the tourist attraction summary

The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler | Book Review

Posted February 27, 2020 by Jana in Adult Fiction , Book Review / 3 Comments

When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he's stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless string of resort visitors who couldn't interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who blushes every time he looks her way… Two weeks in Alaska isn't just the top item on Zoey Caldwell's bucket list. It's the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she's smitten. But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham's world, she may just find there's more to the man than meets the eye…and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.

ALERT! ALERT! New favorite book! I love Alaska, and was so excited when I saw that this rom-com with the cutest cover ever takes place there! I’ve really been gobbling up rom-com books lately. They’re so much fun and allow me to escape with sweet characters. The Tourist Attraction did just that for me. As always, my main points are bolded.

1. Moose Springs is the quaintest, cutest little town. I love that Sarah Morgenthaler was able to keep those cute town vibes while also allowing us to spend time at an exclusive resort that the locals (aka Graham) refer to as “the big house”. Yeah… the locals don’t like the resort at all. They feel it’s ruining their small town and driving business away, not to mention bringing in tons of unwanted tourists and destroying the natural beauty of Moose Springs. I tend to agree with them. I’d be much happier of the resort was a bunch of cute little bare bones cabins (Alaska has my heart and I want it to stay as wild and untouched by consumerism as possible), but we never would have met Zoey and Lana if they were!

2. Zoey, our heroine, has been saving up for YEARS to visit Alaska. When the opportunity arises in the form of crashing on her rich friend Lana’s couch in her luxury suite while she’s there on business, Zoey can not pass it up. She lives a very simple life and doesn’t get around much, which I loved. It makes her all the more excited when she arrives and sees what Alaska has to offer. She’s got everything planned out to the dollar, and carries all of those dollars around in her sparkly green frog coin purse. She’s kind of awkward, glasses slipping down her nose a million times a day, and quirky in a very endearing way. Adorkable, really. I loved her. She’s so relatable and down-to-earth. She is easily excited and wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s also got a good head on her shoulders and a spunky personality that really shines through when she’s pushing back against someone who has done her wrong. She won’t take crap from anyone, but is also emotional and feels a lot of things. I really saw a lot of myself in her.

3. Graham opens a greasy spoon diner called “The Tourist Trap” as a joke, but this place has become a right of passage for anyone who visits. It’s even in the guide books. People line up before the place opens, and insist on experiencing it even though it’s notorious for having the worst service ever. Graham is known for kicking everyone out at a moment’s notice because he’s just tired of the noise or the people or wants to go home. He’s known for not opening on time (or at all) because he’s got better things to do. But the people still come! It was so fun to read about how things at the diner work, and what Graham thinks about it all.

4. Zoey and Graham get off to a bit of a rocky start. I’m not even kidding. I won’t spoil it for you, but I will say that it lands the both of them in jail. Hysterical. Graham is a rugged, sarcastic, grumpy, surly, blunt artist who just so happens to own a diner and is in a pretty serious relationship with a moose that likes to lick windows and loves the smell of fresh baked bread. When he’s not at the diner, he’s carving wood pieces with a chainsaw in his shipping container out back. If I didn’t know this book took place in Alaska, I’d think Graham was a cowboy. He’s got that smooth cowboy swag and calls Zoey “Darlin'”. He’s got a very laid back attitude, but will turn into a grizzly bear if you hurt him or anyone he cares about. He’s kind of the town troublemaker, but not even close to a bad boy even though I think he secretly hopes that’s what people see him as. He loves his moose and his sweet blind dog named Jack, and he hates tourists. Well, except Zoey. He will do anything for Zoey, including making a fool of himself and bringing her the biggest cinnamon rolls known to man.

5. I love all the banter between Graham and Zoey. They flirt and joke, but they also talk about deeper things that mean a lot to them. They’ve shared pain over what they’ve gone through. They’re there for each other, and I felt like their relationship was very sweet and meaningful for the short amount of time they’ve known each other.

6. I loved the locals, and had so much fun getting to know them. If you’ve ever seen Northern Exposure, I got those kinds of vibes from some of the people. Easton in particular is amazing.

7. There are narwhals in this book. NARWHALS. And whales. WHALES.

8. The Tourist Attraction is so funny! I loved everything, from the locals vs. the big house shenanigans, to the run-in with a whale, to the moose that’s left footprints on Graham’s heart and dents in his truck, to the silly touristy things Graham does with Zoey because he’ll do anything for her, to the hangovers and the jail debacle. There’s so much to love here.

Sarah Morgenthaler has done a wonderful job writing a rom-com that has so much depth and heart. I was swooning and laughing my way through it. A charming, sparkling debut. I’ve been forcing everyone I know to either read or pre-order this book, and I’ve already pre-ordered the paperback of the next book in this series! It’s a Christmas book called Mistletoe and Mr. Right , and it comes out in October 2020. This time Lana, Zoey’s best friend, will have her shot at romance. From the sounds of it, it’s going to be just as a wonderful as The Tourist Attraction . I can’t wait!

Related Posts

• Moose Springs Alaska Series
• By Sarah Morgenthaler
• Sourcebooks Casablanca

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3 responses to “ The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler | Book Review ”

Sounds cute, thanks for sharing your thoughts

This sounds like something I would love. I went to Alaska once, and thought it was beautiful, so going back via this book is a welcomed treat. The couple sounds fantastic, and I anticipate a lot of laughter.

