Identity tourism

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**1. Historical Development of Identity Tourism:**

– Lanfant, Allcock, and Bruner’s 1995 volume shifted focus to the dynamic intersection of tourism and identity.
– Michel Picard and Robert Woods’ 1997 volume explored tourism’s intersections with various identities.
– Abrams, Waldren, and McLeod’s 1997 volume analyzed identity construction in tourism contexts.
– Edward Bruner’s 2001 article examined identity displays in Kenyan tourist sites.
– Kathleen M. Adams’ 2006 work in Toraja, Indonesia illustrated tourism’s impact on identity dimensions.
– Early contributions by scholars examined the intersection of tourism and identity.
– Studies focused on how culture portrayed in tourism locations influenced visitors.
– The history of identity tourism traces back to early investigations on the impact of tourism on identity.

**2. Influence of Cyberspace on Identity Tourism:**

– Cyberspace allows for dynamic identity expansion through interactions with different cultures.
– A 2011 volume on Tourism Social Media highlighted identity transformations through smart tourism.
– Smart devices enable global interactions with culturally rich locations.
– Various online platforms like chat rooms and MMORPGs allow users to establish diverse online identities.
– Online identities can differ greatly from users’ physical identities, offering a space for exploration and expression.
– Users create identity through text and interaction.
– MMORPGs allow visual representation through avatars.
– Internet serves as a platform for identity expression.
– Virtual reality enables control over gender presentation.
– Social media platforms facilitate exploration of diverse identities.

**3. Impact of the Internet on Identity Tourism:**

– The internet plays a significant role in how people construct and re-examine their ethnic and cultural heritage.
– Social media stimulates identity in the social context and influences political affiliations.
– The internet allows for exploration of different ideas and perspectives, shaping identity tourism experiences.
– Traditional views of tourism have evolved to include the internet’s influence on identity tourism.
– Internet platforms enable individuals from diverse backgrounds to share culture and experiences, influencing identity perceptions.
– Nakamura studies identity appropriation in cyberspace.
– Keller highlights internet use for feminist activism exploration.
– Prucha reveals extremist groups’ online recruitment tactics.
– Identity tourism extends to various media forms.
– Internet allows individuals to control self-representation.

**4. Case Studies and Research on Identity Tourism:**

– Edward Bruner’s work explored the authenticity and nationalism in African tourism.
– Kathleen M. Adams’ research in Toraja, Indonesia showcased tourism’s impact on identity dimensions.
– Amanda Stronza’s work in the Amazon highlighted new identity differentiations due to tourism.
– Burns and Novelli’s 2011 volume offered case studies on tourism and social identities.
– Alyssa Cymene Howe’s study on identity tourism in San Francisco’s queer space revealed the influence of tourism on group identity formation.

**5. Contemporary Issues in Identity Tourism:**

– IoT enhances user interaction with environments.
– Social media platforms play a role in identity tourism.
– Smart products enable embodied digital interactions.
– Electronic identification supports cross-border authentication.
– Online identity influences self-perception and self-esteem.
– Digital blackface involves non-Black people using Black images.
– It perpetuates stereotypes and cultural appropriation.
– Originates from 19th-century blackface entertainment.
– Non-Black individuals assume Black identity for recreation.
– Contributes to reinforcing racial stereotypes.

Identity tourism (Wikipedia)

Identity tourism may refer to the act of assuming a racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, sexual or gender identity for recreational purposes, or the construction of cultural identities and re-examination of one's ethnic and cultural heritage from what tourism offers its patrons.

Research dates back to a 1984 special issue of Annals of Tourism Research guest edited by Pierre L. van den Berghe and Charles F. Keyes. This volume examined the ways in which tourism intersects with the (re-)formation and revision of various forms of identity, particularly ethnic and cultural identities. Since that time, various scholars have examined the intersection between dimensions of identity and tourism.

The way people construct and re-examine their ethnic and cultural heritage today is mainly through the internet. Introduction of the internet has introduced a radical way for tourists to enjoy the experience. Through the Internet of Things, tourism has leaped to the next big step. Social media is now used to stimulate identity in the social context. For example, wide media coverage on political content enables a user of Internet of Things to be influenced into identifying with political affiliations. Using the internet to explore different ideas and allowing them to influence and re-examine the way you see the world today, is identity tourism on the Internet.

Early contributions of identity tourism allowed scholars to examine the intersection of tourism and identity. Early scholars conducted investigations regarding the influence of the locations of tourism and how the culture portrayed influenced the visitors. The concept creates the history of identity tourism. However, this traditional view of tourism has evolved to include the influence of the internet on identity tourism. The internet allows people from various backgrounds to showcase their culture and experiences to everyone. People who access this information and their perceptions changed or influenced experience identity tourism. The influence of the internet on identity tourism can be viewed as the contemporary identity tourism.

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