2011 Conference: Tourism Imaginaries/Imaginaires Touristiques

Brief Summary of Conference Proceedings:

The international conference, "Imaginaires Touristiques/Tourism Imaginaries" gathered some 100 specialists on tourism studies from more than twenty countries at the University of California, Berkeley, from 18 through 20 February 2011. This meeting was based on the theme:

"Imaginaries of place, destination, and travel are increasingly produced/consumed by diverse populations around the globe through expanding forms of media and opportunities for travel. A range of players collaboratively produces spatial imaginaries (the potential power of place as a tourist destination) in touristic systems."

Organized by the Equipe Interdisciplinaire d'Études sur le Tourisme (EIREST) and the Institute of Advanced Studies and Research on Tourism (IREST), at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon‐Sorbonne, and the Tourism Studies Working Group of the University of California Berkeley, the conference brought together scholars from many different disciplines, including anthropology, history, geography, architecture, literature, and sociology, all focused on the meanings and evolution of tourism images and imaginaries. The focus was on what images people had of sites before they embarked on tourist travels and how their perceptions changed (or didn't) once they arrived. Many of the presentations addressed the historic and heritage aspects of tourist sites and the shifting images of these sites over time.

Despite the wide variety of topics and approaches, there was a general accord by the end of the conference on the imaginary as a potentially new paradigm in research in the tourism studies field, constructed from images and visual discourses together with written texts and oral narratives all embedding the images in specific cultural perspectives, if not ideologies. Participants agreed on the need to remain in contact as we continue to develop research models and theoretical models of the imaginary in tourism. Plans are currently underway for publication of the presentations in book, review, and CD-ROM formats. More to come as these plans go forward.

For the full program, please see:
Tourism Imaginaries / Imaginaires Touristques Conference web site.

March 5, 2011: Bertram Gordon, Lina Tegtmeyer, Nelson Graburn