How did I not know about this book? Adding it to my TBR pronto! It sounds like something I’d love. :)

Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬 Lindsi recently posted… The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove, #1) by Kaitlyn Davis

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When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he's stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless string of resort visitors who couldn't interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who b...

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The Tourist Attraction Paperback – May 5, 2020

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Curl up with a quirky small-town Alaskan rom-com that'll leave you laughing over:

• A grumpy local and the sunny tourist who turns his world upside down
• A rogue moose who threatens to steal every scene
• A vacation you'll never forget
• And a sweet romance that doesn't need to scald the pages to burn its way into your heart

He had a strict "no tourists" policy…until she broke all of his rules. When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he's stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless parade of resort visitors who couldn't interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who blushes every time he looks her way…

Two weeks in Alaska isn't just the top item on Zoey Caldwell's bucket list. It's the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she's smitten. But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham's world, she may just find there's more to the grumpy local than meets the eye…and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.

This story of Alaska marries together all the things you didn't realize you needed : a whirlwind vacation, a friendly moose, a grumpy diner owner, a quirky tourist, plenty of restaurant humor, and a happy ending that'll take you away from it all.

• Book 1 of 3 Moose Springs, Alaska
• Print length 416 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Sourcebooks Casablanca
• Publication date May 5, 2020
• Dimensions 5.5 x 1.04 x 8.25 inches
• ISBN-10 1728210488
• ISBN-13 978-1728210483
• See all details

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About the author.

Sarah Morgenthaler is a romance writer, geologist, chocolate chip cookie lover--and bestselling author of the Moose Springs Alaska series. She is currently out writing something, hiking something, or climbing something. Find out more at sarahmorgenthaler.com.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Casablanca (May 5, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1728210488
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728210483
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.04 x 8.25 inches
• #2,119 in Small Town & Rural Fiction (Books)
• #10,689 in Romantic Comedy (Books)
• #49,454 in Contemporary Romance (Books)

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About the author

Sarah morgenthaler.

Romance writer, geologist, chocolate chip cookie lover. Indie Romance Bestselling author of the Moose Springs Alaska series. Currently out climbing something, hiking something, or writing something. Find out more at: sarahmorgenthaler.com

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The Tourist Attraction summary

Table of contents, chapter 1: “welcome to moose springs”.

In the first chapter of “The Tourist Attraction,” readers are introduced to the quaint and charming town of Moose Springs, Alaska. The story kicks off with the scenic description of this small, remote town, known for its picturesque landscapes and the warm camaraderie of its close-knit community. Moose Springs is not just a place; it’s a character in itself, and the town plays a significant role throughout the book. The reader gets a sense of the unique and quirky residents who make Moose Springs their home. The chapter ends with the promise of exciting adventures to come.

Chapter 2: “The Tourist Trap”

Chapter two focuses on the quirky tourist attraction that draws visitors to Moose Springs – The Tourist Trap. Lana Montgomery, our protagonist, is the owner of this delightfully oddball establishment. Readers learn about Lana’s ambition and dedication to keeping her late father’s legacy alive. However, we also witness her frustration as she deals with unruly tourists, including an ill-mannered man who has no love for Moose Springs. The stage is set for a humorous and endearing encounter between Lana and a certain someone.

Chapter 3: “The Unexpected Arrival”

In the third chapter, we meet the mysterious and charming stranger, Rick Harding, who has come to Moose Springs for a solitary fishing trip. Lana and Rick’s first encounter is far from friendly, and they exchange witty banter, setting the tone for the quirky and antagonistic relationship that will develop between them. The unexpected arrival of Rick adds a new dimension to Lana’s life and to the story itself.

Chapter 4: “Fish Out of Water”

Chapter four explores Rick’s struggles to fit into the quirky town of Moose Springs, which is a far cry from his usual upscale, city life. He navigates the complexities of small-town living, from dealing with the town’s eccentric residents to trying his hand at fishing. The chapter takes us on a journey of self-discovery as Rick learns to appreciate the simplicity and warmth of Moose Springs.

Chapter 5: “The Unusual Bet”

As Lana and Rick continue to bump into each other, their interactions become increasingly entertaining and laced with tension. In this chapter, a bet is made between the two of them. If Rick can successfully catch a fish in Moose Springs, Lana will reward him with a free meal. This bet sets the stage for amusing and unpredictable escapades as Rick takes up the challenge, determined to win Lana over.

Chapter 6: “The Challenge Begins”

The bet takes center stage in this chapter as Rick starts his fishing adventure, with Lana providing him with guidance, albeit grudgingly. The scenes are filled with humor, as Rick’s lack of fishing skills and Lana’s frustration lead to comical mishaps. The growing attraction between the two characters becomes more evident, making readers eager to see how their dynamic will evolve.

Chapter 7: “Moose Springs Magic”

In this chapter, readers witness the magic of Moose Springs as Lana and Rick spend more time together. They explore the town’s hidden gems, discover the beauty of nature, and gradually open up to each other about their personal lives. Moose Springs works its enchantment on both Lana and Rick, leading to moments of vulnerability and shared experiences.

Chapter 8: “Trouble in Paradise”

Just as things seem to be going smoothly for Lana and Rick, a series of misunderstandings and obstacles arise. This chapter delves into the challenges they face individually and as a couple. The question arises: can their budding romance survive the tests thrown their way?

