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"Tourism is the biggest industry in the world; only oil comes anywhere close, and a lot of that is used in the tourist industry anyway. This folio of images shows the tourist (i.e., you and me) doing what we do when we arrive at the beach or another global honeypot. We queue up, we sun ourselves and spend cash on often quite useless souvenirs."

"We then take photos of ourselves in front of the visited sight. This proves we have been there and are part of the world as we know it. Visiting sites is a modern form of pilgrimage and the resulting photos the ultimate prize."

"We all have an image of what a place looks like, especially if it is an iconic site like the Pyramids or the Eiffel Tower. But when we get there the reality can often be quite different. Many others are trying to see the same place at the same time. The site will be full of shops all trying to sell us stuff. One of the central agendas in this folio concerns the mythology vs reality of actually being at a tourist site. This contradiction lends itself very well to photography."

"Many countries rely on tourism as their main income generator, but like all things there is a down side, as tourism can often destroy the very thing that people came to visit in the first place. Think of somewhere like Machu Picchu, where crowds swarm over the ancient walls."

"I am not saying that tourism is bad - far from it as it brings a livelihood for many people. Organisations like Tourism Concern in the UK make a very important contribution to a better understanding of the yin and yang of tourism. This charity highlights the problems caused by tourism - from water shortages in newly developed sites to the pure rape of our ever decreasing natural habitats - and tries to ensure that local people benefit from the fruits of tourism. We need to adopt a better understanding of the issues surrounding this huge business. These photographs, I hope, will offer a good starting point. For remember we, in the wealthy West, are the ones that seek out the pleasures of tourism, so we're all in this together." - Martin Parr

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Global Tourism * Martin Parr * Magnum Photos

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"Tourism is the biggest industry in the world; only oil comes anywhere close, and a lot of that is used in the tourist industry anyway. This folio of images shows the tourist (i.e., you and me) doing what we do when we arrive at the beach or another global honeypot.

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Alexander Coggin made his name as a photographer with a series of images of his husband's family in their Michigan holiday home, leaving his own family free from the dizzying glare of his flashgun - until now.

Alexander's latest series Morocco, America is a gently humorous compilation of 23 diptychs taken during an unexpected family trip to Morocco. "When my parents told their five kids last Christmas that we were going to Morocco on a family vacation, I was surprised," Alexander explains. "My Dad voted for Trump and my Mom is a nervous traveller, so Morocco - an ancient, bustling and largely Islamic country -- was a pleasant surprise. I think my parents really wanted to get out of their comfort zones: a sort-of vacation fit for a mid life crisis."

Alexander confesses that lensing his own nuclear family historically had previously been difficult, perhaps because their home environment lacked the ease of distance. "I was never quite objectively comfortable shooting them in their habitat, a great big suburban house in Jenkintown, a Philadelphia suburb. So I jumped at the opportunity to turn my lens on them and their experience in a foreign place like Morocco."

The country's conservative socio-cultural attitudes saw Alexander moderating his daily behaviour and seeking solace in his sunburnt, sandy and exhausted family. "As a gay person travelling in a very conservative country, my husband and I (and my sister and her same-sex fiancé, for that matter) had to play on the side of caution, not showing signs of affection in public and generally tailoring, a bit, our decades worked-for flamboyances, attitudes and wardrobes as queers. Even private and consensual same-sex sexual activity is illegal in the country. I only bring this up to say that, faced with this reality, I found myself very comfortable instead pointing my lens inward on my family - not focusing on, say, the faces of Moroccans but rather on my family's collective experience through the lens of tourism and economy and cultural dissonance."

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Tourism and cultural dissonance: Alexander Coggin turns his flashgun on his American family in Morocco

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Alexander Coggin made his name as a photographer with a series of images of his husband's family in their Michigan holiday home, leaving his own family free from the dizzying glare of his flashgun - until now. Alexander's latest series Morocco, America is a gently humorous compilation of 23 diptychs taken during an unexpected family trip to Morocco.

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Picture the scene: below, a stampede of socks-and-sandalled feet, at eye-level a sea of sweat-tinged bucket hats, the air is filled with the clink of plastic lanyards and enough flash bulbs to temporarily stun you.

