Globalization and the Impacts of Leisure-Induced Mobilities: Lessons from Tafí del Valle (NW Argentine Andes)

Abstract

When analyzing the globalization of rural spaces, second home tourism, lifestyle migration, and tourism in general commonly merge. However, there is evidence that their social, economic, and environmental impacts are markedly distinct. Based on a case study conducted in Tafí del Valle, a village in the North West Argentine Andes, this study asserts the need for interdisciplinary approaches to the study of contemporary modes of tourism, second home tourism, and lifestyle migration. With the aim to contribute to the literature concerning the globalization of the countryside and the new mobilities paradigm, this study focuses on three aspects of the current dynamics in Tafí del Valle: changes in land use related to leisure purposes, the relationship between leisure-induced mobilities, and the way in which actors conduct policies and respond to these dynamics. We gathered empirical data using ethnographic approaches such as semistructured interviews and participant observation during various field stays between 2009 and 2013. This approach emphasizes “the voice of the subjects” in order to show how different actors engage, live, and respond to the globalization of leisure. Findings show that in some cases a sense of migrism (migration + tourism) has replaced the exigence of a deeper analysis of the relation between leisure-oriented types of mobility. Our fieldwork indicates that there is a strong need for academic investigation and for government institutions to consider an analytical step that differentiates between the different types of mobilities that characterize the globalization of leisure destinations in rural areas.