Collective Influences

As mentioned earlier,⁹¹ there is a more general historical development at a collective level in disposable income for leisure activities such as travelling, combined with the fact that travelling has become more and more accessible in terms of price and availability, and this obviously affects the individual level just described as well. This means that over the period the interviewees have been travelling, resources to do so have increased. So there is a natural progression in travel frequency that relies on this development, and which has made it easier to travel at any given time and with fewer financial resources. Statements such as “people just didn’t do that back then”,

“nowadays people have been everywhere” and “it was just as expensive then as it is now” reveals this perspective. Obviously it is from this perspective that the interviewees now address the issue of practical circumstances getting in the way – or not – of travelling. E.g. the contention that we will travel no matter what is easier said than done, particularly when looking back in time, when it was more expensive and less accessible. The following section explores these collective developments and their influence on tourist experience further.

The supply of tourism products has changed over the years and obviously, at a particular point in time there are certain opportunities and norms for tourism set by the surrounding community, which of course have a great impact on the ways identity is constructed and evaluated at the time. Some interviewees refer to shifting opportunities and norms in various ways, and some examples will be discussed below.

”[…] Then we went on the ferry, and then train from Harwich to London. It was about three times we did that, and half of Denmark did that. It was unbelievable how many people travelled like that. Those big ferries were stuffed with people, about 1500 people. It was a complete crusade of Danes on those ferries. That was a big hit at the time.” (Interview 8-Dk, Erik p.5)

This example addresses the fact that norms and trends change over time, and this clearly illustrates that shifting trends may have a great impact on tourism, and the way it takes place and is perceived afterwards. As mentioned in an earlier discussion,⁹² travel to nearby destinations was a trend when this group started

91 See section 3.2 Context and History

92 See section 3.2 Context and History

travelling with their children. It later changed due to a shift in modes of transportation, and it definitely seems that this event is positioned as a thing of the past in the way it is described: the ironic distance to the whole scenario, “crusade”

and “stuffed with people”, and the emphasis on the fact that it used to be a hit at a distant point in time as opposed to now. All in all, it thus seems that this interviewee, Erik, is aware of these shifting trends, and therefore also positions himself according to these shifts. He indicates that at the time they followed the current norms and trends, although this way of travelling may be viewed in a different light nowadays, perhaps more negatively. He certainly does not let on that it would be something he would enjoy today, also because possibilities have expanded and he has changed.

The time dimension thus implies that what was desirable and acceptable before and now is obviously different, so that after rationalisations have caused some sort of change due to collective changes of norms and trends that eventually end up affecting the individual perspective. As Weaver & Lawton (2006) describe this as a change in attitude towards work in order to play and away from play in order to work, which is instrumental in changing perceptions of past holidays, e.g. in Erik’s case, where he would have completely different requirements to a holiday, in that the holiday and travelling has become an end in itself, and not just a pastime while recharging for work.

Obviously, the individual is part of the collective, and therefore such collective changes are not just external to the individual. They also come from within and are shaped partly by the individual’s own perspectives on the tourist experiences obtained, which then in reverse become a contribution to the general opinion or perspective on the matter. This means that individual and collective influences are not strictly separated, but play into each other, and perhaps there is an element of the so-called experience spiral described previously⁹³ that makes new experiences more interesting and attractive and old ones outdated and undesirable in retrospect, wherefore these developments of what is and is not desirable occur. What occurs at a given point in time probably has to do with supply and demand in combination, which are both part of the bigger picture of these different mechanisms, i.e. opportunities at a given point in time, which supply tourist experiences to be had, and what the

93 See section 5.2.1 A Tourist Perspective

collective of tourists seem to demand – or desire – based on what they might have done in the past. Thus, the interplay between supply and demand sets the stage for collective developments that end up influencing individual experiences.

The next example addresses a general change in society, which is perceived to have changed holiday patterns considerably, because of a wider scope of opportunity when it comes to travelling, here suggested to be related to both tradition and cost:

“The seaside is a very traditional holiday. Especially 40 years ago, 50 years ago we would have gone to the seaside. Few people went abroad, but not many. And then costs became more available to people” (Interview 11-UK, Susan p.2)⁹⁴

It is here implied that because of the drastic changes in people’s private economy and the cost of travelling, there have also been drastic changes in holiday patterns, as explained earlier with reference to Weaver & Lawton (2006). It is evident that perceived opportunity for tourism has expanded over the years, and when there are more opportunities, with time, norms become more widespread as well, as people expand the scope of travel behaviour. This will be addressed in more detail later, and was earlier illustrated by Burton’s four phases of tourism participation related to economic developments.⁹⁵

Below is another example that relates to changed opportunities. Tom has gone from being an employee to self-employed, which he comments on in relation to travelling:

“One of several important reasons was that I wanted to have control over my life, and I kind of changed my view on holidays and travelling, so that I wanted to be able to travel more, and because of the technology these days, then it’s particularly easy, not without problems, but easy to travel and work” (Interview 3-UK, Tom p.3)

94 This example is from an English interviewee, but similar examples are found among the Danish interviewees. It is assumed that the two groups of interviewees perceive similar patterns of change in this respect.

95 See section 3.2 Context and History

Because of the vast technological possibilities of today, the high-tech orientation of Burton’s phase four mentioned before,⁹⁶ Tom sees an opportunity in changing his life into something more satisfactory. He accommodates his wish to travel as much as possible without being restricted by work by taking work with him. The understanding of opportunity is extended to encompass the increasing opportunities in the surrounding environment that somehow facilitates travelling. The direct impact on tourism is addressed by several interviewees.

