Working Tourists: Identity Formation in a Leisure Space
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Working Tourists: Identity Formation in a Leisure Space Tara Julie Catherine Emma Duncan PhD UCL ABSTRACT Young budget travellers who work as they travel the world have often escaped academic attention. This thesis will begin to correct this omission by illustrating how the working and travelling practices of these young budget travellers affects their perception and construction of self. Taking an empirically grounded approach, this research will build these views into wider theoretical debates around identity, work, place and transnationalism. The thesis is based on an intensive period of fieldwork undertaken in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews, participant observation and secondary sources, this thesis will suggest that it is through work and travel experiences that these young people construct a sense of self. It will be argued that working adds value and meaning to experiences, creating memories and stories in which to construct identity. Furthermore, company culture and ideas of adventure continuously complicate how these young people utilise their working and travelling experiences and so, how they (re)define their sense of self. Finally, the relationship between identity and place will be considered in connection to the emerging literature on backpacker enclaves. This research on these working tourists aims to provide insights into current debates on backpacker travel, identity and tourism, both within the academic community and across wider business and social arenas. The ways in which young working tourists use their experiences to increase cultural capital and gain informal qualifications in order to increase career and life chances will be explored. Thus this thesis will demonstrate the need to understand the motivations, travel patterns and travel careers of working tourists in order to better forecast future tourism demands and trends. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the ESRC for providing me with the financial support to undertake this project (ESRC Postgraduate Studentship Award No. R42200134132). Thank you also, to the UCL Graduate School and the Department of Geography for the financial support to attend various conferences over the last four years. My genuine thanks go to my supervisor, Linda McDowell, who has whole-heartedly supported me throughout this process. Thank you to Peter Jones for allowing the time to finish my PhD. Thank you to Whistler Blackcomb, and especially Kirby Brown and Karen Bauckham, for allowing me access to people and resources. Thank you to everyone who took part in the research process, I could not have done it without all the people who agreed to be interviewed as well the numerous other people I have talked to along the way. There have been so many supportive people in my life over the last few years and I thank each and every one of them for being there for me. To my family; my mother, Julie, both for her uncompromising support throughout and her willingness to read through the whole thing; my father, Andy, for pushing me to do the PhD, to Kathy who knows how hard this process is; and to Sam, for making me laugh and providing support no matter what it comprised of or when – thank you so much. Thanks too, to the many people in the Department of Geography at UCL who have been a huge source of support, friendship and ideas, particularly Caroline Bressey, Pernille Schiellerup and Andrew Harris. Thank you to Pat and Jim Green for the many ways in which they supported me and to James Green - who was there for much of this process. Thank you to the many friends who have motivated and supported me, teased me, listened to me and read things for me, including Jude, Larissa, Nicks, Minna, Miwa and most importantly, Kate and Jess. And a final thank you goes to Vicky for helping me in the last few hours of the first submission. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .........................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................3 Table of Contents ..........................................................................................................4 Figures.......................................................................................................................8 Appendices ................................................................................................................9 Chapter One: Introduction ...........................................................................................10 1.1 Introducing .........................................................................................................10 1.2 Leisure and Tourism Studies .............................................................................11 1.21 Leisure .........................................................................................................11 1.22 Tourism ........................................................................................................13 1.23 A Definition of Tourism?...............................................................................14 1.3 A Brief History of Tourism..................................................................................14 1.31 The Grand Tour............................................................................................16 1.32 The Rise of Mass Tourism ...........................................................................18 1.33 The History of Youth Travel..........................................................................20 1.4 What is a Backpacker? ......................................................................................24 1.41 Backpacking: a recent phenomenon?..........................................................24 1.42 The Backpacker ...........................................................................................25 1.43 The Gap Year...............................................................................................28 1.44 The Kiwi Overseas Experience (OE)............................................................32 1.45 The ‘Big Trip’ ................................................................................................33 1.46 The Working Tourist.....................................................................................33 1.47 The Traveller ................................................................................................35 1.48 What should Backpacking be called then?...................................................36 1.5 Whistler : the Sea to Sky Corridor......................................................................37 1.51 The Lil’wat ....................................................................................................39 1.52 Logging and Tourism ...................................................................................39 1.53 The Growth of a Resort................................................................................40 1.54 Where do the Squatters fit in?......................................................................43 1.55 The Growth of Intrawest...............................................................................44 1.56 Whistler: A Community?...............................................................................46 1.57 Why all this talk of Whistler? How is it relevant?.........................................47 1. 6 An Outline of What Follows...............................................................................48 4 Chapter Two:...............................................................................................................50 Travelling the World: Exploring the Theory .................................................................50 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................50 2.11 Continuing the Background: Leisure Part II..................................................50 2.12 Typologies of Tourism?................................................................................51 2.13 A Theory of Motivation? ...............................................................................56 2.14 The Benefits of Travel? ................................................................................59 2.2 Constructing an Identity .....................................................................................60 2.21 Introduction ..................................................................................................60 2.22 A More Traditional View? .............................................................................61 2.23 Self vs. Other? .............................................................................................62 2.24 The Self as Story..........................................................................................64 2.25 Space and Time ...........................................................................................73 2.3 The Role of Work?.............................................................................................74 2.31 Introduction ..................................................................................................74 2.32 Working and Identity ....................................................................................75 2.33 Tourism as Service Work .............................................................................75