Identity in tourist motivation and the dynamics of meaning

Tourist motivation is logically the underlying reason for people engaging in tourism and arguably the starting point of all tourist activities (Crompton 1979; Iso-Ahola 1982; Fodness 1994; Pearce 2005). Understanding tourist motivation is therefore fundamental in trying to understand tourism and its role in modern society. However, it is no secret that tourist motivation is a complex and intangible phenomenon, something which is also reflected in the number of attempts made to theorise it. Research into tourist motivation seems to be complicated by at least three factors, namely: that tourists may not be conscious of their motivations at all levels and, thus, they are unable to express them; that tourists may not want to reveal their motivations, owing to perceptions of the acceptability or status of certain motivations over others; and, that motivations are most likely to change over time due to both internal and external circumstances in the life of the tourist (Smed 2009). Therefore, an exploration of underlying meanings rather than actual behaviour, which seems to have been the point of departure for many motivational studies in tourism, is attempted throughout this piece of research. However, it needs to be stressed that only a fraction of potential meanings can be addressed here, whilst the reasons underlying the focus on identity constructions that has been chosen here will be considered as these meanings are unfolded throughout the text.