London-based photographer Oleg Tolstoy's latest series the The Tourist Trap turns a lens on the tourists who have come to capitalise on Florence's famously good looks: an army of insta photographers in search of the perfect shot.

"The series is an unrepentantly in-your-face look at sightseeing in an age of digital media and insta-jealousy," Oleg explains. "The work captures the frenetic energy of tourists in Florence in spring 2017. As one of the only big European countries still perceived as a 'terrorist-free zone', Italy is experiencing such an unprecedented tourist boom that locals have taken to the streets in protest, and overcrowding at famous attractions has become a serious issue for officials across the country."

"I immersed myself in the crowds by Florence's historic Duomo," the photographer continues. "I got up close in order to capture expressions and reactions on an intimate level rarely captured on film, a perspective made particularly ironic as all my subjects and I are complete strangers in a foreign land."

The series is Oleg's follow up to Who's Driving You, an contemplation of the night-time world of black cab drivers which was awarded a finalist position in the LensCulture Street Photography Awards last year.

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"Sightseeing in an age of digital media and insta-jealousy," photographer Oleg Tolstoy's Tourist Trap

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Picture the scene: below, a stampede of socks-and-sandalled feet, at eye-level a sea of sweat-tinged bucket hats, the air is filled with the clink of plastic lanyards and enough flash bulbs to temporarily stun you.

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Tourist art production is a global phenomenon and is increasingly recognized as an important and authentic expression of indigenous visual traditions. These thoughtful, engaging essays provide a comparative perspective on the history, character, and impact of tourist art in colonized societies in three areas of the world: Africa, Oceania, and North America. Ranging broadly historically and geographically, Unpacking Culture is the first collection to bring together substantial case studies on this topic from around the world.

Ruth B. Phillips is Director of the Museum of Anthropology and Professor of Art History and Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She is the author of Representing Women: Sande Masquerade of the Mende of Sierra Leone (1990) and Trading Identities: Native Art and the Souvenir in Northeastern North America, 1700-1900 (1998). Christopher B. Steiner is Lucy C. McDannel '22 Associate Professor of Art History and Director of Museum Studies at Connecticut College. He is the author of African Art in Transit (1994) and coeditor of Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (1997).

CONTRIBUTORS:
Jonathan Batkin
Janet Catherine Berlo
Marsha C. Bol
Marvin Cohodas
Frank Ettawageshik
Nelson H. H. Graburn
Sidney Littlefield Kasfir
Stephen R. Inglis
Carol S. Ivory
Aldona Jonaitis
Molly Lee
Trudy Nicks
Sandra A. Niessen
Nancy J. Parezo
Ruth B. Phillips
Enid Schildkrout
Eric Kline Silverman
Christopher B. Steiner
Verity Wilson

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Tourist art production is a global phenomenon and is increasingly recognized as an important and authentic expression of indigenous visual traditions. These thoughtful, engaging essays provide a comparative perspective on the history, character, and impact of tourist art in colonized societies in three areas of the world: Africa, Oceania, and North America.

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Embark on an adventure with Big Bus Tours. Our Non-stop London sightseeing tour allows you to soak up the city's atmosphere with ease. Relax and enjoy fascinating facts about London's rich culture and dramatic history as you pass its famous landmarks and attractions. And, on selected Red Tour buses, pick up tops tips from our experienced guides to help you uncover London's secrets and stories.

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London Open-Top Sightseeing Bus Tours | Big Bus Tours

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The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Embark on an adventure with Big Bus Tours. Our Non-stop London sightseeing tour allows you to soak up the city's atmosphere with ease. Relax and enjoy fascinating facts about London's rich culture and dramatic history as you pass its famous landmarks and attractions.

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Travels In Hyperreality: Essays (Picador Books)

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Buy Travels In Hyperreality: Essays (Picador Books) Main Market by Eco, Umberto, Weaver, W. (ISBN: 9780330296670) from Amazon’s Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Postcards, as we are familiar with them today, have taken a considerable amount of time to develop. First restricted by size, color, and other regulations, postcard production blossomed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Postcards were popular because they were a quick and easy way for individuals to communicate with each other. Today deltiology, or the collection of postcards, is a popular hobby.

