TY - JOUR
T1 - Backpacking
T2 - Diversity and change
AU - Cohen, Erik
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - Backpacking, a relatively little studied form of tourism, is a rapidly expanding phenomenon. This article follows the transition from the tramp to the drifter, and from the latter to the contemporary backpacker, and points to the diversity within this general category of tourists. The discrepancy between the ideal and the common practice of backpacking, and the mechanisms of bridging it deployed by contemporary backpackers, are discussed. It is claimed that backpackers tend to profess modern ideals of tourism (e.g. the quest for ‘authenticity’) but are ‘post-modern’ in the praxis. While it is accepted that the model of a ‘rite-of-passage’ is a useful heuristic device for the study of backpacking, some signi.cant quali.cations regarding the applicability of the model are pointed out. The article concludes by stressing the importance of the historical and national contexts of the backpackers’ origins for the diversity of their motivations and conduct, and proposes future directions of research.
AB - Backpacking, a relatively little studied form of tourism, is a rapidly expanding phenomenon. This article follows the transition from the tramp to the drifter, and from the latter to the contemporary backpacker, and points to the diversity within this general category of tourists. The discrepancy between the ideal and the common practice of backpacking, and the mechanisms of bridging it deployed by contemporary backpackers, are discussed. It is claimed that backpackers tend to profess modern ideals of tourism (e.g. the quest for ‘authenticity’) but are ‘post-modern’ in the praxis. While it is accepted that the model of a ‘rite-of-passage’ is a useful heuristic device for the study of backpacking, some signi.cant quali.cations regarding the applicability of the model are pointed out. The article concludes by stressing the importance of the historical and national contexts of the backpackers’ origins for the diversity of their motivations and conduct, and proposes future directions of research.
KW - Backpackers
KW - Drifters
KW - Post-modernity
KW - Rite-of-passage
KW - Tourist enclaves
KW - Tramps
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85008756696&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14766820308668162
DO - 10.1080/14766820308668162
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:85008756696
SN - 1476-6825
VL - 1
SP - 95
EP - 110
JO - Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change
JF - Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change
IS - 2
ER -