The question is whether these changes were caused by demands from consumers, who were eager to travel more or in different ways, or by more general changes and developments in society, e.g. changed economic or technological terms, that made it possible to arrange travel to fit consumers’ living conditions and leisure time better. At this point, one can only speculate about what caused these changes, and probably, the interplay between several factors has caused shifts in the market. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that opportunities have been expanded over time, and thus play a role for changed holiday patterns, i.e. what people do during their holidays, their perspective on the holiday, and consequently what they take with them from the experience, which has also been expressed throughout these interviews and the aforementioned description of historical developments.

Moreover, there is an element of social history that affects memories and perception and puts a mark on the tourist experience, and this is presumably linked to a broadly defined social environment.⁹⁷ The following quote, which is actually more of a train of thought than a cohesive statement, illustrates this implicit relationship between history as part of the interviewee’s social environment at a certain point in time and its significance in terms of shaping worldviews and perceptions:

“There’ll probably be things that I’m seeing on telly in our culture, as it widened out in the 60s … I was interested from my mid teens in international politics and, you know, in what was going on in Vietnam and around the world, and of course 68 was a … well, a lot of things happening there, but anyway … I can’t think of really why I did it [travelled to France]”

(Interview 3-UK, Tom p.8)

96 See section 3.2 Context and History

97 Anything from a relatively small reference group based on common interests, political views or other, to a whole nation sharing certain cultural traits

Tom attempts to explain a connection between the interviewee’s history and his existence in a particular time and current perceptions of his own touristic behaviour (the last “it” in the quote refers to a specific tourist activity). There seems to be a perception of a link between a certain historical, cultural context in the form of a statement: “telly in our culture as it widened out in the 60s,” indicating that the exposure to other parts of the world and perhaps the influence of media was increasing at the time, and the current touristic behaviour which might be influenced by certain worldviews that are to some extent based on media exposure at a time when the world was opening up in a lot of ways. Thereby the role of the media is also reinforced, and this link to perceptions and certain positions of tourist experiences in the interviewees’ lives today is further established below:

”When we talk about our childhood stories … we would have liked to go to Kenya, and that was because of those stories. South Africa as well, because of Karen Blixen⁹⁸ and the nature also” (Interview 7-Dk, Ole p.8)

It is implied that childhood memories and the extent to which other parts of the world have been accessible via cultural channels in the social environment have a great effect on what is desirable to visit today, when there is an opportunity, which might not have been the case earlier on. There are clear indications that the social history in which people exist and which has influenced and shaped their memories and perceptions is significant to their touristic activities in the present. This is in line with thoughts of shared experiences that Douglas suggests, as a so-called thought style emerges from this shared social history and contributes to shaping perceptions of what is acceptable or desirable at a certain point in time across a specific group of people, e.g. a cultural entity, as suggested in the earlier quote⁹⁹ concerning the ferry rides to Harwich from Denmark. Also, the fact that this group of interviewees has lived through a period with great changes in travel behaviour and possibilities may have a great impact on their desires. The trip to Kenya, in the footprints of Karen Blixen, may have seemed almost unattainable during the early stages of their lives, and thus the actual possibility to do so is more inconceivable and therefore more desirable, as will be addressed further shortly.

98 Danish author known for her stories of life in Kenya in the 1920s.

99 See p.143.

Opportunities seem to have expanded considerably, and norms for what is acceptable or desirable have become increasingly complex and broad, because the degree of variation in what people do for their holidays is much higher than it used to be. Also, a certain value is found in being unique and different in contemporary society, which means that people might tend to go more to the extreme than previously – which then may become the norm.¹⁰⁰ This makes “the norm” less straightforward, because so many different tourist experiences may be expressions of a current norm. A good illustration of such changes is expressed in the following quote:

“[…] Mary just said ‘have you realized that we’ve almost gone to all the places, we used to look at in books when you were little in school and BBC tell you about’, and we never thought we would be able to get there, you know, to us, it’s almost like going to the moon. The reason why you thought you never could go there is because going back 20-30 years, for most people travel wasn’t … it was too expensive really” (Interview 6-UK, Will p.17)

While capturing the changing norms in the first part of the quote, by referring to these alien places – like the moon – that have now become somewhat ordinary, i.e. within the norm for their touristic behaviour, the opportunities that defined those norms are addressed in the second part of the quote, when referring to the limited resources for travelling that people generally used to have. It thus seems that although a practical issue of financing travel is a central factor, there is also a change in attitude towards the whole phenomenon of travelling and obtaining tourist experiences of various sorts.

It used to be almost unthinkable to go to certain places, whereas now this couple actually do go, and thus have a different view of what is within reach for them, and with experience, what becomes normal touristic behaviour for them.

It seems that these different collective influences play a role as a shared frame of reference for tourist experiences, which then comes to set the norm at a specific point in time. Looking back on past experiences, the interviewees share some sort of common consciousness about the type of tourist experiences they have had and what they were at that time in terms of positions according to the norm. It seems that the main effects on tourist experiences and the way these are now perceived have to do

100 See discussion on the experience spiral section 5.2.1 A Tourist Perspective

with changes in possibilities, and with that, changes in demands for a desirable holiday.