Despite the appeal of virtual and simulated worlds, tourism keeps growing: ‘tourism is growing at a time in which the effects of simulation have eroded our distinctions between elite and popular, reality and fiction’. The post-tourist can now benefit from the veritable smorgasbord of high and low cultural pursuits, indulging in both simultaneously. It is clear that our cultural preferences are determined by our own, personal sphere of interests and passions, and are often also linked to our individual, or sense of group identity. We are socially conditioned or educated to aspire to certain cultural activities rather than others, although in the end it is often simply a matter of individual or group preferences. For example, to some, the idea of a ‘cultural’ night out might consist of a visit to the theatre, opera or ballet, preceded by a formal dinner, intellectual discussion and a bottle of Chardonnay. To others, it might involve a couple of beers in the local pub, a few jokes or songs, followed by a football match or a pop concert. Some would argue that access to certain cultural activities is limited; for example, that the arts are too expensive for the masses to afford. However, a visit to the theatre or ballet can often cost the same or less than attending an average football match or pop concert.
Many of us will, of course, wish to pick and mix from the vast array of different cultural activities available to us. The simultaneous consumption of diverse cultural activities (e.g. high and low, traditional and contemporary, mass and elite) is becoming increasingly common, especially among the younger generations. For example, it is not unusual for bookshelves to be lined with the complete works of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde on the one hand, and the latest Nick Hornby or Helen Fielding novels on the other. One side of a CD stand may hold Mozart or Beethoven symphonies, while the other displays the greatest hits of Madonna, George Michael or the Spice Girls. An interest in so-called high, elite or traditional cultural activities and low, popular or contemporary activities need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, the fusing of traditional and contemporary cultural forms is becoming a more common phenomenon in an increasingly globalised, postmodern world. For example, using the music of Pavarotti and Fauré respectively to introduce the 1994 and 1998 World Cup football championships has helped to bring classical music to new, often uninitiated audiences; classical violinists such as Nigel Kennedy or Vanessa Mae often play pop music as part of their repertoire; modern-day interpretations of Shakespeare plays have been produced with pop soundtracks for cinema audiences (e.g. Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet); Poems on the Underground in London has helped to bring classic literature to the masses as they take the train to work or to the pub; Stephen Daldry’s 2000 film Billy Elliott challenged the prevailing ‘lad culture’ in Britain by tracing the fate of a boy ballet dancer from a traditional mining town in the north of England.
It can be seen that the changing and diversifying tastes of the modern-day consumer are being catered for par excellence by the travel market. Tourism is the quintessential global industry, fusing international travel with the desire for leisure and recreational activities of all kinds, and, increasingly, an interest in the multifarious cultures of the world. The average tourist today is likely to want to combine a visit to a beach with a weekend’s shopping, a day or two of sightseeing, an evening at the theatre or a concert, followed by a couple of bars or nightclubs. Many tourists can no longer be as easily pigeon-holed into the ‘mass tourist’ (beach and clubbing) type, and the ‘cultural’ (sightseeing and arts event) type.
For the post-tourist, tourism has become a game: ‘the post-tourist knows that they are a tourist and that tourism is a game or a series of games with multiple texts and no single, authentic tourist experience’. Rojek sees the consumption experience as being accompanied by a sense of irony. He suggests that the quest for authenticity and self-realisation is at an end, and we are now in a stage of post-leisure and post-tourism. He describes the post-tourist as having three main characteristics.
Postmodern Theory of Culture and Cultural Tourism