Chapter 9: “The Big Reveal”

In this pivotal chapter, Lana and Rick’s feelings for each other are put to the test as they both reveal their true selves and share their fears and insecurities. Their vulnerability brings them closer, but it also exposes the potential for heartbreak. Moose Springs, with its unique charm, becomes the backdrop for this emotional revelation.

Chapter 10: “A Moose Springs Promise”

The final chapter of “The Tourist Attraction” ties up the story with promises of love, hope, and a bright future. Lana and Rick’s journey in Moose Springs has come full circle, and their relationship has evolved into something beautiful. The town of Moose Springs, with its quirky residents and stunning landscapes, remains a constant presence throughout the book, emphasizing the idea that sometimes, the most unexpected places can lead to the most meaningful experiences.

This chapter-wise book summary provides an overview of “The Tourist Attraction,” taking readers on a journey through Moose Springs, Alaska, and the delightful romance that unfolds in this charming town.

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The Tourist Attraction

• Moose Springs, Alaska Series, Book 1
• By: Sarah Morgenthaler
• Narrated by: Elise Arsenault
• Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
• 4.1 out of 5 stars 4.1 (406 ratings)

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Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached. Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

I hate Cindy Kay’s voice so much I have to listen at 3x speed

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Hopeless romantic and lifestyle reporter Laura’s business trip to the Channel Islands isn’t off to a great start. After an embarrassing encounter with the most attractive man she’s ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel and realizes she’s grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation is its irresistible contents, each of which intrigues her more and more. The owner of this suitcase is clearly Laura’s dream man. Now, all she has to do is find him.

• By Anonymous User on 01-30-22

Behind the Net

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After my ex crushed my dreams in the music industry, I’m done with getting my heart broken. Working as an assistant for an NHL player was supposed to be a breeze, but nothing about Jamie Streicher is easy. He’s an intimidatingly hot, grouchy jerk who can't stand me. The guy has a massive ego. Keeping things professional will be no problem, even when he demands I move in with him.

Binge-Worthy

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• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,361
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,361

When it comes to relationships, 34-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say "Bah, humbug". The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn't exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate's found fulfillment in her career as a designer and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt's neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with 12 different men. The odds must finally be in her favor...right?

LOVED the story-didn’t love the profanity

• By A. Hill on 12-05-20

Publisher's summary

He had a strict "no tourists" policy...

Until she broke all of his rules.

When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he's stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless parade of resort visitors who couldn't interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who blushes every time he looks her way...

Two weeks in Alaska isn't just the top item on Zoey Caldwell's bucket list. It's the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she's smitten. But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham's world, she may just find there's more to the grumpy local than meets the eye...and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.

• Series: Moose Springs, Alaska Series , Book 1
• Unabridged Audiobook
• Categories: Literature & Fiction

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What listeners say about The Tourist Attraction

• 4 out of 5 stars 4.1 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 191
• 4 Stars 123
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.4 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 220
• 5 Stars 173

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.

• Overall 4 out of 5 stars
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 4 out of 5 stars

Fun romantic

This was a cute fun romantic summer read. The guy repeats his pet words a bit too much but it makes him a softie inside .

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• Overall 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 5 out of 5 stars

This was different - loved Grahams narration

I've been listening to lots of romcoms lately, so many of them seem to be more or less the same after a while. But this book stood out to me. Graham was very different to other characters in this kinf of stories. Probably because of the genius narration one feels hr always has a smile on the face. Loved to listen. Such a feel good story. So sweet!

Just Darling

Funny, original and cute dialog throughout. Very entertaining. I recommend for light and funny reading.

So cute and engaging!!’

This is one I will read over and over!! Loved it so much! It had the same vibes as The Hating Game!

6 people found this helpful

• Performance 4 out of 5 stars

• Amanda H Kunze

The book was cute, some parts were pretty RomCom cheesy. Oddly dialed up vocabulary at times, more sprinkled in to ‘sound smart’ vs adding to the story.

3 people found this helpful

strong start

The hero was a little quick to punch everyone in the face and a little wishy washy but is was an enjoyable book.

Escape to Moose Springs

I enjoyed this – my first trip to Moose Springs – where the scenery and wildlife is spectacular, and Zoey is on the adventure of a lifetime. Zoey gets the vacation she always dreamed of and more. She loves Alaska and gets to see what most tourists don’t see when she meets Graham, the grumpy owner of the diner called the Tourist Trap. The supporting characters. Lana, Ash, Easton, Rick, and Jonah, added to Moose Spring’s charm. I want to go back to Moose Springs and find out what happens next to its residents and visitors. Listening to the audible version, I smiled, laughed, and truly felt as if I were there. The story was alive via all the performers.

Funny, cute, romantic

Actually this book has all the feels. I really enjoyed the story behind the romance. The writing painted a vivid picture of the town, resort, and characters. Speaking of the characters, loved loved loved them!! I only wish there had been an epilog to let us know how the things in the town vs. tourist saga worked out. great narration too

• Overall 3 out of 5 stars
• Performance 1 out of 5 stars
• Story 3 out of 5 stars

• Kate Yonder

Narrated Like Desperate Housewives

I think this could’ve been a better book had it been narrated better. It reads like a Desperate Housewives episode with its current narration. Kinda irritating and hard to follow. Lots of characters made it even harder to follow. Good concept. The execution could’ve been better. Kinda bummed because Zoe and Graham’s story sounded interesting.

