monday july 1, 2013 | 1 jelmer jeuring msc faculty of spatial sciences / department of cultural...

Monday July 1, 2013 | 1

Jelmer Jeuring MSc

Faculty of Spatial Sciences / Department of Cultural Geography

Enacting identities through tourism activities in Fryslân

PhD research: March 2013 – February 2017

Funded by UCF (University Campus Fryslân)Collaboration between University of Groningen & Stenden University of Applied Sciences

RUG

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Research context



Research context1. Tourism as regional development in Fryslân revitalising rural

areas;2. Priority in regional policy (Fryslân Topattractie);3. 5%-10% of fte’s in Fryslân is tourism related (Toerisme Monitor

2011);4. Tourism industry under increased pressure (economic crisis,

population decline, climatic circumstances, increased competition, lifestyle changes);

Need for continuous adaptation and innovation5. Waterfronts as culturally and naturally significant places for

various stakeholders.



Tourism and identities

1. Frisian identity: language, territorial history, landscape/infrastructure, heritage;

2. No ‘single’ Frisian identity! Identities (self, place, region, nation) are multiple, contextual and contested.

3. Question is thus not only which, but how, when and why identities emerge.

4. Regional identities are not only reflections of the past, but are actively and presently constructed. For example through tourism:

“…tourism can provide unique insight into the ways that cultural identities are formulated and modified, reified and negotiated, projected and conditioned.” (Lacy & Douglass, 2002, p.7)


Research objectives

› ‘Doing’ tourism in Fryslân Cycle of production and consumption;› Power of place making is increasingly diffused across multiple actors;› Representation and interpretation of place identities through tourism

activities.

Objective is: to better understand the dynamics through which localised, Frisian identities come of being, become meaningful, are enacted, in the context of tourism activities that take place along Frisian waterfronts, hereby providing:

a) an empirical basis for the multiple, dynamic and active nature of place identities;

b) tangible insights how tourist destinations -particularly along waterfronts in Fryslân- can translate this knowledge into their marketing, branding, management and infrastructure activities.


Production &

Consumption

Production &

Consumption

Interpretation & Representation

Enactment of

placeidentities

Tourism Activities

Identity Affordances & Performances

Tourism entrepreneurs

Tourists as (temporary) inhabitants

Inhabitants as (temporary)

tourists

Interpretation & Representation 1.

2. 3.

Paasi (2009): ‘it is important to recognize both the individual and the institutional side of identity narratives’ (p.138).


Study 1. Enacting place identities from the perspective of tourism entrepreneurs: exploring the links between branding activities and collaborative tourism networks.

1. Which actors constitute collaboration networks for watersport tourism (boat rental) in Fryslân?

Social Network of watersport tourism entrepreneurs (e.g., Brás, Costa & Buhalis, 2010).

2. What are the identity themes used in the discourse of branding of watersports tourism in Fryslân and how are collaboration networks enacting identities through circulation of tourist information?

Practices of destination branding: Content analysis of tourist communication (Cultural circuits of tourism (Ateljevic & Doorne,

2004; Salazar, 2011)). Promotion through identity based cooperation: Semi-structured

interviews to get insight in identity based destination branding practices (Kavaratzis & Hatch, 2013).


The next 3,5 years…Enacting identities from the perspective of tourists

2. Tourists as temporary inhabitantsa) Enacting identities of place through sensory experiences (‘being around the water’)b) Motivations, self-identities and place identities among repeat visitors

3. Inhabitants as temporary touristsa) Intra-regional tourism as ‘identity enhancer’ (exoticising the

local)b) Tourism as a way of getting to know your own region

(environmental connectedness, placemaking)

Production &

Consumption

Production &

Consumption


Enactment of

placeidentities

Tourism ActivitiesIdentity Affordances & Performances

Tourism entrepreneurs

Tourists as (temporary) inhabitants

Inhabitants as (temporary) tourists


1.

2. 3.


Thank you for your attention

monday july 1, 2013 | 1 jelmer jeuring msc faculty of spatial sciences / department of cultural...

Documents

frysln tourism

context of tourism activities

frisian identities

tourism industry

regional identities

cultural identities

frysln research context

identities self