At home away from home: visitor accommodation and place attachment

Abstract

Second-home owners often establish deep connections with their dwellings, and the broader landscapes of which these dwellings are part. In this research, we consider whether, and to what extent, visitors to commercial tourist accommodation also experience feelings of place attachment and home. These issues were investigated via a case study approach, centred on a youth hostel located in a high-amenity coastal area of New Zealand. The hostel’s publicly available visitor books were analysed to draw out expressions of people–place relationships, as well as key demographic information. Five themes were identified in visitors’ written reflections: repeat visits; home experience; identity and feeling; escape; and social landscape. Like the second home, the hostel provided a set of experiences considered very distinct from the typically city-based primary home, centred on a sense of freedom, relaxation and proximity to nature. It was paradoxically regarded as a place to seek change as well as familiarity. We conclude that for first-time visitors home-like experiences appear to be stimulated by social encounters and the physical environment, while for returnees they are underscored by familiarity and endorsement of identity over time.

Keywords:

• home
• place attachment
• tourism
• visitor accommodation
• New Zealand

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Bianca Wildish completed a BSc (Hons) in Geography at the University of Auckland and now works for the Research Evaluation and Monitoring Unit of Auckland Council.

Robin Kearns is Professor of Geography in the School of Environment, University of Auckland.

Damian Collins is an Associate Professor in the Human Geography Program, EAS, University of Alberta.