ABSTRACT
At the heart of tourism is encounter – perhaps its defi ning, distinguishing feature (Crouch et al. , 2001). We travel to encounter other places, landscapes, people, sights, weather. While the tourism industry relies on all manner of material commodities to turn a profi t (hotel beds, postcards, luggage, etc.), and has been incorporated into a symbolic economy of marketing representations, its most cherished, commodifi ed, essential element is encounter.
