The aim of this study is to analyze how the local agritourism providers in Crete, Greece, represent the island’s culture and to what extent they engage in cultural preservation. Agritourism providers are hence conceptualised as cultural intermediaries and an emic approach is adopted in studying the services of their B&B establishments as well as their perception of themselves. In Greece, agritourism has been developing since the 1980s, but in an arguably fragmented manner that contradicts the theoretical definitions of agritourism proposed by scholars in the field. Consequently, most academic papers by Greek scholars touch upon the obstacles that have hindered this tourism niche to grow coherently. In a novel way, this study employs a concept of the cultural studies to develop a holistic understanding of agritourism providers, upholding the claim that such an approach could reveal a common pattern in agritourism practices. The key concepts of commodification, authenticity and terroir inform the theoretical framework of this research. The concept of cultural heritage is viewed from a dialogical perspective, since the providers’ agency as cultural workers is emphasized. Using a qualitative research design, 8 providers in Crete were interviewed. These were owners or managers of agritourism B&B establishments located in different regions across the island. Interviews were conducted online and they covered four topics deriving from the key theoretical concepts of the research. These concepts touched upon key points of the providers’ function as cultural intermediaries and accordingly guided the analysis of the semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed that the selected agritourism providers decisively shape the ways in which Cretan culture is represented and they engage directly or indirectly in the preservation of local cultural practices. The representations of Cretan culture are particularly linked to the Cretan territorial identity and they might be complex in terms of their authentic quality. Through a process of creative commodification agritourism providers preserve both intangible and tangible cultural elements often intuitively or for emotional reasons. Overall, they are reflexive of their role as cultural intermediaries that introduce guests to Cretan life and culture in a personal and unique way.