Moving beyond sense of place to care of place: the role of Indigenous values and interpretation in promoting transformative change in tourists' place images and personal values

ABSTRACT

A key element of sustainable tourism is the inclusion of activities that both provide insights into the destination, or develop a “sense of place”, and that encourage tourists to develop a sense of responsibility for the conservation of that destination, which could be described as “care of place”. Interpretation of Indigenous culture and lifestyle to tourists is often proposed as a tool to achieve these goals. This paper reports on research conducted at Stanley Island, off the North-eastern coast of Australia, and examines the aspirations of the Traditional Indigenous Owners with regard to expedition cruises to this area and compared these to changes in place images and values of passengers from these cruises. The analysis focused on the nature of changes in tourist place perceptions and the development of a “care of place” associated with Indigenous interpretive practices. The results suggest positive outcomes from this form of Indigenous interpretation, showing its special qualities and identifying areas for further development. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of using values as a basis for the design and delivery of experiences that move tourists beyond a sense of place to developing a sense of care of place.

海岸旅游目的地的演变：旅游城市化的路径可塑性视角

本文聚焦于成熟旅游目的地的演变，推进研究路径依赖理论，借鉴经济概念检验目的地如何能递增地破除路径依赖及稳步走向不同的未来路径；以地中海加泰罗尼亚黄金海岸为例，探索有关社会空间城市变化维度复杂的旅游和城市发展历程；主张用更广泛的社会文化标准分析演变，拥护路径可塑性和文化政治经济方法以提供改变旅游状况，反射在传统海滨度假区旅游发展固有城市化本质的替代观点，补充了在可持续旅游管理和战略制定方面的研究。

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous tourism
• interpretation
• expedition cruising
• sense of place
• values
• Great Barrier Reef

关键词：:

• 海滨度假区
• 旅游城市化
• 演化经济地理学
• 路径可塑性
• 文化政治经济
• 旅游政策。

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge all the participants in this study, including the Yithuwarra Traditional Owners (TOs) of Yindaying (known from European exploration of this region as Stanley Island, one of the Flinders Island Group), the expedition cruise tourists who were willing to be part of a study to improve our understanding of the tourism process and express their appreciation of the TO and expedition guides efforts to help them understand and enjoy their experiences, and the wonderful professional team of people on board this expedition ship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. A midden is an old domestic waste heap, which can often reveal features of the life styles of former users, and in this case study included evidence particularly of the sea-life regularly consumed by the Traditional Owners.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kaye Walker

Dr Kaye Walker is a lecturer and researcher in the School of Business and Tourism at Southern Cross University. Her main research and teaching area is in sustainable marine tourism management, community capacity development and effective communication, linking theories with practice. Her expertise contributes to the development and delivery of relevant curriculum, regional sustainability projects and ecotourism guide training and interpretation approaches. Professional and consulting work includes tourism impact and operational management, and policy development in marine protected areas involving cruise and expedition ships, destination communities, islands, reefs and wildlife.

Gianna Moscardo

Dr Gianna Moscardo is a professor in the College of Business, Law and Governance at James Cook University. Her research interests include evaluating tourism as a sustainable development strategy with an emphasis on understanding the relationships between characteristics of tourism development and dimensions of destination community well-being. She is also interested in understanding tourist behaviour and experiences and the effectiveness of tourist interpretation.