Positive Tourism

Sebastian Filep, Jennifer Laing, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Sebastian Filep, Jennifer Laing, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138900653
• eBook ISBN: 9781317478904
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Tourism affects millions of individuals, numerous societies and environments in multiple, nuanced and overlapping ways. While it can be viewed as a frivolous leisure pursuit or simply a large industry, with potentially destructive impacts, it might also be understood in terms of its effects on human fulfilment, the good life and greater well-being. This book calls for positive tourism, principally grounded in theories from positive psychology (the study of what makes life worth living), and the development of a body of knowledge that explains what characterises optimal tourist experiences, what enables host communities to flourish and what encourages workers in tourism to thrive. Through original research studies reported in this international volume we aim to further develop this knowledge. The intersections between ongoing and traditionally inspired applications of psychology in tourism and this new thrust in psychological inquiry promise to refresh and challenge tourism research.

This book will appeal to researchers and academics in tourism, leisure, positive psychology, management and related fields as well as graduate students, professionals and policy makers.

Part I
Positive tourism

1
What is positive tourism? Why do we need it?

Sebastian Filep, Jennifer Laing and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Introduction

While acknowledging that not all influential and meaningful tourism knowledge is academic and scientific in nature (Liburd, 2012), the academic study of tourism has now arguably reached a level of maturity that is rich, diverse and highly useful to various stakeholders and in multiple ways at a global level. Academic tourism knowledge spans several decades of sustained empirical inquiry. This period of sustained tourism scholarship started during the Second World War and is now present in over 270 tourism and related academic journals. We seem to be living in an era of reflecting back on what we have produced in tourism studies and where the academic field may be heading in the future. Lai, Li and Scott (2015) have established that there has been a sustained focus over recent years on rethinking various forms of tourism knowledge (e.g. Xiao, Jafari, Cloke & Tribe, 2013; Xiao & Smith, 2006), but especially production of tourism knowledge (e.g. Franklin & Crang, 2001; Hall, 2004; Platenkamp & Botterill, 2013) and its subsequent consumption (e.g. Xiao & Smith, 2007). The production of tourism knowledge, it is argued, is important, as it naturally precedes the knowledge itself and its subsequent consumption. Among other factors, Lai et al. (2015) point to three important issues which have been found to influence the knowledge production process. These include the paradigm commitment (Hall, 2004; Platenkamp & Botterill, 2013), research methodology and methods (e.g. Ritchie, Burns & Palmer, 2005) and the disciplinary background of researchers involved in knowledge production (e.g. Tribe, 2004).

In this introductory chapter, we attempt to define what we mean by positive tourism. Following the work of Lai et al. (2015) on knowledge production factors, we start by first outlining our overarching philosophical and disciplinary paradigm. We then explain positive tourism’s research methodology and introduce authors of this volume, noting their disciplinary and research backgrounds. While we recognise that our definition of positive tourism will be further shaped in the future, these factors allow us to come up with a broad and a basic definition for now. Following our explanation of what positive tourism is, we present an academic argument for the birth of positive tourism as a sub-field of tourism inquiry within which positive tourism topics and issues can be further explored. The chapter concludes with a listing of key pillars which make up positive tourism and which align with the three broad sections of this book.

What is positive tourism?

Defining our paradigm: humanism, humanistic and positive psychology

The definition of what is ‘positive’ as opposed to what is ‘negative’ in human existence can be best understood by first explaining what is meant by humanism, an underlying philosophy which underpins this book. Most accounts have humanism beginning in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy as a revolt against the scholasticism and authoritarianism of the medieval church. Arguably, one of the earliest proponents of humanism was Francesco Petrarca, known as Petrarch (1304–1374), who spearheaded a renewed interest in classics leading up to the rise of a special type of humanism, the Renaissance humanism. Others followed in Petrarch’s footsteps – namely, Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch humanist. Bullock (1985) has provided a precise explanation for what distinguishes humanism from other philosophical standpoints. The first is that human experience must itself be primary, and other realities can only be considered through this lens of human consciousness. The second characteristic of humanism is the value it places on the individual and respect for the freedom and dignity of the person, which it takes to provide a foundation for all other values and rights (Bullock, 1985). The third characteristic of humanism is an emphasis on ideas, reasoning and the plurality of perspectives through which the human spirit can be expressed. Viewing religion, science and art as fundamentally symbolic practices which embody the human hunger for meaning, humanists have typically accepted that there are many ways to the truth (Davidson, 2000).

