ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at tourists and tourism on the Canary island of Gomera, which is just south-west of Tenerife. The island’s poor road network and rugged terrain has filtered out the less adventurous visitors. As a consequence, the valley itself, on the west side of the island and a two-hour journey by bus from the port (San Sebastian), has been popular with a particular type of backpacking tourist that may be classified as ‘alternative’. In this chapter, the identifying label of ‘alternative’ tourist is used as a means of classifying and examining a group of people, whilst concurrently being the object of analysis itself. The identity of holiday destinations as promoted by those interested in attracting tourists is constructed to reflect the interests and desires of the potential customer. One of the salient economic consequences of different types of tourism occurs with the differing accommodation preferences of the groups.