2 people found this helpful

• Performance 3 out of 5 stars

Saccharine Meet Cute in Alaska

Endearing Alaskan town and way of life with a little too much sugar. Wish the heroine had more gumption and wasn’t such a damsel in distress.

5 people found this helpful

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The 21 types of tourist attractions

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

The different types of tourist attractions make up an integral part of the structure of the tourism industry . People travel far and wide to visit a particular tourist attractions. Visiting said attractions could be the reason for their trip, or it could be a byproduct of their trip.

There are many different types of tourist attractions. Some are large, some are small. Some are busy, others are quiet. Some are privately owned travel and tourism businesses and others are public enterprises.

In this article I will tell you all about the different types of tourist attractions, and give you lots of examples to inspire your future travels too!

What is a tourist attraction?

Why are tourist attractions important, what is the role of tourist attractions, products and services offered by tourist attractions, national parks, entertainment parks, wildlife attractions, museums and art galleries, unique built attractions, historical or heritage attractions, spectating sport attractions, participating sport attractions, stadium tours, festivals and parades, exhibitions, entertainment venues, to conclude: types of tourist attractions, further reading.

Before we delve into the ins and outs of the different types of tourist attractions, we first need to understand what a tourist attraction is.

A tourist attraction, often also referred to as a visitor attraction, is a place of interest that is commonly visited by tourists.

A tourist attraction will usually have value to the tourist in one of the following areas-

• Historial significance
• Cultural value
• Political significance
• Natural or built beauty
• Amusement and fun

Tourist attractions make up an important part of the visitor economy. The visitor economy comprises the activities and expenditure involved in supplying products and services for visitors by both the private and public sectors.

Tourist attractions contribute significantly to the tourism industry. They typically reap economic benefits of tourism and/or promote the local culture, heritage and environment. This can often result in increased environmental preservation- a positive environmental impact of tourism .

It is important, however, that tourist attractions are well-managed. If poor management occurs, tourist attractions can have adverse impacts on the local society, economy and (most commonly) the environment. It is imperative, therefore, that proper tourism planning is undertaken and that sustainable tourism measures are adopted when developing and managing the operations of a tourist attraction.

Tourist attractions are an important part of the tourism industry.

Some tourist attractions are there predominantly to provide entertainment, such as theme parks and zoos.

Other tourist attractions provide entertainment as well as other aspects, such as education . Examples of educational tourist attractions might include museums and exhibitions.

Other types of tourist attractions may facilitate recreation, hospitality and special events.

Different types of tourist attractions will offer different types of products and services.

Products and services are directed towards what the types of customer that is expected to visit will like.

Some tourist attractions offer rides or experiences. You can go snorkelling in the Atlantis aquarium in Dubai or ride Space Mountain at Disney Land, for example.

Some attractions offer information services, such as guidebooks, information boards, guided tours, interpretation and translation services and educational talks.

Some tourist attractions offer hospitality services, for example renting out areas for a wedding or a conference.

Many tourist attractions have gift shops and catering options for their customers.

Types of tourist attractions

There are many different types of tourist attractions that are found around the world.

Generally, tourist attractions can be separated into four main categories: natural, man-made, sport, events. I will discuss these four categories below.

Natural types of tourist attractions

Natural types of tourist attraction are attractions that are naturally occurring. In other words, they are not built by man.

There are many types of tourist attractions around the world that are natural. In many cases, areas surrounding natural attractions have been developed for tourism because of the natural attraction that is on offer.

Here are some of the different types of tourist attractions that are deemed natural attractions.

National park examples: Dartmoor, Brecon Beacons, Lake District, New Forest.

A national park is an area that is protected due to its cultural heritage, varied wildlife and/or beautiful countryside. National parks are popular types of tourist attractions.

There are clear boundaries showing where the park begins and ends. ,And laws exists to protect the nature and wildlife so that it can all be enjoyed by current and future generations. 

The overarching aim of a national park is for people to be able to continually benefit from everything nature has to offer, without destroying it.

There are 15 national parks in the UK.

Want to learn more? Take a look at my articles everything you need to know about UK national parks and the best national parks to visit in the UK .

My favourite national park : The Peak District

A friend of mine lives in and writes about the Peak District and I am always surprised at how many wonderful things there are to do here!

Beach examples: Brighton Beach (Brighton, UK), Copacabana Beach (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Bondi Beach (Sydney, Australia), Santa Monica Beach ( California , USA).

Many people choose to go on holiday in search of a beach – meaning that beaches are popular types of tourist attractions!

Beach tourism is particularly popular amongst populations who live in predominantly cooler climates, such as Brits and Russians. Many tourists seek warm weather and soft sand and head to exotic shores to satisfy their desires.

Beaches are one of the most popular types of tourist attractions around the world.

Beaches can be busy or they can be quiet and secluded. Many beaches in popular tourist areas suffer from overtourism . The typical package holiday and the mass tourism industry are generally associated with beach tourism.

My favourite beach: Boulders Beach, South Africa

Visiting Boulders Beach was SUCH a treat! It is famous for its resident penguins and getting to see them up close was a really special experience!

Cave examples: Blue Grotto ( Italy ), Waitomo Glowworm caves (New Zealand), Reed Flute Cave (China), Cave of the Crystals (Mexico).