These basic tenets of humanism have strongly influenced the development of psychology in the mid- to late-twentieth century – namely, humanistic psychology and later on positive psychology (Froh, 2004), which provide a theoretical foundation for the development of positive tourism. Rogers, Maslow, Murray, Allport and May are often considered key figures in humanistic psychology (Duckworth, Steen & Seligman, 2005). Humanistic psychologists have largely dealt with the questions of the good life, individual growth and achievements, authenticity and personal responsibility, suggesting explanations for the term ‘positive’. Maslow’s (1954) work on human needs, self-actualisation and fulfilment is especially seminal in the foundations of positive psychology, as Maslow himself introduced the term positive psychology to his readers. Building on the humanistic psychology foundations, theories specific to positive psychology have emerged in the new millennium: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (Fredrickson, 2001), new theoretical models of human flourishing (Seligman, 2011), continuous innovation in the studies of optimal experiences or ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006), fresh perspectives on kindness and gratitude (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000), work on character strengths and virtues (Peterson, 2006) and many others. The aforementioned works are just a few examples of key literature in humanistic and positive psychology.

Positive psychology has been defined as ‘the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups and institutions’ (Gable & Haidt, 2005, p. 103), or simply as the study of what makes life worth living (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The history of the field has been introduced in detail to the tourism reader by Pearce, Filep and Ross (2011), and so the purpose here is not to re-introduce positive psychology. Briefly, however, philosophical roots of positive psychology can be traced back all the way to Ancient Greek philosophy, such as the writings of Aristotle on happiness and the good life. Central to these early roots is the concept of eudaimonia (daimon meaning ‘the true self’). Eudaimonia has been defined as a higher state of flourishing that is shaped through self-development and self-realisation of the individual (Ryff & Singer, 1996). A core feature of eudaimonia is a humanist idea of striving toward excellence based on one’s unique potential (Ryff & Singer, 1996) but positive psychology literature equally includes a significant body of knowledge on hedonic experiences (Fredrickson, 2001). Critiques of positive psychology in tourism studies have also emerged (Nawijn, 2016), and some of this criticism will be briefly addressed in the concluding chapter of this volume, while a more specific response to the criticism has also been produced (Filep, 2016). The ideas from positive psychology have multidisciplinary appeal and have been introduced in aligned fields to tourism, such as leisure (Freire, 2013) and recently event studies (Filep, Volic & Lee, 2015). Overall, it is clear that to understand what positive tourism means is to understand humanist philosophy as well as humanistic and positive psychology and what they stand for.

Warmoth, Resnick and Serlin (2007), however, remind us that the very concept of ‘positive’ (in positive psychology or elsewhere) makes sense in the wider context of lived human experiences, as positive is what is desirable – the category that can be studied experientially. This raises some methodological challenges, as experiential understandings of the world are subjective and hence require less objective measurements. For this reason, we adopt a type of epistemological pluralism in defining positive tourism. This pluralism aligns with pragmatism as our underlying research methodology.

Pragmatist research methodology

Pragmatism is a philosophy based on the reflections of the Kantean/Fichte/Dil-they philosophical thought of the ‘projection of our minds’ (Laughlin, 1995, p. 72). While pragmatists agree with positivists and post-positivists about the existence of an external world independent of people’s minds, the emphasis is placed on selecting explanations that best produce desired outcomes (Pansiri, 2005). In terms of the mode of inquiry, this means that pragmatism embraces pluralism by including the extremes normally espoused by positivism as well as those supported by interpretivists. The former emphasises quantitative methods as opposed to interpretivists’ qualitative approaches. Both are welcome and encouraged under the parameters of positive tourism and qualitative and quantitative contributions can be found in this volume. By welcoming both quantitative and qualitative contributions, the tourism work, therefore, has a less positivist flavour than some of the highly empirical work which characterises much of mainstream (positive) psychology (Mruk, 2008). Tourism studies in this field (Filep & Pearce, 2014) have been characterised by Ryan (2015, p. 195) as works where ‘psychometrics are generally absent, meaning that readers are spared from a series of partial least squares, structural equation models, and the like’. In this way, the tourism work on positive psychology avoids methodolotry, the idea of privileging qualitative over quantitative, and vice versa (Friedman, 2003). Multi-method assessments of happiness, well-being, human flourishing and satisfying life are all of interest to scholars in this field (Filep & Pearce, 2014) and well represent positive tourism.

