Author: Lai Chia-Ling
E-mail: lai_chialing@yahoo.co.uk
Department: Graduate Institute of Futures Studies
Institution: Tamkang Univ, Taiwan
Title: Packing the World Expo as Tourists' Global-Mega Event: Analyzing the Media
and Package Tour as the Intermediate Mechanism of Tourist Attraction-Making
Abstract:
Mega-events, such as World expos, have received new academic attentions in
tourism studies. However, current research emphasis more on the host city’s space
transformation and its attraction-making, than on its temporal effects and
intermediated mechanisms engaged through media and package tour in attracting
visitors. Based on the current debates on the World expos as global mega-events,
this research thus analyzes how a global event performs its social impact through
the ‘temporal intensified’ tourist attraction-making, by analyzing the attractions
made by multiple media coverage and package tour designs. On the one hand, the
multiple media coverage not only emphasizes on the spatial and spectacle of the
world expo, but also concerns the delicate temporal sequences of reportage. On the
other, the general media representation and the design of package tours all
surround the selection and organizing the destination within limited visiting time,
which create specific ‘temporal intensified’ experience for visitors.
Taking the 2010 Shanghai World Expo as the case study, this research emphasizes
on its attraction-making that target at visitors in Taiwan. On the one hand, it will
firstly analyzes how the Shanghai World Expo has been made a tourist attraction for
visitors in Taiwan, from the general media representation, package tours’ itinerary
designs in Taiwan. The selection of sites, the suggestion of visiting times and routes,
as well as the emphasis of touring cultural contacts, will be the focus of analysis. On
the other hand, it will analyze the tourists’ practices and reflexive thinking about the
Expo ‘s attraction-making through the media and the package tour design, by indepth interviews with different tourists according to their social categories and
travel types.
Dr. Chia-Ling Lai, received her PhD. from the Department of Sociology, Lancaster
University, UK. Now she is Assistant Professor of the Graduate Institute of Futures
Studies, Tamkang Univ, Taiwan. Her research interest lies in the intersection
between materiality and multiple mobilities. She has published several papers on
the topics of museum and touring cultures. Her current English publications include
‘Art exhibitions travel the world’ in Mimi Sheller and John Urry (ed.) Tourism,
Mobilities. 2004, Routledge; ‘Risk of historical artifacts in travel’, in Journal of
Historical Sociology. She is now conducting research projects on Shanghai World
expo 2010, Guide and mobile technology in the museum, Travelinng with luggage,
and the aesthetic politics of museum shops.