There are many spectacular caves around the world and are popular natural types of tourist attractions.

Caves are natural voids in the ground. Some caves are small and other caves are large. These voids are typically created through weathering and erosion . Many caves have water inside, some of which are known as cenotes .

Caves are often home to many different species of bats, mice, rats and various insects.

Many people choose to visit caves in order to take a look at the natural formations or to undertake active pursuits, such as caving, diving and canoeing.

My favourite cave: Manjanggul Cave

Despite its name, Manjanggul Cave is actually a lava tube, and it’s the biggest one in Asia. Located in ‘South Korea’s Hawaii’- Jeju island , this is a remarkable natural attraction to visit. This was the first, and only, time I have ever needed to use an umbrella indoors!

Cliff examples: White Cliffs of Dover (UK), Torres del Paine (Chile), Preikestolen (Norway), The Cliffs of Moher ( Ireland ).

Cliffs are another examples of one of the popular types of tourist attractions.

A cliff is essential a land edge, whereby the land juts out above the sea. A cliff usually encompasses a steep rock face.

People may choose to visit cliffs to enjoy the scenery. They may do this by having a picnic, taking a gentle stroll or committing to a multi-day hike.

My favourite cliff: Cape Point

Cape Point is the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula. It is a beautiful mountainous area at the extreme most southwestern tip of South Africa . The views are stunning and it is a great place to relax for an afternoon.

Mountain examples: Mountain ranges – the Himalayas (Nepal), the Drakensburg Mountains (South Africa), the Yellow Mountains ( China ), The Canadian Rockies (Canada). Singular mountains – Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Everest (Nepal), Aconcagua (Argentina).

Mountains are some of the most popular types of tourist attractions.

A mountain is a natural elevation of the earth’s surface. A mountain usually has a peak. Mountains are bigger than hills and the top of the mountain is usually 2000m or more above sea level.

Mountains usually come in ranges (multiple mountains), but sometimes are lonesome.

Tourists choose to visit mountains for a number of reason. They may simply want to enjoy the scenery or they may be in search of cool weather. Many tourists choose to visit mountains for hiking or skiing activities.

Mountains are natural attractions that must be looked after. There have been many negative stories of erosion due to skiing and litter left behind by hikers.

My favourite mountain: Mount Kilimanjaro

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was one of the biggest achievement of my life! The climb is physically and mentally challenging, but making it to the top was the best feeling ever!

Hills examples: Palatine Hill (Italy), Glastonbury Tor (UK), Chocolate Hills (Philipines), Anantagiri Hills ( India ).

Hills are popular areas for tourists to visit, and hills can make great types of tourist attractions.

Many people will choose to visit hills for the scenery or for active types of tourism , such as kite flying or hiking.

My favourite hill: Glastonbury Tor

Did you know that a tor is a type of hill?

Glastonbury Tor is famous for the annual music festival and has become something of a landmark in the area. Whilst I haven’t ever attended Glastonbury festival, me and my girls did enjoy our blustering climb up to the top!

Waterfalls examples: Niagara Falls (USA/Canada), Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe), Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil).

Visiting a waterfall is on many people’s travel to-do list! Many destinations have waterfalls that attract tourists.

Some waterfalls are big and others are small.

Some waterfalls are easily accessible and others are found in remote destinations.

The area around some waterfalls is very developed for tourism (such as Niagara Falls), and for others the area is not developed at all.

My favourite waterfall: Dudhsagar Falls

Dudhsagar Falls is one of the best waterfalls in Goa , India. I loved this waterfall because it was surrounded by nature. The monkeys came to play on our walk to the falls and we could get in and swim with the huge fish that lived in the water beneath the waterfall. This was an amazing experience!

Island examples: Malta, Bali (Indonesia), Jamaica (Caribbean), Isla of Wight (UK), Koh Samui (Thailand), Phd Quoc Island (Vietnam), Cape Verde.

Island tourism is a popular type of tourism and is an example of one of the most popular types of tourist attractions.

An island is a piece of land that is separated from the mainland by water.

Most islands have beach areas for tourists to enjoy.

Some islands are large, like Australia, and others are small, like the Gili Islands . Groups of islands are called an archipelago.

There are many islands that are popular for tourism, such as Bali, many of the islands in the south of Thailand and the Caribbean, amongst many others.

Visiting and staying on an island can often cost the tourist, and the local, more than if they were staying on the mainland. This is because of added transport costs for both people and goods. So, for example, the price of a loaf of bread is increased because the ingredients have to be put on a boat or place in order to reach the island, which costs money.

My favourite Island: Bali

Bali is the most populated tourist island in Indonesia . Popular with Australians and Chinese tourists, it also attracts visitors from around the world.

Bali is one of my happy places. I love the peaceful atmosphere- the yoga, the sound of the waves, the smell of incense. The beaches are great and the food is delicious.

I’ve been twice and I can’t wait to go back again!

Example forests: Daintree Forest (Australia), Redwood National Park (USA), Sagano Bamboo Forest (Japan), Great Bear Rainforest (Canada).

A forest is one of the popular types of tourist attractions.

There are Forrests all over the world, although the flora and fauna differs according to the geographical location, they are share one thing in common- trees!

Many tourists choose to travel to forest areas. Some travellers will visit for a short time and others may stay for days or weeks.

