Y Wladfa Gymreig: outbound diasporic tourism and contribution to identity

Abstract

Diasporic tourism is acknowledged as a powerful force in travel, but there has been more focus to date on inbound forms. Significant outbound Welsh diasporic tourism takes place to the colony known as Y Wladfa Gymreig in Argentinean Patagonia, founded in 1865. The Welsh Patagonian example is interesting because it is a settlement-based phenomenon, which has had less academic focus than those centred on ‘homecoming’. Travelling to a place of dispersion may also generate strong cultural attachment and emotional connection, particularly where identity politics in the origin has become diluted through globalisation. Using Bond and Falk’s tourism and identity-related motivation theoretical framework, we examine tourists who have visited this unusual destination. Questionnaires with potential tourists as well as interviews with visitors are combined with a research visit to the region to investigate the framework aspects of identity development; identity maintenance and identity moderation and reconstruction. Attributes that framed identity construction were experiencing Welshness, personal connections, events, nostalgia, novelty, language, and loyalty. We also found the potential for such visits to unsettle identity, so that ultimately articulation of ‘home’ is far from being fixed or permanent in the tourism context. These findings illustrate the dynamic and hybrid nature of identity, and the importance of tourism in its negotiation.

摘要

散居旅游被公认为旅游业的一股强大力量, 但迄今为止, 人们更关注入境形式。成立于1865年的阿根廷巴塔哥尼亚的一个名为Y Wladfa Gymreig（威尔士人的殖民地）的地方, 是威尔士重要的海外散居旅游目的地。威尔士巴塔哥尼亚的例子很有趣, 因为它是一种基于定居的现象, 与那些以“回乡”为中心的现象相比, 学术界对这一现象的关注较少。到一个分散的地方旅行还可能产生强烈的文化依恋和情感联系, 尤其是在那些认同政治在根源上已被全球化冲淡的地方。我们利用Bond 和Falk（2013）旅游与认同相关的动机理论框架, 研究了去过这个不同寻常的目的地的游客。我们结合对潜在游客的问卷调查、对来访者的访谈以及来该地区的研究参访研究了认同发展、认同维护, 认同调节和重建框架的各个方面。建构认同的属性有：成为威尔士人体验、人际关系、节事活动、怀旧之情、新奇的事物、语言和忠诚。我们还发现, 这样的访问有可能会让人感到身份的不确定, 因此最终“家”的表达在旅游语境中远不是固定或永久的。这些发现说明了认同的动态和混合的性质, 以及旅游业在认同协商中的重要性。

Keywords:

• Diaspora
• identity
• Wales
• Patagonia
• Argentina
• Home
• nostalgia
• language
• colonialization

关键词:

• 流散；认同；威尔士；巴塔哥尼亚；阿根廷；家；怀旧；语言

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Aled Rees and Tango Tours, Aberystwyth for their support of this research as well as our research participants in Wales and Argentina.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by the David Hughes Parry research fund.

Notes on contributors

Carl Iain Cater

Dr Carl Cater is an Associate Professor in Tourism at Swansea University in Wales in the School of Management, and his research centres on the experiential turn in tourism and the subsequent growth of special interest sectors, particularly adventure tourism and ecotourism. He has written over 40 papers and book chapters, is co-author of Marine Ecotourism: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (CABI, 2007) and editor of the Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Tourism (CABI, 2015). The latter is the most up to date reference work for understanding sustainability and tourism, with contributions from 160 authors in 28 countries. Dr Cater is also an editorial board member of Tourism Geographies, Journal of Ecotourism and Tourism in Marine Environments. He has supervised ten successful PhD completions and examined theses in the UK, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Norway. Dr Cater has travelled to over 80 countries and undertaken field research, supervision, curriculum oversight and teaching worldwide, including Australia, China, Malta, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Tibet and Vanuatu. He has worked on projects for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, New South Wales Department of Education, the World Tourism and Travel Council, Gold Coast City Council, the Gold Coast Adventure Travel Group, Tourism Queensland and the Tourism Society. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a qualified pilot, diver, lifesaver, mountain and tropical forest leader, and maintains an interest in both the practice and pursuit of sustainable outdoor tourism activity.

Katja Poguntke

Katja Poguntke completed her Masters in Tourism Marketing at Aberystwyth University in 2014. She is widely travelled, and volunteered on tourism projects in Zanzibar. She is currently a senior business development executive at BuroHappold Engineering.

Wyn Morris

Dr Wyn Morris is a lecturer in Management at Aberystwyth University and has a BSc in Rural Resource Management and a PhD on Technology adoption, entrepreneurship and efficiency in agricultural businesses: the case of upland sheep farmers in Wales.