ABSTRACT
Destinations are the focal point for much tourism research as well as for much of the tourism experience. They serve as one of the main reasons for being a tourist. Although some tourism marketers and promoters and, perhaps, even tourism planners may sometimes seem to propose otherwise, a destination is not just another ‘product’ or ‘commodity’ (Hall 2008a). Although destinations are places of tourist consumption they are also places in which people live, work and play and to which they may have a strong sense of attachment and ownership, what is usually described as a sense of place: the term that is used to refer to the subjective, personal and emotional attachments and relationships people have to a place (Cresswell 2004). Although, in many cases, people might only consciously notice the unique qualities of places when they are away from them, when a place is being rapidly altered, or when a place is being marketed and promoted in a way they do not relate to.
