ABSTRACT
In the late twentieth century the pursuit of leisure has become an essential ingredient of modern consumer culture (Featherstone 1991). Nowadays, particularly in western societies, people regard leisure and recreation as their right, an avenue of escapism from the monotonous routine of everyday life on the job. Travel and tourism are key representations of the growing dichotomy between work and leisure. Becoming a tourist allows a person to move temporarily away from the usual place of residence and visit destinations offering views and experiences which do not feature within their ordinary everyday lives. These views and experiences, which Urry (1988) has dubbed ‘the tourist gaze’, are sought predominantly for the purpose of deriving pleasure. Even business travelers, who in certain destinations may represent a significant proportion of all tourists, commonly participate in various leisure and recreation-oriented activities during their trips (Shaw and Williams 1994).
