ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an introduction to the various notions of place as well as its relationship to tourism. The fundamental concept that depicts the human–place relationship is that of sense of place, which is related to ideas of place attachment, topophilia, insidedness, and community sentiment. Sense of place is conceptualised in terms of two main dimensions: (1) relationship to place which refers to the different ways that people are linked to places and the types of bonds (genealogical/historical, narrative/cultural, economic, ideological, cosmological, and dynamic); and (2) place attachment which reflects the depth and types of attachments to one place (place identity, place dependence, affective attachment, social bonding, place memory, and place expectation). In addition, the concepts of place making, place marketing, and their implications for sense of place are noted.