Staging mediatized tourism places as imagined playscapes: The crucial role of a tour designer
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
47184
Funders
JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 26243007
Abstract
This study examines how a mediatized space becomes a “staged” place to play with, and provides a symbolic platform for performance-based, tourism experiences from a tour program design perspective. It focuses on the Detective Conan Mystery Tour, a derivative tourism product of Detective Conan, a Japanese mystery fiction media franchise. Applying the concept of “playscapes” as the theoretical lens, the findings indicate that creating fiction-driven places forms “imagined playscapes” through the endless negotiation process that occurs between tourists as consumers and tour designers and/or operators as producers. In this regard, tour designers play a crucial role in creating the imagined playscapes of the mediatized spaces, inviting tourist performance as a metaphor for an utterly authentic experience. Highlights: - Mediatized space becomes a place to play with and provides a platform for performance. - The case of Detective Conan’s Tour provides a new perspective of mediatized tourism. - Tour designers play a crucial role in creating the imagined “playscapes.” - The likelihood of wider applications of “playscapes” is largely expected.
DOI
10.1177/10963480221130997
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Jang, K., & Kim, S. (2022). Staging mediatized tourism places as imagined playscapes: The crucial role of a tour designer. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480221130997