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
Volume
48
Issue
5
First Page
937
Last Page
942
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
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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, 48(5), 937-942. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480221130997