Mobilizing Tourism

Abstract

Mobilizing tourism refers to a particular kind of tourism in which the experience of mobility itself constitutes the central element. Mobilizing tourism targets a niche market of consumers with specific profiles. Overlapping broader contemporary social movements such as slow tourism, slow travel and green travel/tourism, this type of tourism represents a reflexive personal engagement with certain values and, therefore, a political statement. Through travel narratives, notably travel blogs and social media, tourists/travellers praise experiences that are ethically committed to the values of sustainability, a low-carbon society and social justice. While mobilizing tourism reflects the tourist experience as deeply subjective, it also feeds the tourism management and marketing sector, informing new trends and requiring adjustments in the sector.