Packing for touristic performances

Tourist behaviours can be viewed as performances on a variety of tourism stages. This article examines tourist packing practices as planning and preparation for touristic performances. Grounded theory methods are employed to analyze documentary sources in which tourists describe what and how they pack for air travel. The article presents a substantive theory of packing for travel. This theory is viewed through the lens of Giddens’ grand theory of self-identity. The contents of a travel bag constitute the costumes and props a tourist believes will aid their performance in each tourism setting. Packing for travel is an act in which the tourist prioritises those items they believe will most assist the maintenance, construction and articulation of self-identity in new settings.

Research highlights
► Presents a theory that explains what tourists pack for air travel, and why.
► Examines tourists’ packing for air travel as a performance.
► Tourists pack those possessions that assist the maintenance and construction of self-identity.