Critical discussion: Is modern-day tourism motivated by authentic experiences?

Critically discuss the assertion that the modern-day tourist is primarily motivated by a search for meaning through ‘authentic’ experiences

 Introduction

            Although the global tourism sector has been bedeviled by geopolitical tension and slow economic growth in certain regions, it is still regarded as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy (Sezgin 2016).  The tourism sector has a strong influence on the service industry and by extension, the national, regional, and global economy. Travel motivation is a key component of tourist behaviour and has been the subject of research by scholars, economists, and key stakeholders in the tourism sector.  MacCannell opines that the main motivation for Western tourists is the quest for authenticity and as such, they move in such for this authenticity which is obviously lacking in their daily life experiences. Towards this end, this essay seeks to establish the truth in the assertion that the modern-day tourist is mainly motivated by a yearning for meaning via 'authentic experiences.

Describing a tourist and the tourist experience

            Various sociologists have come up with various frameworks in an attempt to describe what it means to be a tourist and to live the tourist experience. For instance, MacCannell convinces tourism as “the modern equivalent of the religious pilgrimage or a quest for the authentic experience or the second gaze (cited by Mansfeld & Pizam 2006, p. 127). In spite of the similarities between a tour and a pilgrim that MacCannell provides certain crucial and significant differences are worthy of consideration. To begin with, the pilgrim usually embarks on a journey to the spiritual centre of her or his religion, even though such a centre could be located beyond the tourist's societal or life-space boundaries. There is also trust in the argument that the tourist might as well embark on a journey to the national, religious, or other centers of his/her individual culture or society with a view to paying them 'ritual respect. Nonetheless, a key distinguishing aspect of modern tourism is that the sheer novelty and strangeness of the environment beyond the tourist's own cultural perspective, cultures, and life-ways, act as a source of attraction (Apostolopoulos et al. 2013).  MacCannell was of the view that such a modern yearning for authentic experience equates to a primitive quest for identifying the sacred. A tourist and a pilgrimage have a similar motive namely, to fulfil the quest for authentic experiences (MacCannell 1973, p. 593; cited by Apostolopoulos, Leivadi & Yiannakis 2013). According to MacCannell (2001), modern society is inauthentic, alienating, and shallow. As such, authenticity is deemed to exist elsewhere, in a place far removed from the immediate and uninteresting experience of the majority of the people. In other words, one needs to seek such authenticity. Based on this context, individuals in modern society are usually triggered by their isolated circumstances to turn into tourists as they pursue authenticity.

            According to Mansfeld and Pizam (2006), the second gaze merely stresses the longingness of the tourist to move past the touristic representations. MacCannell has integrated this ideation of the modern tourist with the concept that tourism or sightseeing entails seeking out authentic experiences but realising instead what Mansfeld and Pizam refer to as staged authenticity. Upon such a realisation, the tourist usually continues with his/her search for genuine or “backstage “experiences (Burns & Novelli 2007).  Robinson, Heitmann, and Dieke (2011) opine that authenticity is believed to exist in other places or times. Other times may be in reference to history, or pre-modern times. This might be another culture's history or the tourist's individual history. This could perhaps help to explain why heritage tourism has gained popularity.

On the other hand, other places could as well present the tourist with an opportunity to experience authenticity, especially less developed societies than one’s individual society. This is an example of the popularity of various tourist destinations in developing countries that are quite popular with tourists from developed nations. In this case, the tourists manifest a real fascination with the real lives of other people. The quest to seek authenticity increases with the shallow existence and an increase in the level of alienation of a destination from modern society. In this way, authenticity turns into a key motivating factor for the modern tourist. According to Robinson et al. (2011), the search for authenticity reflects the needs of urban tourists from industrial countries” In this case, these “urban tourists are in search of something that cannot be found in their everyday lives- something that is different, and yet innovative. Nonetheless, McCannell contends that the tourist can never realise their search for authenticity or the back region. Consequently, they end up consuming a front region or 'staged authenticity' instead (cited by Airey & Tribe 2007). On the basis of McCannell's argument, we can draw a clear distinction between a back and front region. Whereas the front region is usually staged authentically, the back region remains 'a 'reality' of the toured cultures' (Airey et al.  2007, p. 237).

What motivates the modern-day tourist?

            Various empirical and conceptual applications have over the years been developed in an effort to enhance our understanding of authenticity as it relates to tourism (Park 2013).  Boorstin (1964) was among the earliest theorists of authenticity in tourism. His theory hinges on the idea that contemporary tourism development has resulted in the expansion of inauthentic experiences superficial activities.  Shaw and Williams (2004) talk of 'established links between tourist motivation and the search tourist motivation and the search for the real or authentic experience (p. 140). This link was proposed for the first time by MacCannell (1973), though Cohen (1979) is credited with the development of these ideas.  Cohen's 1979 model of the sociological motivation of tourists is a key pillar in our explanation of the motivations behind the quest for tourists to seek certain tourism experiences. He acknowledges that various types of tourists are often characterised by various motives for travelling. Cohen further proposed five distinct reasons for tourists which underscore the tourist experience namely, diversionary, recreational, experimental, experiential, and existential.

