ABSTRACT
Shopping is the central theme of this book and in previous chapters we have established that shopping is a major activity for tourists in rural villages and small towns, a common motivation for visiting these places and a central part of their development. But shopping is very rarely used in the promotion and presentation of these destinations, few of these destinations openly label or refer to themselves as shopping villages (see Table 6.1) and shopping is seldom included in the tourist narratives about their experiences. There are several reasons why people do not mention shopping when discussing TSVs. Firstly, there could be a general view that shopping alone is not considered a worthwhile leisure activity and must be connected to something else to be socially acceptable. Secondly, it may refl ect variation in the motives of different members of travel parties, in which some may be explicitly interested in shopping and others either interested in other activities or simply willing to participate to make the shoppers in the group happy. Finally, it may refl ect the existence of different types of tourist activities and attractions in villages. Shopping in TSVs takes place within a larger tourist experience often built around a particular theme and it is this larger context that distinguishes shopping in TSVs from shopping malls or urban precincts.
