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Tracking Tourists’ Spatiotemporal Experiences as Collective Narratives of an Urban Destination : 

Iis P. Tussyadiah Daniel R. Fesenmaier Youngjin Yoo Temple University Tracking Tourists’ Spatiotemporal Experiences as Collective Narratives of an Urban Destination

Spatial Language : 

Spatial Language The role of tourists’ narratives in the construction of sense of place and identity “Spatial language” – content of stories ties meanings to spatial features of places Tourists define and describe the experiential and cultural significance of places – ongoing social construction

Identity & Story Production : 

Identity & Story Production “Places are dynamic arenas that are both socially constituted and constitutive of the social” (Dixon & Durrheim, 2000) Massey (2005): space (and identity) is a product of interrelations; place and space are born with multiple histories, stories, and trajectories; space is continuous and always “in-production.”

Collaborative Construction : 

Collaborative Construction Tourists assemble versions of the social and personal meanings of places Selective appropriation Chaotic relation to self & social Multiple interpretation – qualitative multiplicity of meanings Meanings are negotiated through experiences– “zone of consensus” Destinations are defined by a collective memory of spatial stories

This Study… : 

This Study… Previous studies have focused on tracking the tales to derive meanings of places – history The production of tourists’ stories is inseparable from the process of experiencing the places This study uses digital media to capture stories on-site

This Study… : 

This Study… Understand how tourists interpret their experiences as they move through space and time Understanding meanings of destinations depends on the encounters, the activities from one moment & place to the next, and how tourists interpret these experiences

Method : 

Method Data types: tracks of tourists’ spatial movement tourists’ descriptions of their experiences Data gathering: Multi-method approach: interview, observation, time-interval on-site survey, questionnaires Summer 2007 Subjects: Visitors to Philadelphia, 49 subjects Device: A multimedia phone with GPS applications

Data Gathering : 

Data Gathering GPS tracks Tourists’ reports – hourly recordings Story framework: “when, where, what, how, why,” “place, people, activity, artifact” Sound files transcribed into text: 188 descriptions

Data Analysis : 

Data Analysis

Spatial Movement : 

Spatial Movement 5 2 1 3 4

Spatial Movement : 

Spatial Movement 1

Spatial Movement : 

Spatial Movement 2

Spatial Movement : 

Spatial Movement 3

Spatial Movement : 

Spatial Movement 4

Spatial Movement : 

Spatial Movement 5

Temporal Movement : 

Temporal Movement

Narrative Interpretation : 

Narrative Interpretation good, magnificent, impressive, fun, interesting sculpture, fountain, painting, statue, armor, weapon, exhibit, European, Renaissance, art, column, artist, stone, earth, Rocky, stair, step walking, sightseeing Art Museum

Shaping Sense of Place : 

Shaping Sense of Place Places as context – tourists’ movements and emotions arose from activities South Street Places as subject of exploration – spatial characteristics City Hall

Multiple Meanings : 

Multiple Meanings Art Museum as a place displaying collections of arts “Checking out the exhibit throughout the Art Museum, I'm pretty impressed… I visited the Art Museum and all the exhibits within the museum, the armory, European art, Renaissance art… it’s been a good experience, seeing a lot of things I've never seen before…” (Matt, 05/10/07)

Multiple Meanings : 

Multiple Meanings Art Museum as an architectural artifact “Magnificent... I say Art Museum is magnificent… and very impressive architecture… the weather and the sky and everything, [it] is just really beautiful…” (Will, 05/15/07)

Multiple Meanings : 

Multiple Meanings Art Museum as a spiritual place of a (fictional) hero “I saw a huge fountain and the big steps of the Art Museum from the movie Rocky [cut] I saw a woman shooting an arrow when she walk in to the Art Museum, pretty cool…” (Josh, 07/22/07)

Emergent Collective Meanings : 

Emergent Collective Meanings "A collection of Arts" "A Magnificent Architectural Artifact" "A place carrying the spirit of Rocky" "A historic place" "A place with colonial style" "A place full of foreign & student tourist groups" "A place for shopping and dining" "Festivals take place here" "This place is public, it's crowded" "The Architecture is Amazing” "A green, relaxing place" "A place for creating and appreciating artworks” "A place for shopping & dining"

Conclusion : 

Conclusion Multiple spatial narratives of tourists represent the emergent collective meanings of places Tourists’ movements are formed by their perceived and constructed meanings of the networked places; the spatial stories will survive or change along the continuous construction of social identity of tourists’ places.

Implication : 

Implication Interpretation The use of digital media can offer new ways to enhance tourists’ experiences through the combinations of tourists’ narratives produced in a rich digital media format “Museum without walls” – tourists consume places while simultaneously drawing multiple interpretations from the digital narratives left by others leave own digital traces along the spatiotemporal routes