Creative Tourism in the Golden Land Author: Maud Hippmann Student number: 900814-341-050 Thesis code: GEO-80436 Educational institution: Wageningen University Faculty: Department of Environmental Sciences Chair group: Cultural Geography Chair Group MSc Programme: MSc Leisure Tourism and Environment Supervisor/Examiner: Prof. Dr. V.R. van der Duim Examiner: Dr. M.E. Ormond Date: 10 August 2015 Disclaimer: This thesis is a student report produced as a part of the Master Program Leisure, Tourism and Environment. It is not an official publication and the content does not represent an official position of Wageningen University and Research Centre. ii Foreword Since I was young I have always had a passion for travelling, meeting people from different countries and getting to know new cultures. That is why, after high school I decided to travel through Southeast Asia for five months, which eventually has had a great impact on my life so far. During my journey I realized that there is much more to learn and discover in the field of leisure, tourism and environment and therefore I enrolled in a Bachelor programme in Thailand, majoring tourism management. Four years later, upon completion of my Bachelor degree I decided to continue my education with the Master programme Leisure, Tourism and Environment in Wageningen. In the MLE programme, I have developed my interest in creative tourism and was able to further explore this interest during an internship in Sant Pol de Mar (Barcelona) and during the writing of this thesis. Coming back to Southeast Asia for the data collection, but this time in a completely different country has again be an unforgettable experience. As one of the respondents of this study said ‘’in Myanmar the people are what makes the country really beautiful’’. I am very grateful to all the kind people I have met in Myanmar and who have helped me to collect the data for this thesis. I would furthermore like to thank my supervisor, Rene van der Duim for his guidance and feedback. He encouraged me to look critically at my own work which was needed in order to complete this thesis. I also want to thank my fellow MLE-friends for their support and ideas and especially those with whom I have shared many valuable moments during the three months in Myanmar. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and support during the past seven months. Maud Hippmann August 2015 iii Table of contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The emergence of creative tourism .............................................................................................. 2 1.1.1 Consumption of tourists .................................................................................................. 3 1.1.2 Production of host destinations ...................................................................................... 5 1.2 Forms of Creative Tourism ............................................................................................................ 5 1.3 Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research Objectives and Questions .............................................................................................. 7 1.5 Thesis outline................................................................................................................................. 8 2. Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Creative Tourism Concepts.......................................................................................................... 10 2.1.1 Participation and co-creation ........................................................................................ 10 2.1.2 Authenticity ................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 Learning ......................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.4 Creativity ....................................................................................................................... 13 2.1.5 Sustainability ................................................................................................................. 14 2.2 The interaction between hosts and guests ................................................................................. 15 2.2.1 Change and power relations ......................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Social Exchange Theory ................................................................................................. 17 2.2.3 Intimacy Theory ............................................................................................................. 19 2.2.4 Staging Tourism ............................................................................................................. 21 2.3 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................... 23 3. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Epistemology ............................................................................................................................... 26 3.2 Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 27 3.2.1 Preliminary Online – and Field Research ....................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.3 Observations .................................................................................................................. 29 3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 30 3.3.1 Selection of creative tourism activities ......................................................................... 30 3.3.2 Selecting and approaching hosts and guests ................................................................ 31 3.4 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 32 iv 4. Context ............................................................................................................................... 36 4.1 Political history of Myanmar ....................................................................................................... 37 4.2 Politics and Tourism in Myanmar ................................................................................................ 38 4.3 The Inle Lake and Nyaunshwe ..................................................................................................... 40 4.4 Creative tourism in the research area ......................................................................................... 40 4.3.1 Learning .......................................................................................................................... 41 4.3.2 Tasting ............................................................................................................................ 42 4.3.3 Seeing ............................................................................................................................ 42 4.3.4 Buying ............................................................................................................................ 43 5. Results ................................................................................................................................ 45 5.1 Motivations ................................................................................................................................. 46 5.1.1 Motivation Hosts ........................................................................................................... 46 5.1.2 Motivation Tourists ....................................................................................................... 50 5.2 Encounters ................................................................................................................................... 54 5.3 Experiences .................................................................................................................................. 66 5.3.1 Experiences hosts .......................................................................................................... 66 5.3.2 Experiences Guests ....................................................................................................... 68 5.4 Evaluation of the encounters ...................................................................................................... 73 6. Conclusion & Discussion ..................................................................................................... 77 6.1 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................