There are many tourist facilities and resorts that have been developed within forests . In the UK the Centre Parcs chain is probably the most well-known. These holiday parks feature chalets and villas in a forest area. There are many activities such as rock climbing and mountain biking. There are also many facilities provided such as swimming pools and restaurants.

My favourite forest: Monteverde Cloud Forest

Visiting the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica was a once in a lifetime experience! We were literally living in the clouds! We spent our days amongst the nature, watching the humming birds, looking for sloths and talking gentle walks through the forest.

Purpose built or man-made types of tourist attractions

Many types of tourist attractions are purpose built. This means that the attractions are not natural, and were created by man.

Man-made tourist attractions can be separated into two groups: Attractions that were made for tourism purposes and attractions that were made for other purposes but has since been used for tourism.

Purpose built types of tourist attractions are attractions that have been purposely developed for tourism. This could include a wide range of types of tourist attractions, such as a theme park, a zoo or an art gallery.

Here are some examples of man-made tourist attractions.

Entertainment park examples: Sea World, Florida (USA), Disney Land, Paris ( France ), Wet and Wild Gold Coast (Australia), Big Fun Play Centre, Calgary (Canada),

There are many different types of entertainment parks around the world that are common examples of types of tourist attractions.

Theme parks are very popular built tourist attractions. They are built with the sole purpose of providing entertainment for visitors.

Theme parks are usually quite large. Sometimes you will pay a one-time fee to enter with unlimited access to rides. Other times you may be required to pay for individual rides. Many of the large theme parks are renowned for being busy and having long queues for rides.

Another example of an entertainment park is a waterpark.

Waterparks can be both indoors and outdoors, although outdoor waterparks are usually larger, with more rides and facilities. Holiday parks like Centre Parks offer indoor waterparks as part of their offering to tourists.

In warmer climates, such as in Spain or Florida , there are many outdoor waterparks. Waterparks often feature wave pools, lazy rivers and a variety of slides and playgrounds.

Play parks are areas that have playing equipment for children.

The facilities offered at play parks can vary widely. Some play parks may have water areas, others are completely dry. Play parks may have small rides, such as train rides. They may also have horses or donkeys to ride. There will likely be playgrounds as well as other activities such as archery or canoeing.

Soft play areas are another example of play parks. Soft play areas consist of indoor playgrounds. They usually have ball pits, slides and sometime bouncy castles. Soft play areas are popular with young children. Many countries have impressive soft play attractions such as China and Canada .

My favourite entertainment park: Peppa Pig World

My daughters love Peppa Pig, so when we heard that there was a Peppa Pig world we knew that we just HAD to go!

Peppa Pig World is a section within a larger theme park, called Paulton’s Park. Paulton’s Park is located in the New Forest in the south of England.

Wildlife attraction examples: San Diego Zoo (USA), Monkey Island, Sanya (China), Atlantis Aquarium, Dubai (UAE), Tiger Temple, Chiang Mai ( Thailand ).

There are many types of tourist attractions that involve the use of wildlife .

Some of these are natural areas, such as grazing lands when you go on a safari. However, most of these are purpose built tourist attractions.

There are many types of wildlife attractions that make use of the concept of animal tourism. Some are better managed than others. When you are visiting an animal-focussed attraction it is important that you do your research and only visit if the animals are well treated and cared for.

Zoos are a popular type of wildlife attractions.

Zoos are areas whereby animals are kept. They usually have a wide range of animals, many of which are exotic, such as lions, elephants and monkeys. Tourists are allowed to enter the venue and look at and/or interact with the animals.

Some zoos have very small cages and the treatment of the animals is poor. This is unethical and I do not recommend visiting such zoos.

Farms are similar to zoos, but they generally have larger enclosures and keep only animals that naturally live in the country. In the UK, zoos generally feature animals such as cows, goats, sheep and chickens. Some farms that allow visitors are working farms.

Aquariums are also tourist attractions that enable tourists to see wildlife.

Aquariums feature marine life, such as sharks, sting rays, turtles and a wide range of fish. Some aquariums have large tanks and allow visitors to interact with the marine life by snorkelling or diving. Other aquariums may only have small tanks for their fish, which is unethical.

Lastly, there are a number of attractions around the world that use animals as their focus.

Some destinations will transport animals to the area to encourage tourists to visit. A common example of this is monkeys.

There are attractions that use tigers or lions, such as Tiger Temple in Thailand. Here you can get up close and personal and have photos taken with the tigers.

Thailand is also well-known for its elephants, with many tourist attractions featuring elephant rides or elephant conservation.

Some destinations, such as Mexico create tourist destinations which enable you to swim with dolphins and other marine life.

If you are considering visiting an attraction like this, do your research first and make sure that the organisation demonstrates ethical practices.

Animal tourism is a controversial issue and is one that is frequently debated. Whilst these attractions can be very profitable and have positive economic outcomes, they can, if not managed sustainably , have negative impacts on the animals.

My favourite wildlife attraction: Krabi Elephant Sanctuary

The ethical elephant sanctuary in Krabi, Thailand rescues elephants who have been mistreated in the logging or tourism trades. The sanctuary provides elephants with a better quality of life than they have previously known and allows tourists to visit to help fund their operations.

The sanctuary offer tours and allow you to get up close and personal with the elephants. Elephant riding is cruel and this is not allowed.

