The lifecycle of concepts: the case of ‘Pilgrimage Tourism’

ABSTRACT

A theoretical framework is proposed for systematizing our understanding of how concepts in tourism emerge and change over time through the example of a structured description of the evolving phenomenon of ‘Pilgrimage Tourism.’ Using the ‘product lifecycle’ (PLC) model, I explain the changes that have taken place in pilgrimage research over the years and contend that, as part of an ongoing process of change, this phenomenon, as a concept, is gradually undergoing the stages of a PLC – from birth, through development and stagnation, to decline or eventual rejuvenation. At the same time, it is developing new identities, such as secular pilgrimage or dark tourism. The PLC model appears to provide a suitable framework for interpreting the process currently being experienced by many concepts in the realm of tourism, such as ecotourism and raises major questions regarding the usage of new concepts. After all, concepts are human creations, and therefore products, in a very real sense.

摘要

本文通过对演变中的朝圣旅游概念的结构性描述༌提出了一个理论框架以梳理我们对旅游诸多概念出现与演变的理解。利用产品生命周期模型༌我解释了历年来朝圣研究中的变化༌并且认为༌朝圣旅游作为持续变化的一部分༌这个概念逐步经历了“产品生命周期理论”的各个阶段༌从提出阶段༌经过发展和稳固阶段༌直到衰落或者最终的重生阶段。同时༌它正发展出诸如世俗朝圣或黑暗旅游等一些新的身份。产品生命周期模型似乎提供了一个合适的框架༌说明了生态旅游等旅游领域诸多概念正经历的过程༌同时也提出了有关新概念使用的主要问题。毕竟༌概念是人类创造的༌因而也是真正意义上的人类的产物。

KEYWORDS:

• Pilgrimage tourism
• product lifecycle model
• dark tourism
• religious tourism
• pilgrimage
• rejuvenation

关键词:

• 朝圣旅游
• 产品生命周期模型
• 黑暗旅游
• 朝圣旅游
• 朝圣
• 重生

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Noga Collins-Kreiner

Noga Collins-Kreiner is a senior lecturer (Ph.D.) in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Haifa, Israel (http://sites.hevra.haifa.ac.il/nogack/) and the Head of the Haifa and Galilee Research Institute. Her main research interests are tourism, pilgrimage, tourism development and management. She is also a resource editor of the ‘Annals of Tourism Research’ and published many papers on the topic of tourism, including a book named: Christian Tourism to the Holy Land: Pilgrimage during Security Crisis (2006) Hampshire: Ashgate Publications.