Essay On Postmodern Tourism

However, in some cases it may be impossible, or even undesirable to accomplish cultural authenticity. For instance, as Blazey (2002) shows, tourist enterprises in the Amish Country (Pennsylvania, USA) mostly provide only for the limited, indirect and staged touristic experiences of the Amish world, since the actual encounters with the Amish community are usually very rare. The main reason for the Amish „peculiarity“ is their desire to keep simple lives and to avoid anything (e.g., electricity or cars) that could distract them from their families, community and faith. Thus, the community needs to maintain the strong boundaries between the Amish and the tourists (Blazey, 2002: 64-66). Furhermore, Cohen (1988) denies that commodification neccessarily destroys the meanings of cultural

For the former viewpoint, the essence of postmodern tourism consists of simulacra and hyperreal experiences without neccessary referents in the „real“ world. For the latter viewpoint, postmodern tourists are on a constant seek for different types of authentic experiences sometimes to be found in nature, and sometimes in cultural heritage. Both perspectives can be partially integrated by deploying a concept of „post-tourism“. The concept was initially used by Feifer (1985) who described post-tourists as travellers who engage into a multitude of experiences mostly for hedonistic purposes. However, post-tourists avoid „must-see“ tourist spaces, having been fed-up with their media over-representation. Urry (1990) developed the concept by interpreting post-tourism as a quest for sensations pertaining to extraordinary life that is different from the everyday life. Extraordinary experiences might not neccessary involve a criterion of authenticity, sometimes all that it takes are pure fun and