Ebook Sport and Tourism: Globalization, Mobility and Identity (Part 2)

CHAPTER 8 Authentic Experiences* Oneofthefundamentalcriticismsoftourismisthatitleadstopseudo-eventsthat fail to reflect the true culture of a place (Boorstin, 1964). This criticism suggests that in the process of catering to visitors, tourism operators create packages and fosterexperiencesthatcorruptthe culturalessence oftheattraction.Ineffect,the destination becomes a stage featuring performances by hosts who are removed from their real lives, their real homes and their real culture. As a result, tourist experiences are diminished. Typically, the tourism industry has been blamed for this erosion of authenticity, and increasingly the industry itself has identified inauthenticity as an issue. Gilmore and Pine (2007) capture this sentiment with their message that authenticity is what consumers want and, by extension, what producers should be providing. In this chapter, we argue that sport offers unique qualities relative to other types of cultural tourist attractions in terms of facilitating authentic tourist expe-riences. We do this by positioning sport as a cultural tourist attraction and highlighting the challenges of commodification. The balance of the chapter uses Wang’s (1999, 2000) framework of authenticity to demonstrate the relevance of sport attractions as agents for authentic tourist experience. CONTENTS Sport as a cultural tourist attraction Commodification Authenticity Conclusion SPORT AS A CULTURAL TOURIST ATTRACTION Sport fits nicely under Leiper’s (1990:371) framework of a tourist attraction, which he defines as ‘. a system comprising of three elements: a tourist or * This chapter is extensively derived from Hinch, T.D. & Higham, J.E.S. (2005). Sport, tourism and authenticity. European Sports Management Quarterly, 5(3): 245–258. Special issue: Sports tourism theory and method. Guest editor: Mike Weed. Sport and Tourism Copyright Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved. 145 146 CHAPTER 8: Authentic Experiences human element, a nucleus or central element, and a marker or informative element. A tourist attraction comes into existence when the three elements are connected’. In the context of sport, the human element includes competitive and elite athletes, spectators and an assortment of supporting personnel. Markers take the form of advertisements and various media representations of sporting places. The nucleus is where sport is produced and consumed. It is where the games, activities and competitions that characterize sport are played and otherwise engaged in. It is our contention that all sports, both urban and nature-based, are cultural manifestations and therefore are potential cultural attractions. For example, Bale (1994) argues that sports are not natural forms of movement but rather form part of a cultural landscape. Even sports that take place in supposedly natural environments actually take place in environments that are subject to cultural modification. Golf courses, for instance, are designed, maintained and otherwise used by humans clearly making them a part of a cultural landscape (Priestley, 1995). A sport attraction is also a cultural attraction to the extent that sport identities (see Chapter 4, Culture and identity) are a reflection of the culture in a place. These identities represent the way communities are perceived and are projected based on prevailing social and ideological values and practices (McConnell & Edwards, 2000). In his book Travels with Charley, novelist John Steinbeck (1963) suggests that visitors can obtain a sense of local culture by going to a local pub on a Saturday night or to a church service the next day. In both cases, the visitor is able to share in local celebrations that reflect an important dimension of the culture of a place. The pub and the church service function as recognized ‘windows’ or perhaps even ‘portals’ into the backstage of a destination. A similar argument can be made for sport events and activities, as sport is one of the ways in which humans develop their personal and collective identities. Nauright (1996) goes as far as to claim that in ‘. many cases, sporting events and people’s reactions to them are the clearest public manifestations of culture and collective identities in a given society’ (p. 69). Notwithstanding this perspective, processes of globalization have challenged the traditional view that sport ‘embodies local culture’ (E. Cohen, personal communication, 12 June 2007). This is espe-cially true in the context of sports like football with its global appeal, global competition, worldwide media distribution and the global mobility of its elite players. Yet, even in the case of football, there are local variations in style and passions that are consistent with Maguire’s (1999) argument that there are increasing varieties even in the face of diminishing contrasts as the local negotiates its place in the global (see Chapter 2, Sport and tourism in a global world). Commodification 147 For example, a visitor will experience a significant aspect of Canadian culture by attending an ice hockey game while in Canada (Gruneau & Whitson, 1993). More generally, visitors who attend local sporting events, participate