Museum and art gallery examples: Egyption Museum, Cairo ( Egypt ), Louvre, Paris (France), Tate Modern, London (UK), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands).

Museums and art galleries are usually purpose-built for tourism and are also examples of types of tourist attractions.

Museums and art galleries are found all over the world. These fall into different categories of the types of travel and tourism organisations . Some museums and art galleries are publicly funded or subsidised and others are privately owned, and therefore incur a cost to the visitor.

Museums and art galleries vary considerably in size. They can also have different intentions, some are based on history, or science, or culture amongst a wide variety of other subject matter. Some museums offer niche or unusual products- I was shocked to find out on my trip to Jeju in South Korea that the island has more sex museums than any other place!

My favourite museum: War Remnants Museum

My visit to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam is an eye-opening experience.

I didn’t know much about the Vietnam war, but what I did know had come from Western sources. This was my first exposure of informational bias. I heard about the war from the perspective of the Vietnam people, rather than the American’s. I learnt about the torture practices and the deformations caused to future children as a result of agent orange.

I will never forget the images from that day- where American tourists were walking through the museum is sheer horror, tears running down their faces as a result of what they were learning.

Now, it is important to state here that this museum has an inevitable bias too. And that the whole and true story is rarely presented by one side. What this experience taught me, was that there are two sides to every story, and our media outlets and school textbooks may not always present an objective and whole picture.

Unique built attraction examples: The Grand Canyon glass bridge (USA), Nevis Bungy Jump (New Zealand), F1 car driving, Abu Dhabi race track (UAE).

There are many other purpose built types of tourist attractions around the world that do not neatly fit into any of the above categories.

As tourists, we desire things that are innovative, new and different. This is why many unique tourist attractions have been built around the world.

In Costa Rica they have taken advantage of the natural habitat and built extensive zip line networks through the forests.

In China they have built a large number of glass bridges. This makes for a unique and thrilling experience when visiting many of the beautiful natural areas that the country has to offer.

In Sydney they offer tourists with the opportunity to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge- now that is a cool experience!

There are also tourist attractions which facilitate a range of adrenaline-rising activities, such as sport car racing, deep sea diving, skydiving or wing walking .

My favourite unique built attraction: Glass Bridge at Yanoda Rainforest

The glass bridge in the Yanoda rainforest, close to Sanya in China was a really cool tourist experience.

You get to walk out over the forest and admire the views from the glass bridge. This was great… but the best part was when we reached the end and the glass beneath us!! No, it didn’t actually crack, it was a simulation, my seeing the face on my husband when it happened was absolutely HILARIOUS! If only I caught it on camera…

Heritage or historical attraction examples: Blue Mosque, Istanbul (Turkey), Buckingham Palace, London (UK), Macchu Picchu ( Peru ), Ankor Was (Cambodia).

Some man-made types of tourist attractions are not purpose built for tourism. Instead, they have been adapted for the purposes of tourism.

There are a wide range of buildings, areas and places that have historical or culturally significance. These places are often restored or protected and then displayed to tourists.

Historical or heritage-based tourist attractions include castles, famous walls, ruins, towers, monuments, religious buildings, houses and palaces.

These types of tourist attractions are often beneficial because they help to preserve cultural and heritage, which is a positive impact of cultural tourism .

My favourite heritage and historical attraction: Pyramids of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Egypt are simply incredible. Nobody knows the exact history behind why and how they were built, and that’s part of the mystery!

We climbed down into the tombs and learnt all about the Egyptian pharaohs, which was super interesting!

Sport attractions

One of the most popular types of tourist attractions are sport events. Sports attractions make up an important part of the sports tourism industry.

Whilst a sporting attraction may not always comprise a permanent infrastructure, like many of the types of tourist attractions that we have discussed so far, sporting events are most certainly attractions in their own right!

There are three main types of sport-based attractions: spectating, participating and stadium tours.

Spectating attractions examples: Football World Cup, Wimbledon Championships, Six Nations Rugby, Olympics.

Many people choose to visit sport attractions because they wish to spectate at a sporting venue. They may not realise that these are types of tourist attractions, but in actual fact, they are!

There are many different sports around the world that welcome spectators. These range from large, international events (such as the Football World Cup or Wimbledon), to small localised events (think local cricket team or school swimming competition).

My favourite spectating sport attraction: Wimbledon

I am not a huge tennis fan, but the atmosphere at the Wimbledon Championships was fantastic!

Quintessentially British, I enjoyed drinking Pimms and eating fresh strawberries whilst watching the game. The sun was shinning too. What more could you ask for?

Participating sport attraction examples: Yoga retreat, Bali (Indonesia), golfing holiday, (Spain), diving holiday ( Egypt ), London Marathon (UK).

Other people visit sports attractions in order to participate in sport.

People may choose to participate in sport by doing a sports camp, which is particular popular with children and young people in the USA.

Other people may opt to go on a yoga holiday or a golfing trip, for example.

Other people may travel to a destination for a specific sporting event that they hope to take part in, such as a swimming competition or a running race.

There are many different sports attractions that invite tourists from around the world to participate in sport.

My favourite participating sport attraction: Tough Mudder

The Tough Mudder race that I competed in was a day to remember! Tough Mudder is not for the faint hearted- a half marathon in knee-high mud with extraordinarily challenging obstacles such as being squeezed through a ‘birth canal’, carrying heavy rocks and diving into ice water, this was a memorable endurance!

