An important
attribute to my feeling of safeness is definitely related to our mode of
touring the country. I appreciated the conveniences of our pre-organized trip,
comfortable (American!) hostel, air-conditioned bus, and above all our competent
and caring tour guide. Yet, we were deprived of spontaneity and any form of indispensable
interaction with Jordanians. Never mind (?) After all, we gained insights of
Jordanian habits and lives from our guide, Omar. These were stories about Jordanians
told by a Jordanian, however, they remained stories nonetheless. In our short
period of time, we forfeit the opportunity to genuinely become acquainted with
Jordanian life and cultural habits. In short: We were in a tourist bubble,[1]
being cart from one tourist must-see to the next.
We represented
classic mass tourism.[2]
The term describes a considerable volume of tourists visiting in pre-arranged
tours top-tourist-sights. Contrary to this, scholars designate the term “resort cycle” to people’s desire to go
‘off the beaten track’.[3]
They escape the overcrowded tourist places or simply avoid peak hours, take
public transportation, and seek to blend in society to gain ‘authentic’
experiences; or they seek to discover ‘untouched’ nature.
On our tight
schedule, we had no time to step ‘off the track’.
Nested in our tourist bubble, we predominantly met
people in the tourist business. Thus, apart from stories we heard, can we say
we experienced real Jordanian culture?
Well, yes: We got to know Jordanian tourist culture! This is
after all part of life in Jordan, since a significant number of people are (to
variant extent) involved in the tourist business. The private tourist sector is
the largest employing industry.[4]
In our bubble, we
were on a trip into the tourist world of
Jordan and became in touch with an important part of Jordan’s economy and
culture of hospitality.
[1] Also termed the ‘environmental (tourist) bubble’: “a protective cocoon of Western-style hotels, international
cuisine, satellite television, guidebooks and helpful, multilingual couriers –
‘surrogate parents’ that cushion and, as necessary, protect the tourist from
harsher realities and unnecessary contacts.” Quoted from: Stephen
Williams, Tourism Geography (London:
Routledge, 2009). – Chapter 8, p. 197.
[2] Interestingly, no academic
definition of mass tourism appears to exist. (See: Roger
Carter (Managing Editor), 'Destination World E-Newsletter', Destinationworld.Info, last modified
2009, accessed September 1, 2015, http://www.destinationworld.info/newsletter/feature45.html.)
For more background information on mass tourism,
see: Tim Edensor, Tourism
(Manchester: Elsevier Ltd., 2009), p. 301-302.
[4] Ibrahim Osta, 'USAID –
The Economic Growth Through Sustainable Toursim Project', 2015.
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| Our tour bus represents our tourist bubble |
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