in local sport activities or visit local sites to venerate sports/people are afforded a unique opportunity to access the backstage of a destination. Furthermore, their visit is not likely to be as intrusive as visits to many other cultural sites because these elements of sport experience, despite their cultural significance, tend to be viewed as being within the public rather than private domain. COMMODIFICATION Tourism is a business. Tourism operators, governments, local hosts and tourists tend to rationalize their decisions in economic terms and behave as actors in a common market (Pearce, 1989). The fundamental rationale for tourism development is an economic one; destinations and providers of tourism goods and services seek net economic gains. Tourism activities are, therefore, a form of commercial exchange. Destination resources such as attractive climates, beautiful landscapes anduniquelocalculturesarepackagedinamultitudeofwaysthataredesigned toprovideleisureexperiencesforvisitors.Theseexperiencesareexchangedfor the visitors’ economic resources, which are usually collected through an assortment of fees charged for tour packages, attractions, accommodation, food and beverages, transportation, souvenirs and other visitor-related prod-ucts and services as well as through avenues of government taxation. Cohen (1988:380) described this exchange as a form of commodification or . a process by which things (and activities) come to be evaluated primarily in terms of their exchange value, in a context of trade, thereby becoming goods (and services); developed exchange systems in which the exchange value of things (and activities) is stated in terms of prices form a market. Commodification has drawn considerable attention from critics of tourism who suggest that selling landscapes and culture in this type of exchange is somewhat akin to prostitution in that by engaging in these transactions, the destination is sacrificing part of its soul (Greenwood, 1989). The commodification of local culture is seen as especially challenging given the intrusive nature this can have in terms of the backstage of a destination. Sport is rapidly moving toward a similar degree of commodification as reflected, for example, in the trends towards professional competition, 148 CHAPTER 8: Authentic Experiences commercial intrusion, increased media involvement and the emergence of transnational sport equipment manufacturers. McKay and Kirk (1992:10) argue that ‘[w]hereas cultural activities such as . sport once were based primarily on intrinsic worth, they are now increasingly constituted by market values’ (see Case study 8.1). Case study 8.1 Promotional culture, indigenous identity, and the All Blacks Haka: Questions of commodification and authenticity Jay Scherer (University of Alberta, Canada) This case study examines issues of commodification and authenticity as they relate to the production and consump-tion of sport experiences that are increasingly mediated and incorporated into a global promotional culture. On 16 June 2007, Italian truck manufacturer Iveco, a multinational corporation with little or no connection to the sport of rugby union(or toNew Zealand for thatmatter) becamethe official global sponsor of the All Blacks. In doing so, Iveco joined a host of other corporations including adidas, Coca Cola, Ford, Wheet-Bix, Steinlager and Mastercard in articulating their brand with the All Blacks, and by extension, New Zea-land identity. These issues speak precisely of the impact of globalization on rugby as the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and its corporate ‘partners’ aggressively pursue new revenue streams and global audiences (Hope, 2002; Scherer, Falcous, & Jackson, 2008). A corollary of the expo-nential increase in the marketing of the All Blacks, however, hasbeentheintensivecommodificationofMaoricultureand specifically the Ka Mate haka, which is performed by the All Blacks prior to each test match. For example, to anoint their global sponsorship, Iveco recently released three versions of a televised advertisement, which aired in Italy, Spain, Great Britain, and New Zealand and featured several All Blacks of Polynesian, Maori and Fijian descent performing the Ka Mate haka to equate the power of the All Blacks with the 4WD IvecoStralis. Revealing the ongoing erosion oftheterri-torial frontiers of the global advertising industry, the Iveco All Blacks campaign, which so heavily commodified the Ka Mate haka and Maori culture, was developed and produced by the Domino advertising agency, in Italy. Iveco’s sponsorship of the All Blacks has seemingly extended well beyond a simple partnership between the NZRU and a multinational corporation. More specifically, in 2007 various aspects of Maori culture, including the Ka Mate haka, were central to the Notte Bianca (an annual all-night cultural festival) which was hosted in Rome to promote notonlyIvecobutalsoNewZealand,whichexistsasa‘brand state’ (Van Hamm, 2001) in the competitive and lucrative global tourist market. An Iveco press release noted: IvecoandNewZealand’sEmbassyinRomewilllead thepublicallthewaytoNewZealand,accompanied by the Haka dance that will introduce the Maori culturalidentity.InthecollectiveritualoftheHaka