PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TOOL TO TOURISM PROMOTION

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PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TOOL TO TOURISM PROMOTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

This project introduces a conceptual framework of photographic tourism, identifies its drivers of growth and investigates into its practices. In presenting this framework the intention is to contribute towards the development of the concept of photographic tourism and the photographic tourists in the settings of special interest tourism.

The concept of ‘special interest tourism’ has emerged in recent years in counter-point to what is commonly

referred to as ‘mass tourism’. Special interest tourism could be viewed as a form of tourism, which involves tourists/consumers whose holiday is inspired by specific motivations, interests and needs and whose level of satisfaction is

determined by the experience they pursue1.

Tourism has grown and matured over the years and so has the tourists. Today, experienced tourists expect more

than just a leisure travel. They look for more meaningful experiences that contribute towards their existing level of knowledge. Douglas et al. (2001: 3) describe special interest tourism as an alternative to mass tourism. They suggest that it is ‘the provision of customised leisure and recreational experiences driven by the specific expressed interests of individuals and groups. A special interest tourist chooses to engage with a product or service that satisfies particular interests and needs, so SIT is tourism undertaken for a distinct and specific reason’.

Today, Special interest tourism is one of the fastest growing areas within the tourism industry. It comprises of

different tourism activities that are different from other traditional tourism products, suggesting that tourists are beginning to demand more varied and stimulating holiday experiences. Tourism suppliers are also constantly innovating ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors and stand out in the market. As a result of this, newer concepts like space tourism, sport tourism, wine tourism, alpine tourism, etc. are emerging and are becoming quite popular among tourists who expect something more than a regular leisure travel.

in order to project parts of the world onto other parts of the world. The first work that tried to draw a relationship between tourism activities and photography was by Susan Sontag on her book entitled On Photography (1977). She made the case that photography dramatically transformed the perception of the world by turning it into a “society of spectacles” where circulating images overpower reality: ‘reality’ becomes touristic, an item for visual consumption3.

Photography has been an inseparable part of tourism since its commercial introduction in the year 1839, a date

generally accepted as the birth year of practical photography4. During the early stages of development, photography was a costly affair and the use was confined to the richer section of the society only. But, technological revolution over the years made photography affordable by almost everyone. This technological revolution created a separate group of tourists who are ready to spend any amount and travel to any places to take and experience the thrill of photographing a subject that is unique to them. This has given rise to the concept of ‘Photographic Tourism’.

This concept is quite new and there is a dearth of research that develops a conceptual framework of photographic

Mike Robinson & David Picard (2009); the framed world: Tourism, tourists and photography; Ashgate publishing limited. 3 Jonas Larsen; Geographies of Tourist Photography: Choreographies and Performances

4 Robert Hirsch (2000); Seizing the light: A history of Photography; McGraw Hill, 2000

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A Conceptual Framework of Photographic Tourism 109

tourism. Due to scant research on this dimension of tourism, its potentialities to contribute towards socio-economic and environmental aspects has never been highlighted nor effective plans and policies were formulated to develop an area as a potential ‘photographic tourism destination’.

The relationship between Tourism and Photography can viewed under three broad heads:

• Photography as a medium of capturing and preserving memories.

• Photography as a tool for promoting tourism products.

• ‘Photographic Tourism’ as a new dimension to the existing tourism industry.

THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

As discussed earlier, very scant research has been initiated to develop a concept of photographic tourism.

The conceptual framework present herein tries to coin the definition of ‘photographic tourism’ and a ‘photographic tourist’ in the settings of special interest tourism.

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of Photographic Tourism

“Photographic tourism is that form of special interest tourism in which tourist visits a particular place with the

primary aim of photographing subjects that are unique to him. The scope of photography may range from landscapes, portraits, architectures, culture, food and wildlife to even macro subjects.”

The above definition underline two important features of photographic tourism viz., ‘objective behind visiting a

particular place’ and ‘uniqueness of subjects’. To make the statement more clear, it can be assumed that a tourist will not visit a place only to photograph subjects which is already available in his normal places of work and residence. The subjects must have some uniqueness in the landscapes, wildlife, people and their culture, or food habits and dress codes of the travel destination that would stimulate his desire to explore the land with the primary objective of taking photographs. These two features are also the distinctive characteristics of a ‘photographic tourist’ that separates them from a normal one.

‘A photographic tourist is a person who travels with the prime objective of photographing something unique.’ Here, ‘photography’ and the ‘uniqueness of the subject’ is the motivating force that urges the tourist to undertake a tour.

It is not always necessary that only professional photographers make tours with the primary objective of

photography. A photography enthusiast, hobbyist and even a common man can sometimes undertake a tour with only intention to take photographs. In that instance they will be termed as photographic tourists.

110 Deborshee Gogoi

PHOTOGRAPHIC TOURISM: BEFORE TOUR, DURING TOUR AND AFTER TOUR

‘Photographic tourism’ as a new dimension to the existing tourism industry is slowly gaining momentum.

The success of ‘Photographic tourism’ is directly linked with the popularity of photography among masses. With technological development in the field of camera and optics it is observed that photography has become an integral part of our day to day life. The role of Camera manufacturers in popularizing this trend is worth mentioning. Today, camera giants like Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony, Olympus, etc. are developing and selling superior qualities of camera models with more and more features that can produce even better quality images that too at reasonable prices for all types of photography enthusiasts, hobbyist as well as professionals. This has become possible only because of their constant effort towards creating products with more features; better build quality, higher performance, more user friendly features, etc.

Development of social networking sites is also contributing towards popularizing the concept of ‘Photographic Tourism’ among the general masses. One can easily determine the popularity of photography among general masses by studying the present trend in the social networking sites like facebook, twitter, flickr, whatsapp, etc. As per report, whatsapp users share 347222 photos per minute, Instagram Users post 216000 new photos every minute and Pinterest users pin 3472 images per minute.

Keeping in view, the present trend in the tourism industry, one can find a number of organizations/ institutions

that provide custom tours especially designed for photography enthusiasts to places that have tremendous scope in different types of photography. Organizations like Toehold, Traveling lens, National geographic expeditions, etc. as well as many renowned photographers organize low to very high budgeted package tours each year to different places around the globe with limited number of tourists to accommodate maximum attention to each individuals. Services includes arranging transportations, accommodations, food, documentation before the start of the tour; photo workshop, expert advice, equipments rental, demonstrations, etc. during the tour; and arranging for photo prints, post processing, expert advice, etc. after the end of the tour.

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A Conceptual Framework of Photographic Tourism 111

THE PHOTOGRAPHY INDUSTRY

As per report published by BCC Research on ‘Digital Photography: Global Markets’ the global market for digital

photography was valued at $65.6 billion in 2010 and $68.4 billion in 2011. It is expected that the market for digital photography would reach $82.5 billion with a 3.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2011 and 2016.

Cameras and lenses account for the bulk of the photography market, representing 55% of the global sales. This market segment was valued at $37.6 billion in 2011, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8%, reaching $49.8 billion in 2016. According to the report, the value of photo printing industry was $25 billion in 2011 but due to various reasons there is a possibility that the industry can go down to $24.7 billion in 2016.

Source: BCC Research on Digital Photography: Global Markets

Figure 3: Global Digital Photography Market by Product Type, 2008-2016 ($ Millions)

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