The following is a brief general history of the postcard in the United States. The dates for each time period are not concrete and different sources contain slightly variable dates. It is also important to keep in mind that postcard types produced in one period could also be produced in another, but were simply not produced in the same volume as other card types of the period.

PRE-POSTCARD PERIOD: 1848-1870

Before postcards, some people sent cards through the mail with attached postage. Because these cards are not actually postcards, they are typically referred to as "mailed cards." During this period, envelopes were produced with pictures on them, and some speculate that postcards are the direct descendants of the picture envelopes. While we do not have picture envelopes that date from this time period, this envelope with the Smithsonian Institution Building on it is similar to the earlier picture envelopes.

On February 27, 1861, the US Congress passed an act that allowed privately printed cards, weighing one ounce or under, to be sent in the mail. That same year John P. Charlton (other places seen as Carlton) copyrighted the first postcard in America.

PIONEER PERIOD: 1870-1898

In 1870, Hymen L. Lipman began reissuing Charlton's postcard under a new name: Lipman's Postal Cards. Congress passed legislation on June 8, 1872, that approved government production of postal cards. The first government-produced postcard was issued on May 1, 1873. One side of the postcard was for a message and the other side was for the recipient's address. By law, the government postcards were the only postcards allowed to bear the term "Postal Card." Private publishers were still allowed to print postcards, but they were more expensive to mail than the government-produced cards (2¢ instead of 1¢).

PRIVATE MAILING CARD PERIOD: 1898-1901

On May 19, 1898, Congress passed an act allowing private printing companies to produce postcards with the statement "Private Mailing Card, Authorized by Act of Congress of May 19, 1898." Private mailing cards now cost the same amount of money to mail as government-produced postcards: 1¢. The words "Private Mailing Card" distinguished privately printed cards from government printed cards. Messages were not allowed on the address side of the private mailing cards, as indicated by the words "This side is exclusively for the Address," or slight variations of this phrase. However, if the front of the postcard did not contain an image, it could bear a message. If the front did have an image, then a small space was left on the front for a message. Many of the private mailing cards, like the Castle postcard seen below, also contained the phrase "Postal Card-Carte Postale," which indicated that it was allowed to enter the international mail system.

POST CARD PERIOD: 1901-1907

In December 1901, the Postmaster-General issued Post Office Order No. 1447, which allowed the words "Post Card" instead of the longer "Private Mailing Card" on the back of postcards. Private printers were now also allowed to omit the line citing the 1898 Private Mailing Card Act. However, messages were still not allowed on the address side of postcards. By this time, the front of most postcards had images, which eliminated it as a space for messages. Because of the absence of message space on the address side of postcards, the Post Card Period is also known as the Undivided Back Period.

DIVIDED BACK PERIOD: 1907-1915

In 1907, a major change on the address side of postcards occurred. This change was prompted by the Universal Postal Congress, the legislative body of the Universal Postal Union. The convention decreed that postal cards produced by governments of member nations could have messages on the left half of the address side, effective October 1, 1907. The Universal Postal Congress also decreed that after March 1, 1907, government-produced cards in the United States could bear messages on the address side. Congress passed an act on March 1, 1907, in compliance with the Union's decree, allowing privately produced postcards to bear messages on the left half of the card's back. The next day, the Postmaster-General issued Order No. 146, granting privileges to privately produced postcards that were already granted in international mail, including the allowance of message space. On June 13, 1907, the Postmaster-General issued Order No. 539, which allowed government-produced postcards to bear messages on the left half of the address side. These changes to the backs of postcards ushered in the Divided Back Period, which spans from 1907 until 1915. The Divided Back Period is also known as the "Golden Age of Postcards," due to the vast popularity of postcards during this time period.

Another type of postcard that began to be produced and popularly used during the Divided Back period and through the White Border period is the "real photo" postcard. "Real photo" postcards were first produced using the Kodak "postcard camera." The postcard camera could take a picture and then print a postcard-size negative of the picture, complete with a divided back and place for postage.

WHITE BORDER PERIOD: 1915-1930

Throughout early postcard history, German printers dominated the market in postcard printing. However, with the beginning of World War I, American printers supplied most of the postcards in the United States. American printers did not have the same technology as German printers, so the quality of available postcards fell, and people lost interest in collecting them, effectively ending the "Golden Age" of postcards. Printers saved ink during this time by not printing to the edge of the card and leaving a white border around the image, giving the time period its name. Postcards from the White Border Period also had a description of the image on the message side, which retained the divided back.

