Simple living and tourism in times of 'austerity'

摘要

The sharp increase in domestic tourism in the UK in 2009 and 2010 has prompted speculations about an embryonic quest for 'simpler pleasures' and greener, less exotic holidays. Absent from these debates is a more thorough reflection about the complex ways through which people negotiate everyday senses of normalcy, simplicity and excess in consumption and travelling. This is important to understand the political, economic, cultural and technological contexts that may facilitate a shift towards simpler, sustainable lifestyles. The paper presents results of fieldwork looking at ways in which tourists negotiate what is normal and excessive in holidaymaking. Data suggest that tourism is a highly valued symbolic aspect of modern life which few people are ready to sacrifice on environmental grounds and which is inextricably entangled with contested notions of accessibility, citizenship, equality and fairness.