Wikipedia

Sensory tourism

This article is about travel for people who are visually impaired. Not to be confused withaccessible tourism.

Sensory tourismis a form oftourism,that caters for people withvision impairment.Those suffering from vision impairment face many difficulties based around mainstream tourism such as access to information, navigation, safety and the knowledge of others around them.[1]This has caused the visionless members of society to travel much less than those with no vision impairment. Combining the theories behind tourism in terms of itspsychologyand its relation to thesenses,an inclusive experience for the visually disabled was developed.[2]Sensory tourism engages the physical and multi-sensory aspects of tourism, enhancing the tourism experience specifically for those with, but also benefitting those without vision impairment.[3]

The Psychology of Tourism

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Historically, regular tourism is heavily focused onsightseeing,rather than memories and experiences gained fromtravelling.[2]Based on recent reviews of the psychology of tourism, it is argued that a tourists experience of a place is based upon the individuals memory,[4]which is actively shaped by what they see, but also what they “hear, smell, touch and taste.”[5]In order to build a pleasurable tourism experience for those who are vision impaired, but also those who are not, discovery of a place should be based on “social and cultural” experiences.[6]Adding to this, the traveller’s anticipation and participation for future trips are based on previous "emotions, satisfactions, and memories of experiences prior,"[7]which can often be a barrier faced by visually impaired travellers.

Briefly,psychologyis the "study of the mind and behaviour," which can be easily applied to tourism.[8]It can be said that tourism companies should be "most interested in how tourists think, feel and behave."[9]This is because, generally,psychologyis based around a vast range of ideas, these mainly being "theories and methods" for explaining human behaviour and experience, which can in turn be applied to, and effect a tourist's experience.[9]This "breadth and intense scrutiny of human behaviour" can be a rich resource in understanding the factors that make up a positive experience that a tourist undertakes. Applying psychology to the context of sensory tourism, a travelling experience for someone with vision impairment should be “considered as a dynamic and reflective process”.[10]This allows those with sight issues a chance to experience a place with their other active senses, leading to further excitement for future tourism experiences. Through enhanced interaction with “physical, social, and virtual environmental stimuli,”[6]the visually impaired can base their travel experience on psychological factors other than sight.

The Senses in Tourism

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The five senses (hearing, sight, taste, smell and touch) and their respective sensory organs inherent amongHomo sapiens

Thesenseswithin the body are how information is collected about a person’s surroundings.[11]In terms of tourism, the “bodily states, situated actions, and mental simulations are used to generate our cognitive activity,” which leads to a tourist having certain memories and attitudes toward places they visit (Krishna, 2012).[12]The senses are considered to be the foundations of how tourists interact with their surroundings, and how they create opinions and make sense of these surroundings.[13]Consequently, the design of sensory tourism should be based around the foundations of knowledge surrounding the bodily senses.[13]Applying an understanding of the senses to tourism for those with vision impairment will enhance their travelling experience through “tactility, aroma, movement and sound,”[14]which allows them to build a positive relationship between the place that they visit, and the meaning associated with that place.[15]Hence, more attention needs to be paid more toward the senses rather than just the visual tourism experience, to ensure these people can still gain an “enriched experience” of places they visit.[3]In turn, those with impaired vision will be able to broaden their horizons.[2]

Diagram showing the parts of the brain

In more scientific terms, the human body uses itsnervous systemin order to react to certain experiences gained from tourism. Theoretically, this works as a sequence of reactions leading to our brain toward making a perception of the world around us, hence, the senses are a very important aspect of tourism.[16]Each of the five senses are connected to a body part or a sensing organ. For example, sight is perceived by theeyes,taste is detected by tastebuds, smell comes from chemicals floating in the air reaching receptors in the nose, touch is received by neural receptors in theskinand finally, hearing is the perception of sound, in which vibrations in the air are perceived by mechanoreceptors in theear.[17]Once astimulusis detected at one of these sensing organs of the body, the message is relayed through the “peripheral nervous systemto thecentral nervous system,”to the part of thebrainthat detects the relevant sense.[17]In terms of what part of the brain in which the senses are processed, smell is “sent directly to theolfactory bulb,”“visual information is processed in thevisual cortexof theoccipital lobe”,“sound is processed in theauditory cortexof thetemporal lobe”,“smells are processed in theolfactory cortexof thetemporal lobe”,touch is “processed in thesomatosensory cortexof theparietal lobe”and "taste is processed in thegustatory cortexin theparietal lobe.”[17]

In terms of the senses giving someone a perception of a place, the certain senses relayed from thesensory organ,through thenervous system,to thebrainfor a response will give someone a unique awareness of the place in which they visit. The sensory signals will be relayed from the sensory organ to the brain, in which this information can be stored as a part of an individual’smemory.[18]In terms of tourism, when someone remembers something about a place that they have visited, either a scene, smell, taste, feeling or something they heard, the “sensory processing areas in the brain become activated.”[18]These sensory inputs will also cause us to remember something about a place, causing both positive or negative memories associated with this place to resurface. Once again, this means that all senses, not just sight should be considered by tourism companies in order for both visionless and visioned tourists alike to have the most enhanced experience of a place they visit.