Positive tourism research community

Following Lai et al. (2015) on knowledge production factors, another core defining factor of positive tourism is the background of its researchers, primarily with disciplinary training and/or research interests in tourism, leisure, sport, recreation and positive, health and sport psychology. Researchers’ backgrounds shape the definition of positive tourism as the researchers’ own subjectivities and experiences and professional upbringings affect who they are and how they think and reason. The following is therefore a list of biographies of our authors, with reference to their professional backgrounds and affiliations.

Deborah Che, PhD, is Lecturer in the School of Business and Tourism at Southern Cross University, Australia. Her research interests include rural development, natural resource-based tourism (i.e. agritourism, ecotourism, hunting) development and marketing, cultural/heritage tourism and arts-based economic diversification strategies. A common theme in her research involves the interconnection between economic restructuring and shifting land uses. She has published in journals, including Tourism Recreation Research, Tourism Geographies, Journal of Heritage Tourism, Tourism Review International, Geoforum, The Annals of the Association of American Geographers, The Professional Geographer and Agriculture and Human Values. She is on the editorial board of Tourism Geographies.

John Coffey, PhD, MSW, is Assistant Professor at Sewanee: The University of the South, Tennessee, USA. He is the second person to earn a PhD in Positive Developmental Psychology. He earned his PhD at Claremont Graduate University and his MSW at the University of Michigan. He served on the board of the International Positive Psychology Association as the President of the Student Division. He has authored numerous research articles and presented internationally on ways to promote well-being while vacationing, in close relationships and in workplace and academic settings. John has consulted with a range of organizations and companies, such as Potentia and Happify, seeking to promote happiness and flourishing. In his spare time, he enjoys travelling to places near and far from home.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management and Founding Co-Director of the Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University, USA. He is noted for his work on happiness, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow.

Jessica de Bloom, PhD, is a work and organizational psychologist and is employed as a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Social Research at the University of Tampere, Finland. Her field of expertise concerns longitudinal, empirical research on stress, recovery and the effects of vacations on employee health, well-being and work performance. She serves on the editorial board of the Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

Sebastian Filep, PhD, is Senior Lecturer at the Tourism Department, University of Otago, New Zealand. He specialises in tourism and well-being research. He has published internationally in peer-reviewed academic journals and books on the topic of human well-being.

Warwick Frost, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Marketing at La Trobe University, Australia. His research interests include heritage, events, nature-based attractions and the interaction between media, popular culture and tourism. Warwick is a co-editor of the Routledge Advances in Events Research series and a member of the editorial board of Journal of Heritage Tourism. He has co-written five books, including Commemorative Events: Memory, Identities, Conflict (2013), Imagining the American West through Film and Tourism (2015) and Gastronomy, Tourism and the Media (forthcoming). Warwick has also edited Tourism and Zoos: Conservation, Education, Entertainment? (2011) and co-edited four books, including National Parks and Tourism: International Perspectives on Development, Histories and Change (2009) and Rituals and Traditional Events in the Modern World (2015).

Sabine Geurts, PhD, is a full professor of work and organizational psychology at the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer in occupational health psychology. Her scientific interests include work stress, recovery, sleep, working time arrangements and work-life balance. Geurts has published around 100 papers and book chapters in these areas, and she serves as a Consulting Editor for the journal Work & Stress. She is also head of the master’s degree programme of Psychology of Work, Organization and Health.

Chelsea Gill is a research assistant and tutor at the University of Queensland Business School (Tourism Cluster), Australia. She is currently completing her PhD, which explores the restorative benefits of corporate retreats. Her research interests include rest...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Lists of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• PART I Positive tourism
• PART II Positive tourist experiences
• PART III Positive host communities
• PART IV Positive tourism workers
• PART V Conclusions and future directions
• Index