LINEN PERIOD: 1930-1945

Beginning in the 1930s, new printing processes allowed printers to produce postcards with high rag content, which gave them a look of being printed on linen, rather than paper. The most notable printer of this period was Curt Teich & Co., which printed its first linen card in 1931, and whose postcards became popular around the world. Teich's process allowed for quicker production and brighter dyes to be used to color the images. Most postcards retained the white border, though some were printed to the edge of the card. The back remained divided and usually contained printed information about the image. The production of linen postcards eventually gave way to photochrom (or photochrome) postcards, which first appeared in 1939. However, linen cards continued to be produced for over a decade after the advent of photochrom postcards.

PHOTOCHROM PERIOD: 1945-PRESENT

Modern photochrom-style postcards first appeared in 1939 when the Union Oil Company began to carry them in their western service stations. Production of the postcards slowed during World War II because of supply shortages, but after the war, they dominated the postcard market. The photochrom postcards are in color, and their images closely resemble photographs. Photochrom postcards are the ones most familiar to us today. In the 1990s the advent of e-cards and email started the decline of the postcard's popularity. Today postcards are typically purchased as souvenirs, rather than a quick way to communicate.

Further Resources

"Evolution of the Smithsonian Postcard," Smithsonian Institution Archives.

"Dating Postcards," Smithsonian Institution Archives.

"Guide to Dating Curt Teich Postcards," (PDF) Curt Teich Archives, Lake County Forest Preserves.

"Wish You Were Here!: The Story of the Golden Age of Picture Postcards in the United States," Fred Bassett, New York State Library.

"Postal History," US Postal Service.

National Postal Museum.

Universal Postal Union.

Footnotes

Post-Office Department, Annual Reports for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900. Report of the Postmaster-General. Miscellaneous Reports (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900), 792.

Post-Office Department, Annual Reports for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1906. Report of the Postmaster-General. Miscellaneous Reports (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906), 58, 313.

Post-Office Department, Annual Reports for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1907. Report of the Postmaster-General. Miscellaneous Reports (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906), 297.

Photochrom is spelled without out the "e" according to the Library of Congress. However, it can be spelled several alternative ways including the English version of photochrome or the German version of Fotochrom. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/pgz/about.html.

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edan-image:id=siris_sic_13918,size=350,right] Postcards, as we are familiar with them today, have taken a considerable amount of time to develop. First restricted by size, color, and other regulations, postcard production blossomed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Postcards were popular because they were a quick and easy way for individuals to communicate with each other.

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A successful pitch to Visual Editions and Google Creative Lab started the process of creating the digital experience by deconstructing Bibliothèque's visual language to create the graphic design of the website.

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A successful pitch to Visual Editions and Google Creative Lab started the process of creating the digital experience by deconstructing Bibliothèque's visual language to create the graphic design of the website.

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HUNDREDS of Londoners have revealed the most annoying things that tourists do in the city - from not being polite to holding up commuters on the Tube.

Brits have taken to Quora, a question and answer site to answer 'what are some cultural faux pas in London', with nearly 50,000 people curious to find the things that grind Londoners' gears every single day.

Unsurprisingly, we Brits hate it when visitors are impolite, skip queues and of course don't understand the social etiquette of the Tube.

Not understanding Tube etiquette

Unsurprisingly, Londoners HATE it when tourists behave badly on the Tube - including standing on the wrong side of the escalators and making eye contact.

The issue has hit the headlines in the past, when someone developed a controversial ' Tube Chat' badge for commuters to wear to encourage talking.

Needless to say, it wasn't a hit.

Talking on the Tube

One irate Londoner perfectly explained how visitors should behave, saying that the Tube 'is not a social networking site'.

He added: "It is a functional transport system full of busy people who are trying to get to their destinations as quickly as possible, not a place to try and make new friends.

"People do not want to stop and talk to you on the Tube, and they also do not want to have to ask you to move out of their way.

"As such, you should observe one very basic and obvious rule - do not obstruct passageways.

"This means that you do not stand on the left hand side of the escalator (a crime which should be punishable by summary execution, frankly).

