Zoekresultaten

On-board social interactions during a cruise vacation

Antarctic cruise tourism: the paradoxes of ambassadorship, "last chance tourism" and greenhouse gas emissions

This paper examines a paradoxical issue in tourism's adaptation to climate change and emissions reduction demands. Operators increasingly take tourists to destinations threatened by climate change, with Antarctica and other polar regions as favourites and cruise ship and aircraft as main transport modes. The selling point is to see a destination before it disappears, a form of last chance tourism. This has been claimed to increase the environmental awareness of tourists and make them "ambassadors" for conservation and the visited destination. Antarctic cruise ship passengers tripled from 2000 to 2007. The paper finds that high levels of greenhouse gas emissions are created by cruise ship tourists in general, and especially high levels for those visiting the Antarctic, up to approximately eight times higher per capita and per day than average international tourism trips. A survey found no evidence for the hypothesis that the trips develop greater environmental awareness, change attitudes or encourage more sustainable future travel choices. Of the Antarctic cruise passengers surveyed, 59% felt that their travel did not impact on climate change; fewer than 7% had or might offset their emissions. Alternative opportunities for visitation to glacial/polar destinations that comply with the desire to reduce future emissions are discussed.

‘In a rush’

With the increase in large-scale cruise tourism worldwide, researchers have highlighted the inauthenticity of the cruise experience and the reconstruction of space. This research deals with new aspects: fast tourism through time-space compression, and the formation of enclosed, customized ‘tourist bubbles’ that confine the tourists and promote a constructed authenticity of the experience on-shore. The second aim is to advance applied research in slower cruise excursions, especially in emerging cruise destinations. The research is based on extensive field work conducted during nine cruise-excursions to the sand desert and an oasis in the Sultanate of Oman. Oman is in the early stages of developing mega-cruise tourism while having received little attention in tourism research. For this study, in-depth interviews were conducted with German-speaking cruise tourists, cruise employees as well as with local cultural brokers and the Minister of Tourism. Moreover, participant observation, travel ethnography and photography were applied. Results indicate while moving from one customized ‘tourist bubble’ to the next one, time is controlled and enhanced through fast modes of transportation and a tight schedule of the excursion. The tourists and their cultural brokers are ‘contained’ in time and space, while some are struggling for more authentic experiences. They are shielded off from the local environment, ‘grazing’ destinations within a short time.

Socio-cultural impacts of large-scale cruise tourism in Souq Mutrah, Sultanate of Oman

The following paper explores socio-cultural impacts of large-scale cruise liner tourism on the traditional bazaar (souq) in the district of Mutrah. The souq is located opposite the port in the Omani capital Muscat. Large-scale cruise tourism in Muscat started only in 2004 and has increased in scale and numbers in the past years. 24 cruise vessels with around 7600 passengers arrived in Muscat in 2005. Seven years later 135 cruise liners carrying 257,000 tourists docked in Muscat. Due to this dramatic rise of international cruise ships, the socio-cultural impacts have increased for local residents, shop vendors/owners and tourists alike. To capture those socio-cultural impacts on Souq Mutrah, a survey of cruise tourists was conducted by a questionnaire. In addition, the researcher used participatory observation, counting, and in-depth interviews with different stakeholders of the local community and different types of tourists during the cruise seasons 2012/13 and 2013/14. Moreover, content analysis of statistics and local media publications were used. Results indicate that the souq has become "the core of a tourist bubble", where crowding is a major problem and local residents avoid the place. The social carrying capacity of the souq has been reached. Omani vendors are leaving their businesses and renting their shops out to expatriates. Since contemporary cruise tourists are low spenders, expatriate shop sellers have become more aggressive.

Cruise tourist dress behaviors and local-guest reactions in a muslim country

This article examines the ethics of tourism and cross-cultural communication between Western tourists and the local community in a Muslim country. Communicating with people who have different value systems and communication styles can contribute to various "culture shock situations" and to an increase in stereotypes and "stigma." The main goal of this research is to analyze the dress behavior of cruise tourists, applying the concept of "mindfulness" and secondly to analyze the voices and values of the resident community and of other tourists. Any apparent contradictions will be identified between local values, pretravel information, media social constructions, and tourist dress behaviors, and suggestions will be proposed about how to avoid culture shock situations. Two questionnaire surveys were conducted with German-speaking cruise tourists visiting two different destinations in the Sultanate of Oman during 2012 (N = 830) and 2013 (N = 235). In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with members of the local community and cultural brokers as well as with tourists, onboard tour guides, and an onboard pastor. Moreover, government officials and the Assistant Grand Mufti were interviewed and pretravel information was studied. The results indicate that a mindless dress behavior has been facilitated by the type of information that is provided prior to travel and by cultural brokers, both on shore and on board, who do not make explicit reference to local dress codes. This approach promotes a concept of tolerance towards the tourist and an "accommodationist" and "laissez faire" attitude. On the other hand, tourist dress behaviors can be seen as a reflection of the posttourist, who is seeking individual authenticity and freedom. For the local community the increase in the number of mindless cruise tourists exceeds the level of acceptable tolerance in both places and has created "culture shock" situations. This research fills a major gap in applied research on the cruise tourist behaviors in a Muslim country and on crosscultural communication.

Staging the Oriental Other

For German-speaking tourists, an Oriental market (in Arabic: souq) is an exotic place representing the ‘Otherness’. Referring to this Oriental context, the article aims to answer the following questions: What are the tourists’ imaginaries and social narratives and what is the role that cultural brokers play? Gaining insight into the imaginaries and on-site performances of German-speaking tourists of a mega-cruise liner will contribute to the discussion of imaginaries and embodied performances in general as well as the mediation and the construction of space. The research reported upon in the article is part of a larger field study (2012–2014) in Souq Muttrah, the oldest and formerly main market in Oman. Participant observation, photography and in-depth interviews with different types of tourists, local customers, cultural brokers and on-board employees were conducted and marketing material was analysed. Results indicate that in the marketing material, the tourists are already beginning to travel backwards in time. During their visit to the souq, the multi-sensory performances and embodied imaginaries are enhanced by stories of the Arabian Nights. Cultural brokers play an essential role in ‘localizing’ the tourist experience. They adjust their own identities and direct the tourists’ performances at different stages, similar to an Oriental theme park, for example, they stop at a frankincense shop.