Abstract
ABSTRACTImaginaries of touristic otherness have traditionally been closely related to geographical distance and travel far away from the everyday. But in today's context of sustainable tourism, a moral and behavioral shift may be expected, toward traveling near home. Distance may actually become a disadvantage and proximity a new commodity. This implies a need to disentangle subjective understandings of both distance and proximity in relation to perceived attractiveness of and touristic behavior in places near home. Thus, it is aimed to shed light on how ‘proximity tourism’ is constructed, endorsed and appreciated (or not).An online survey (N = 913) was administered to residents of the Dutch province of Friesland, exploring their attitudes toward their home province as tourism destination and representations of proximity and distance in relation to preferred vacation destinations. We grouped respondents into four categories, reflecting destination preferences: (1) proximate, (2) distant, (3) intermediate and (4) mixed. These groups were differentiated and characterized using quantitative and qualitative analyses. The ‘proximate’ and ‘distant’ preference groups, respectively, were most and least engaged in proximity tourism. However, the perceptions of proximity and distance expressed by the ‘intermediate’ and ‘mixed’ preference groups were associated in a nonlinear way with appreciation of the home region as a tourism destination. Additionally, respondents used proximity and distance in various ways as push, pull, keep and repel factors motivating their destination preferences.Interpretations of both proximity and distance were thus important in determining engagement in proximity tourism and, in turn, the potential for proximity tourism development in the region. This implies that such development will require a balanced consideration of the relative, temporally sensitive ways that people negotiate distance and proximity in their perceptions of being at home and away. Our results advance the discussion about imaginaries of travel, distance and proximity, and their impact on regional tourism.
Highlights
Tourism is imbued with imaginaries of escaping the mundanity of everyday life and engaging with otherness (Salazar, 2012)
These findings provide insight into the sociodemographic characteristics, perceived attractiveness of Friesland as tourism destination for self and for others, perceptions of social benefits from engaging in proximity tourism in Friesland and past and future intraregional touristic behavior
These findings center on the different representations of distance and proximity used by the four proximity preference groups, as well as the types of distance and proximity typically used in motivations for either staying close to home or traveling afar
Summary
Tourism is imbued with imaginaries of escaping the mundanity of everyday life and engaging with otherness (Salazar, 2012). This dynamic has received extensive attention in tourism scholarship and is arguably hegemonic in the social discourse about and the meanings attributed to the phenomenon of tourism (in Western societies and quickly spreading beyond). By stressing economically attractive international destinations and overnight stays, the tourism industry (still) conveys a narrative of going abroad (i.e. international travel and crossing nation-state borders) and exploring unfamiliar territories. Looking closer, a more nuanced picture emerges. Most people spend vacations relatively near home, within their countries of residence (UNWTO, 2008). While the exotic is not always physically distant, otherness is not always sought; it is sometimes even consciously avoided (Mikkelsen & Cohen, 2015)
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