"Also, don't hang about in platform exits looking at maps. (There are maps available everywhere, and if you don't have your own, you'll find plenty more on the platforms).

"Finally, allow people to get off the train before you try and get on."

And one man from New Zealand revealed how he learnt the hard way, after innocently trying to strike up conversation on the Tube when sightseeing.

He warned: "I intruded on the mother country when I talked to someone in the tube. After some breezy small talk, presumably being polite, they said: 'You're not from England, are you?'
" 'No,' I cheerfully answered, 'er... why?'

"I was prepared to launch into the 'origin of the species' talk.

" 'You're talking to us.'
"Me '...!'

"Then I noticed that everyone else on the train was either reading, listening to a device, staring at the floor, ceiling or... us.

"How was I supposed to know? There are no 'no talking' signs."

Standing on the wrong side of the escalator

To visitors, the Tube may be a novelty but for Londoners it's a quick way to get around the city.

It's a VERY clear rule that you should always stand single file on the right of the escalators, which means that other people can dash up the left hand side if they need to.

Standing side-by-side is just madness, and a clear pet hate of Londoners.

Irmani Smallwood said: "When using the tube, please obey the stand on the left signs, otherwise you will upset commuters and people trying to get from A to B.

"We know you are having a lovely time discovering our fabulous city, please don't make it harder for locals to make it all work. A missed tube can really screw up a schedule."

Posted Henry Watson added: "I think many tourists see it as a rule that no one really pays attention to and they're not harming anyone by standing on the left, but if you want to make a Londoner angry, that's certainly one way to go about it - not to mention the fact that you're slowing down the people who think they're important (and fit) enough to walk up or down the stairs."

Not having your ticket ready before the barrier

One Londoner summed it up in one sentence: "please don't faff around trying to find your ticket at the barriers during rush hour or you will be hated; make sure you have it in hand as you are on the escalators on the way up to ensure a speedy exit for everyone."

Not minding your manners

We Brits are well known for being impossibly polite, so it's only natural that this was pointed out by several users, who say tourists should remember their manners when they visit.

Alx Klive explained: "In general, Londoners, like all Brits, are exceedingly polite, and are generally brought up not to make an exhibition of ourselves.

"We therefore look unfavourably on people being impolite, brash or selfish."

Rebecca Oliver added: "British people are obsessive about manners. Most sentences in public situations should end or begin with "excuse me", "please", "thank you" or "I'm sorry".

"Sometimes if you are moving through a busy public thoroughfare you can use all of these in one long sentence, as in "Excuse me please, could I just get past, I'm sorry (passes person) Thank you".

"This is normal. It is also normal to say thank you when in a shop at the counter at least four times.

"It is also normal to thank a waiter for pouring a drink at your table in a restaurant, removing plates and presenting you with the bill."

Skipping queues

One user called Kevin Spinks summed up the importance of waiting in line perfectly, describing queuing in Britain as "a religion".

He added: "Never cut in. Queues exist frequently only in the minds of those in the queue.

"For example when you approach a bar with the intention of buying drinks you should make a mental note of those people already waiting and those people who arrive after you.

"Therefore you know your place in the queue.

"If the barman tries to serve you ahead of someone who is before you in the queue you should point the barman towards the correct person."

Forgetting to add 'road' to the end of street names

Surprisingly, the most popular pet hate was posted by Londoner Phil Gyford, who replied "Not a faux pas, but a little error that many Americans make is to omit the "Street" or "Road" etc from names.

"They might say they went to a shop on "Goldhawk" when they mean "Goldhawk Road".

"That's fine when your city is full of uniquely-named "1st St", "Avenue A", etc, but doesn't work in London.

"It sounds very strange to British ears and can be confusing because no one knows exactly where you mean.

"You say "I'm staying on Pembridge" and you could mean Pembridge Villas, Pembridge Road, Pembridge Gardens, Pembridge Place, Pembridge Crescent, etc."
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The most annoying things tourists do on the London Underground - and walking TOO SLOWLY is up there

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HUNDREDS of Londoners have revealed the most annoying things that tourists do in the city - from not being polite to holding up commuters on the Tube. Brits have taken to Quora, a question and answer site to answer 'what are some cultural faux pas in London', with nearly 50,000 people curious to find the things that grind Londoners' gears every single day.

