American and Canadian perspectives on the First World War: similarities and differences between neighbours

摘要

This paper focuses on how the First World War (WWI) is seen by Canadians (n = 194) and Americans (n = 257) today. The primary focus of this paper is on the factors that shape Canadians' and Americans' memories of WWI and the influence of these factors on their intentions to visit WWI sites in the future. In addition, it also examines their first thoughts on WWI, how they describe WWI sites and why they think memories of WWI should be kept alive. Results indicate that while there are strong similarities in the way the two neighbouring countries describe WWI sites and why they want to keep the memories of this event alive, the two groups differ in how their memories of WWI are shaped on other variables. Practical implications for organizations involved in promoting tourism to these sites are also discussed.