A Gap in the Market

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Tourism companies have struggled to adapt to changing industry needs and have “failed to engage seriously with disability issues,” which leads to a negative connotation with visited areas by those of whom choose to visit.[19]World Health Organizationestimates that in 2012 there were 285 million people suffering from vision impairment worldwide.[20]As Packer[1]rightfully explains, people with disabilities “have the right to fully participate in the community,” and they should be able to “enjoy the same quality of life” as those without. It goes without saying that this includes tourism, but research shows that people with vision impairment are not travelling as frequently as those without.[1]

This infrequency of vision impaired people travelling is due to the complexity and difficulty of travelling with vision impairment. There are four main factors that create a barrier between tourism and those with vision impairment, these being “accessing information, navigating the physical environment – safety, knowledge and attitudes of others [and] travelling with aGuide Dog.”[1]There is “additional energy required to access” the information needed for those with vision impairment to travel,[1]which makes it difficult for people to access resources and extra help in order to gain the most out of their travel experience, as well as allowing them to gain a positive psychological connotation to their place of visit. Without guidance from knowledgeable people or appropriate animal assistance, navigating foreign terrain can be difficult but also dangerous for visually impaired tourists. Another barrier for travellers that have impaired vision is the limited knowledge and attitudes towards others, which can sometimes cause feelings of exclusion. It is important that tourism companies “manage their tourist experiences closely and constantly,” in order to provide those with visual impairment an enjoyable experience.[21]The tourism industry must understand the psychology and sensory aspects of tourism if “quality accessible experiences are to be available for tourists with vision impairment.”[21]

References

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  1. ^abcdePacker, Tanya L (2008)."TOURIST EXPERIENCES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH VISION IMPAIRMENT"(PDF).Curtin University.RetrievedApril 1,2019.
  2. ^abcClifford, Jessica (2019-03-24)."The life-changing form of tourism that involves everything but sightseeing".ABC News.Retrieved2019-05-12.
  3. ^abPan, Steve; Ryan, Chris (2009-11-01). "Tourism Sense-Making: The Role of the Senses and Travel Journalism".Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing.26(7): 625–639.doi:10.1080/10548400903276897.hdl:10397/27922.ISSN1054-8408.S2CID153598874.
  4. ^Larsen, Svein (2007-05-01). "Aspects of a Psychology of the Tourist Experience".Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism.7(1): 7–18.doi:10.1080/15022250701226014.ISSN1502-2250.S2CID144986000.
  5. ^Csordas, TJ (1994).Embodiment and experience: The existential ground of culture and self (Vol. 2).Cambridge University Press.
  6. ^abTussyadiah, I., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2009). "Mediating tourist experiences: access to places".Annals of Tourism Research.36(1): 24–40.doi:10.1016/j.annals.2008.10.001.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^Ek, R., Larsen, J., Hornskov, S. B., & Mansfeldt, O. K. (2008). "A dynamic framework of tourist experiences: Space-time and performances in the experience economy".Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism.8(2): 122–140.doi:10.1080/15022250802110091.S2CID154921026.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^"What is Psychology? | Simply Psychology".simplypsychology.org.Retrieved2019-06-06.
  9. ^abPearce (2013)."Minds on the move: New links from psychology to tourism"(PDF).Annals of Tourism Research.40:386–411.doi:10.1016/j.annals.2012.10.002.
  10. ^Schmitt, B (1999). "Experiential marketing".Journal of Marketing Management.15(1–3): 53–67.doi:10.1362/026725799784870496.
  11. ^Jeongmi Jamie Kim, Daniel R. Fesenmaier (2015)."DESIGNING TOURISM PLACES: UNDERSTANDING THE TOURISM EXPERIENCE THROUGH OUR SENSES".Travel and Tourism Research Association: Advancing Tourism Research Globally.19:1–6.
  12. ^Krishna, A (2012). "An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception, judgment and behavior".Journal of Consumer Psychology.22(3): 332–351.doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.08.003.hdl:2027.42/142108.S2CID12584361.
  13. ^abGretzel, U., & Fesenmaier, D (2003). "Experience-based internet marketing: an exploratory study of sensory experiences associated with pleasure travel to the Midwest United States".Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism:49–57.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^Small, Jennie; Darcy, Simon; Packer, Tanya (August 2012). "The embodied tourist experiences of people with vision impairment: Management implications beyond the visual gaze".Tourism Management.33(4): 941–950.doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2011.09.015.
  15. ^Tuan, Y.F (1977).Space and place: The perspective of experience.U of Minnesota Press.
  16. ^Joeel, R (2017)."Psychological Theory on the Five Human Senses".Sciencing.Retrieved28 June2019.
  17. ^abcBailey, Regina (2018)."The Five Senses and How They Work".Thought Co.Retrieved28 June2019.
  18. ^ab"Sensory Systems Work Together".learn.genetics.utah.edu.Retrieved2019-05-28.
  19. ^Richards, Victoria; Pritchard, Annette; Morgan, Nigel (October 2010). "(Re)Envisioning tourism and visual impairment".Annals of Tourism Research.37(4): 1097–1116.doi:10.1016/j.annals.2010.04.011.
  20. ^"Vision impairment and blindness".who.int.Retrieved2019-05-12.
  21. ^abSmall, Jennie; Darcy, Simon; Packer, Tanya (August 2012). "The embodied tourist experiences of people with vision impairment: Management implications beyond the visual gaze".Tourism Management.33(4): 941–950.doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2011.09.015.
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