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The first global dashboard for tourism insights

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Two special modules present data on the impact of COVID 19 on tourism as well as a Policy Tracker on Measures to Support Tourism

The first one-stop-shop for global information on COVID-19 related travel regulations it aims to build confidence among travellers and business and support policy making by providing a global overview of travel restrictions worldwide.

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As tourism slowly restarts in an increasing number of countries, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has developed the first comprehensive tourism recovery tracker worldwide, monitoring a number of relevant indicators throughout the recovery of tourism.

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international tourist arrivals and receipts and export revenues

international tourism expenditure and departures

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Tourism Flows

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1 billion fewer international tourist arrivals in 2021

Loss of US$ 1.0 trillion in total export revenues from international tourism in 2021

International tourist arrivals increased 102% in 2022 over 2021, but remained 37% below 2019

International tourism receipts recovered the USD 1 trillion mark in 2022 and reached 64% of pre-pandemic levels

International tourist arrivals grew 86% in Q1 2023 and reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels in the same quarter

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This compilation of country and international policy responses aims to share and monitor worldwide measures to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 crisis in the travel and tourism sector and accelerate recovery.

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The UNWTO Tourism Data Dashboard - provides statistics and insights on key indicators for inbound and outbound tourism at the global

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Book: An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris

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Book: An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris

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I have always felt uncomfortable being a tourist.

Although the practice of religious pilgrimage has long routes back to the Medieval period, the western tradition of ‘pleasure’ tourism is a relatively new phenomenon. It stems from the Grand Tour, when upper class men from Northwest Europe would travel through Southern Europe. The purpose of the Grand Tour was to soak up as much classical tradition as possible in order to complete one’s education. As Edward Gibbon writes in Decline and Fall (1776), “according to the law of custom, and perhaps of reason, foreign travel completes the education of an English gentleman”. This conception, however, that a foreign place is something to be used, or even consumed, for the purposes of personal self-actualization, is, for me, what makes tourism an uncomfortable thing, especially because the ability to travel usually comes with a certain amount of societal privilege.

Admittedly, tourism these days is less concerned with the uptake of classical tradition. However, it is still a widely held belief that travel opens up the mind and makes one a more well-rounded person. Being ‘well-travelled’ is a highly regarded quality, and there are certain places that contribute to that label more than others. Discerning consumption and collecting, then, are still key to our contemporary understanding of tourism.

That is not to say that I think that tourism is an inherently evil activity. I have enjoyed going up the Eiffel tower, around the Parthenon and down 5th Avenue. Looking back, however, I almost always enjoy these activities more in retrospect than in the present. I enjoy the fact have been up the Eiffel tower more than actually going up the Eiffel tower. My proof of this experience: my photographs, postcards, and small plastic souvenirs, will mean I can check this experience off the list.

Part of that experience is probably due to the chasm between expectation and reality. When I imagine going to the Louvre in the future, I imagine strolling leisurely through beautiful galleries and seeing the Mona Lisa. I forget that I will probably be hungry, my feet will hurt and that I’ll have to elbow my way past other tourists. ‘Paris syndrome’, when Japanese travelers experience psychiatric symptoms due to a severe sense of disappointment felt when visiting the city, is an extreme example of the problem with tourism. We rarely travel somewhere without preconceived notions, and we often want something from the places and people we travel to.

As tourists rarely experience a city in the way locals do. There are parts of London locals steer clear from because they regarded as ‘touristy’. Tourists are often searching for an ‘authentic’ experience of a place, but authenticity is a slippery term which oftentimes results in the simplification of foreign cultures.

There are many questions which I would like to explore in my FMP.  For example, how much has tourism changed since the time of the grand tour? How and why do we collect places? What desires feed the impulse to be a tourist? Is it possible to have an authentic experience of a place without living there? When do people who move somewhere new stop feeling like tourists? Why do locals hate tourists? Can you be a good tourist?