dance,Ivecowilljoin theMaoripeople inconfirming the values (Commitment, Reliability, Performance andTeamSpirit)thatitshareswiththeNewZealand rugby team, the All Blacks . During the Haka dance, the streets of Rome will become a marae, the traditional open-air space in which social ceremonies are held. The shouts and foot-stamping will reaffirm the endurance of the Maori cultural heritage; watching this spectacle . onlookers will witnessanidentityandvalueswhosepowerremains undiminished even in today’s world. (Iveco, 2007) It can be suggested, then, that Maori culture and the New Zealand state have been incorporated into commercial enterprise, market dynamics and a global promotional culture in which almost every element of social and cultural life has become a sales pitch and where consumer identities Commodification 149 have become the currency of everyday life. What is plainly visible here is not only the ongoing delocalization of Maori identity and culture but also the possibilities of vicariously experiencing the world’s geography: The interweaving of simulacra in daily life brings together different worlds (of commodities) in the same space and time. But it does so in such a way as to conceal almost perfectly any trace of origin, of the labour processes that produced them, or of the social relations implicated in their production. (Harvey, 1990:300). Following Harvey (1990), these broad cultural-economic conditions are clearly of interest for sport tourism scholars and students interested in the critical study of globalization and the increasing premium that is being placed on the production of ‘authentic’ Indigenous traditions and heritage experiences for the consumption of global audiences, sports fans and tourists. More importantly, however, these issues are of paramount importance for Maori who are witnessing an exponential growth and interest in the use of Maori imagery, symbols and designs to promote commercial prod-ucts and specific places as tourist destinations (Solomon, 2007). These developments have, incidentally, galvanized many Maori who are concerned with the misrepresentation of their culture and are at the core of Maori struggles over the legal protection and identification of intellectual property rights, a reminder of the different types of claims being placed on identity and ‘authenticity’ in the global economy. Two sport-related examples point to the relevance of these issues. In 1999, adidas released a widely acclaimed television commercial entitled ‘Black’. The commercial was based largely around the spectacle of the Ka Mate haka and Maori culture: it was developed as a ‘primal, scary ad’ (Primal Team, 1999:22) to reach adidas’s company-wide global target market of 14–25-year olds in over 70 countries around the world. Despite going to extensive lengths to produce ‘authentic’ representations of indigenous culture, including consulting with some Maori and trans-forming the commercial set into a marae [communal meeting place], the advertising executives decided to technologically enhance the commercial by adding a simu-lated moko (facial tattoo) to the main warrior who features so prominently in the ad. The commercial’s stereotypical imagery, including the fabricated moko were, however, greeted with derision from some Maori who argued that indigenous culture cannot simply be haphazardly simulated and inserted into commercials that are controlled by non-Maori. Referring specifically to the use of the moko, lawyer Maui Solomon explained: The tau moko is not just the individual lines on the faceit tells awhole story ofthatperson’s heritage, of the marae of the tribe . it’s part of that collective right. thepersoncarriesallofthatmana,allofthat heritage, all of that tradition. So, it is wrong for me to go and try and copyright an ancestor figure that’s been carved on a tree because I’ve got a company and I want to use it on a logo because that belongs to my collective, it belongs to my iwi. (Solomon, cited in Jackson & Hokowhitu, 2002:136) Finally, in 2005 thousands of rugby fans travelled to New Zealand to support the British and Irish Lions rugby team. A key component of their sporting and cultural experiences consistedofnotonlywatchingorattendingthevariousrugby matches but also consuming the advertising and marketing for the Lions tour, which was laden with indigenous imagery. One of the most significant campaigns was adidas’s ‘Stand in Black’ promotion that consisted of the placement of a number of ‘Haka Man’ statues around New Zealand. One of adidas’s statues on Watchman Island was, however, unceremoniously toppled by a local Maori group who considered the statue to be culturally insensitive. Beyond this, it is importanttonote thateven anumber ofhigh-profile All Blacks, including Byron Kelleher for example, have recently suggested that the performance of the Ka Mate haka prior to each match is little more than a promotional stunt and no longer reflects the values of the All Blacks. Regardless, these actions and claims clearly raise a number of complicated questions pertaining to the production of ‘authentic’ advertising and sport tourism experiences, espe- cially in light of the growing concerns of indigenous peoples ... - tailieumienphi.vn