The role of trails in the creation of tourist space

ABSTRACT

Trails and routes are increasingly ubiquitous features within the tourism landscape and although their role and usefulness as applied tourism products has been analysed, they remain under-theorised within the academic literature. This article addresses this gap by exploring the role of trails within the socio-cultural construction of space. In particular, the potential function of trails in creating themed, static spaces is analysed and the concept of museumisation is employed to further illustrate the capacity of trails to reconfigure spaces within specific cultural framings which may exclude local identity and yet are consumed by the unquestioning visitor. However, the article goes on to use more recent paradigms such as tourism’s performance turn and the associated concept of embodiment to further explore the trail’s potency in promoting a more engaged, multi-vocal and sensory experience of place. Using these contemporary approaches to the role of the tourist and the cultural construction of place, the article employs a range of examples to argue for the efficacy of trails as flexible, interpretive tools that allow a multiplicity of stories to be told and encourage visitors towards a more engaged interaction within the spaces through which they tour.

KEYWORDS:

• Trails
• routes
• theming
• performance turn
• museumisation
• embodiment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Nicola MacLeod is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, London with more than 20 years of experience of teaching tourism studies. During this period, she has also contributed to the development of new programmes and published a number of co-authored books and journal articles, with particular emphasis on trails and their wider tourism setting. She is leader of the University’s Tourism Research Centre.

ORCiD

Nicola MacLeod http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8847-7692