            According to Cohen (2002), motivations for travel can be described as seeking specific tourist experiences relative to a 'center'. In this case, the 'centre' can be viewed as hypothetical ideation that describes the meanings and values that are valuable and important for the individual. According to Inkson and Minnaert (2012), the centre refers to the principles by which people live and the values that they espouse. The centre could be spiritual, cultural, religious, or totally personal. Generally, that which accords deeper meaning to an individual’s life could constitute the 'centre'. Cohen relied on this ideation to critique a general perception of tourism at the time of his writing namely, that tourism was a superficial, insignificant, and shallow phenomenon.  Cohen thus identified five forms of tourist experiences, along with their underlying relationship and motivations to the 'center'. Collectively, these five forms of tourist experiences establish a range of motivations for tourism, from the desire for mere superficial pleasure to a yearning for meaningful and deep tourist experiences (Inkson & Minnaert 2012). The five forms of tourist experiences according to Cohen are:

The recreational mode

            Under this type of tourist experimenter, the key motivation of the tourist is to take a much-needed break from their everyday life, go on holiday, and come back positive and refreshed. AN example of a tourist on a recreational mode is one who only wants to relax while on holiday, and does not partake in the local culture. Even though the tourist is likely to view his /her experiences as being “interesting”, Cohen argues that these experiences are far from being personally significant. There is also the risk that this type of tourism could be viewed as shallow, trivial, and superficial. Nevertheless, the tourists who fall under this category end up achieving that which they were yearning for the pleasure of entertainment. To a tourist on a recreational mode, authenticity may not bear a lot of relevance. While on the issue of motivation for travel, tourists in the recreational mode view tourism as a 'pressure valve'. In other words, going on a holiday helps to take the pressure off their life and work. Viewed from this context, tourism thus plays a pivotal role in modern society in that it allows the tourist to get away from their daily routine for some time and when they return, they are once more fully focused on their 'centre' (Inkson & Minnaert 2012).

Diversionary mode

            This type of tourism views tourism as an escape or diversion from meaningless daily life routines and boredom. Even though tourists in the diversionary mode concentrate fully on their 'centre' upon their return from the tour, they have also been shown to have 'lost sight of their 'center' (2012, p. 75). Inkson and Minnaert (2012) argue that the motivation for travel under the diversioanry mode is both non-committee and superficial. In other words, it has not been thought through. The tourist, therefore, embarks on an incursion in search of what Inkson and Minnaert (2012) describe as meaningless pleasure. Critics of modern mass tourism often quite this view in their critiquing of tourism, often viewing it as nothing more than 'a symptoms of the general malaise in modern society' (Cohen 1979, p. 186).

Experiential mode

            In this type of tourism, people yearn for tourist experiences as they endeavour to find meaning in their lives and in order to identify their lost 'centre'. In this case, the motivation to travel therefore hinges on a yearning for meaning outside of one's own culture and society (Inkson & Minnaert 2012). For this reason, there is a need to ensure that tourists experiences are in themselves both meaningful and authentic. Based on this perspective, tourism could be linked to a pilgrimage or religious quest. The only difference, however, is that tourists could be seeking to experience other religious other than their own, and may not necessarily seek to convert to the new religions While Cohen (1979) identifies the experiential mode as being more in-depth in comparison with the other two, it still falls short of generating 'real' religious experiences.

Experimental mode

            Under this form of tourism, individuals turn to tourism in search of a novel 'center' and new meaning. Unlike the experiential form though, under the experimental mode, the trip assumes a more spiritual significance. Accordingly, the motivation for the experimental tourists is the desire to 'find themselves' (Cohen 1979, p. 189) through tourism.   This usually entails sampling various cultures and various options hoping that one of these will satisfy their centers of fulfil their needs perfectly. Taking into account the significant spiritual motivation associated with the experimental mode, the actual tourist activities could assume a varied form in comparison with the other modes. For example, the tourist could spend time in a small and remote village in a developing country or in a hippie commune. At times, these tourists end up findings the meaning they have been yearning for, thereby transforming their lives. However, the tourists could very well fail to find the deep spiritual experiences they were seeking, and end up becoming drifters (Inkson & Minnaert 2012).

Existential mode

            In this mode of tourism, the tourist is completely devoted to an 'elective' center.  According to Woodside and Martin (2007), “This elective centre is culturally and geographically external to the tourist's own society' (p. 109). Even as individuals falling under the existential mode live their everyday routine in what Woodside and Martin (2008) describe as a spiritual exile, they nonetheless, seek to travel to a remote 'centre' in a bid to fulfil their desire to 'actualise and sustain their spiritual existence' (p. 109).

            The concept of motivation, as used to explain tourists' desire for authentic experiences is a clear indication that people constantly endeavour to realise stability. Such homoeostasis, according to Shaw and Williams (2004) is disrupted in case people recognised a need deficiency. Consequently, we now have a needs-based classification of tourist experiences, such as the need for sensual enjoyment, relaxation, novelty, sense of belonging, self-expression, and stimulation. However, the quest for a tourist to realise authenticity often fails on account of the tourist role. The conquest, along with commercialism, leads to inauthentic tourist experiences (Robinson et al. 2011). Based on this view, authenticity can only be realised outside the scope of the tourist role. According to Robinson et al. (2011), tourists, however much they endeavour to blend in with and embrace the local culture, will always feel that they are outsiders and hence can only experience a superficial perspective of the local life.

Conclusion

            In sum, tourism still remains a significant component of the global economy, despite the geopolitical tension and slow economic growth facing the sector in certain regions. However, an important issue that has been the subject of debate among scholars and stakeholders alike is what motivates the modern-day tourist. Part of the explanation is that modern-day tourist is motivated by the desire for an authentic experience that cannot be found in their present environment.  However, various scholars argue that tourists realised staged experience, as opposed to the desired authentic experience due to commercialisation that has led to the development of mass tourism.  However, the motivations of tourists as they seek authentic experiences are a clear sign that we all yearn for stability in our lives.

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