Tourism Imaginaries: A Conceptual Approach

It is hard to imagine tourism without the creative use of seductive as well as restrictive imaginaries about peoples and places. This article presents a conceptual framework for the study of tourism imaginaries and their diffusion. Where do such imaginaries originate, how and why are they circulated across the globe, and what kind of impact do they have on people’s lives? I discuss the multiple links between tourism and imagination, illustrating the overlapping but conflicting ways in which imaginings and fantasies drive tourists and tourism service providers alike. By applying this conceptual approach to international tourism in developing countries, I illustrate how the critical analysis of imaginaries offers a powerful deconstruction device of ideological, political, and sociocultural stereotypes and clichés.

► Imaginaries can be conceptualized as socially shared representational assemblages. ► Imaginaries are key to tourism because they (re)construct peoples and places. ► Tourism imaginaries can be operationalized as real (networks of) social practices. ► Tourism stakeholders draw on (conflicting) imaginaries derived from various sources. ► For tourism to be sustainable, imaginaries need to be accepted by all stakeholders.