In many ways tourism is a visual activity, with ‘sightseeing’ being the main activity. A major source of my information will probably be the city itself. Tourist centres such as Trafalgar Square, London Eye and Buckingham Palace will be important for getting primary information, but I would also like to compare them to places which aren’t considered ‘touristy’ in order to ascertain what that really means. It would also be interesting to look at the tourism industries through places such as kiosks and open bus tours. For a more global outlook, internet sites such as the Global Tourism Dashboard are useful for providing data. Travel blogs and Youtube videos will be helpful in showing what a tourists experience of a place is. Guidebooks/websites will be useful to see what the language of tourism is and how it has evolved.

A more conceptual point of view on modern tourism can come from books such as Ury and Larsens’s The Tourist Gaze, which sees the tourist ‘gaze’ as being defined in contrast to non-touristic social practices, particularly those based within home and work. An interesting counterpoint to this might be Moufakkir and Reisinger’s The Host Gaze, which explores the role of ‘host’ in relation to ‘tourist’ and explores how the tourist gaze can become internalised into the identity of a country. In terms of tourism’s relationship to authenticity, a useful reference might be Eco’s Adventures in Hyperreality, as he explores places such as Disneyland and other entirely manufactured landscapes in relation to consumer culture.

A potential starting point for exploring the impulse to keep objects as memories of a foreign place is Phillip’s Unpacking Cultures, which looks at how tourists interact with ‘the objects of the cultural other’. To explore the souvenir historically places such as the British Museum and the V&A will be helpful, as they might shed light of how the historical idea of the ‘cabinet of curiosities’ informs our modern conception of keeping souvenirs. More immediately, however, the best reference for exploring souvenirs will be looking at the objects themselves and asking people how they relate to them. I would also like to look at historical art references for tourism and travel, for example looking at the British Museum’s collection of sketches from the Grand Tour. Researching touristic phenomenon’s which no longer exist, such as 18th century panorama paintings which were made to ‘transport’ viewers to foreign lands might also be a potential route and could be but into conversation with Eco’s Hyperreality. Another format which will be useful to explore is the postcard.

Contemporary photographers who have also explored this general are include Martin Parr, Alexander Coggin and Oleg Tolstoy. All three of these photographers are interested in making the tourist, rather than the attracting, the subject of their photographer, and purposefully create a level of discomfort in their work. Tolstoy’s The Tourist Trap takes close up photos of tourists who themselves are taking photographs of landmarks. Coggin’s Morocco, America documents his family’s journey through Morocco, and captures moments of cultural dissonance and the unromantic side of tourism. Parr’s Global Tourism asks the viewer to evaluate tourism’s impact on the environment and its potentially for cultural insensitivity.

An interesting design reference for dealing with place might be Visual Editions Where You Are, a collection of non-traditional maps. This is especially true of Geoff Dyer’s map, which pins down locations that have been important in his life as if they are spots for tourism. This, as well as Perec’s An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, could be used to explore the division between the ‘touristy’ and ‘authentic’ parts of a city. Dyer’s map shows the relationship between mapping and tourism in the way that it subverts its formal features.

Fictional travel literature might also be a potential starting point. This is especially true for historical travel literature, as before the invention of the camera language was the main medium through which foreign lands were accessed and imagined. An interesting academic starting point might be Leask’s Curiosity and the Aesthetics of Travel Writing, which explores the concept of ‘curiosity’ itself in relation to physical ‘curiosities.

A previous project of mine which is conceptually similar to my project proposal is Political Land. In this project I looked at Litang - a city in rural Tibet - in which tourism and reality were very much at odds. Litang’s main touristic point of interest is its annual horse race. However, whilst researching the horse race I eventually discovered that it was a fake tradition which was entirely fabricated by the Chinese government. This project will be useful for many reasons. Firstly, it taught me that maps can be emotional as much as they are empirical. Secondly, it showed me how tourism and sources of official information can lie and be potentially destructive forces for local areas. Finally, it taught me important skills in researching places where I have never been and have no immediate access to.

Another project which will be useful was Notice, in which I installed typography onto a local bench in Kingston. Like Political Land, this was a project which involved place. It taught me how to map out a space through diagramming. More importantly, through Notice I learnt that people are an intrinsic part of any space, as the project showed me the importance of observing people’s interaction with space and using that to inform the designing of an outcome that belongs in that space. Faking it might also be useful in that it made me think about the inauthentic. The skills of set building, framing, and filming might all prove useful if I decide to follow the route of in-authenticity and tourism.