25th Nordic symposium on tourism and hospitality research (28. - 30.9.2016) in Turku

Throughout the history of tourism and hospitality research, the basic theoretical assumptions have been based on various dichotomies, such as work–leisure, mass–individual, host–guest, push–pull, self–other, production–consumption, and local–global. These dichotomies help us understand and conceptualize tourism and hospitality as a phenomenon, but might also be used for accentuating one extreme, while understating the other.

In the last decades, the world has gone through major changes. What was once different is now familiar as experiences of foreign cultures, tastes, and fashions are constantly available even at our own doorstep. This has not, however, diminished international tourism. On the contrary, the desire to travel has become extremely ingrained in our post-industrial cultures. But what does ‘home’ and ‘away’ mean for the citizens of the excessively mobile societies of the 21st century, and where does work end and leisure begin when both are deeply embedded into our everyday lives.

Instead of emphasizing the extremes, this symposium aims to balance and deconstruct these dichotomies. The focus will be on how to benefit from their integration, for example, how urban tourism destinations can enhance tourist experiences by introducing rural or natural elements into their offerings, and how individual tourists can benefit from the scale economies of mass tourism. The mechanisms of the inclusions and exclusions, that are evident in these dichotomies, will be critically assessed.

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