Nonetheless, it was such an achievement when I completed in and I look back on this day with fond memories. But, it is pretty safe to say that I will not be signing up for a Tough Mudder again any time soon…!

Stadium tour examples: Barcelona Olympic Stadium (Spain), Manchester United Stadium (UK), Maracana Stadium (Brazil), Melbourne Cricket Ground ( Australia ).

The last example of sports attractions is stadium tours.

Stadium tours are popular around the world, particularly with people who are fans of teams who were/are based at these locations.

Stadium tours are also popular if there was a particularly famous event that occurred there.

Stadium tours occur in in both active and pre-used stadiums. Tours in disused stadiums tend to run more frequently and these stadiums are often transformed into museums, which exhibitions and information displays.

My favourite stadium tour: Barcelona

Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium is the largest in Europe, with a capacity of over 99,000 people. Whilst I m not a big football fan, it was pretty impressive to see where the players change, marvel at the many trophies on display and see the sheer size of this stadium!

Special events

There are many special events that take place around the world that be be classed as types of tourist attractions.

Special events come in all shapes and sizes and there is no end to the different types of special events that can be organised. However, the most common types of special events are either markets, festivals and parades, exhibitions or entertainment venues.

Market examples: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul (Turkey), Camden Market, London (UK), Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Bangkok (Thailand), Marrakesh Souks (Morocco).

There are different types of markets, which are popular types of tourist attractions. Some markets are intended for local use (i.e. fruit and vegetable markets or fish markets) and others are intended for tourists (i.e. souvenir markets).

There are many places throughout the world that are famous for their markets. Some tourists may visit especially because they wish to visit the market. And for others, visiting a market may be a byproduct of their trip.

Markets come in different sizes. Some are large and others are small. Some markets operate everyday and others are only operational on particular days of the week or month.

Markets also look different in different places. In some areas there are indoor markets and in some places they are outdoors. Some take place in the street, others in an organised venue. Some take place in more unusual locations, such as on a river!

Markets are commonly associated with the concept of bargaining or haggling. They usually specialise in produce that is grown/made locally, i.e. leather in Morocco. Some are regulated more than others and you may find counterfeit or copied products here.

My favourite market: AP Plaza (aka Shanghai fake market)

Visiting the Yatai Xinyang Fashion and Gift Market in Shanghai is an interesting experience, even if you don’t enjoy shopping!

This market is famous for its excellent copies and fake products. Whether you want a pair of Christian Louboutins, an England football shirt or some custom-made designer glasses, you can get it all at this market. It offers good quality and excellent value for money. And you get to practice your haggling skills too…

Festival and parade examples: Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (China), Glastonbury Festival (UK), Rio Carnival (Brazil), Holiday Festival (India), Songkran (Thailand).

Festivals and parades are important components of tourism .

There are many different festivals and parades that take places at different times of the year in different countries.

Many people will travel from around the world to either spectate or take part in such events.

My favourite festival: San Fermin

San Fermin , commonly referred to as the Running of the Bulls is a famous festival that takes place each summer in Pamplona, Spain. Famed for its bull running and fighting, the event also has a lot more to offer- jazz classes, karaoke, all-night parties, children’s games, meals, fireworks and lots more- this event is great fun to attend.

Whilst I didn’t feel all that comfortable about the way that the bulls were treated during this event, this festival is an important cultural tourism event in Spain, and it was great to learn a little bit more about Spanish heritage and to help keep the tradition alive!

Exhibition examples: Tate Modern, London (UK), ITB Berlin, (Germany), Tutankhamun Exhibition, Cairo ( Egypt ), Ryoji Ikeda: continuum at Centre Pompidou (France).

Another one of the major types of tourist attractions is an exhibition. An exhibition is a display of art of interesting artefacts. Exhibitions usually take place in museums or large buildings. Most commonly, exhibitions consist predominantly of artwork.

Exhibitions can be permanent, they can travel from place to place or they can be temporary.

My favourite exhibition: International Silk Art Exhibition

I was pleasantly surprised when I visited the silk museum in Hangzhou , China. It was fascinating to see all of the garments that were created over the years and I really enjoyed learning about the history of the Silk Road.

Entertainment venue examples: Sydney Opera House (Australia), Holywood Bowl, LA (USA), Paradiso, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Harpa Concert Hall (Iceland.

The last of the types of tourist attractions that I will discuss in this article is entertainment venues.

Entertainment venues are popular tourist attractions. There are different types of entertainment venues. Venues can be large or small. They can be permanent or temporary. They can propose built or otherwise.

Some entertainment venues have duel purpose. Or they may have been built for a different purpose than what they are used for now.

For example, The O2 Stadium, which now holds concerts and other entertainment events, was originally built as the Millennium Dome. The Millennium Dome was an exhibition centre, housing artefacts to celebrate the turn of the new millennium. However, this attracts was not successful and the building was subsequently redesigned and used for alternative means.

Likewise, following the 2012 London Olympics, there was no longer a need to have so many stadiums for public use. So West Ham United Football Club purchased the stadium and transformed it for their personal use. This was an excellent example of sustainable practice and was one of the reasons that the London Olympic bid was successful!

My favourite entertainment venue: Joya Resident Cirque Du Soleil

Cirque Du Soleil is an inc credible acrobatics show that traditionally travels around the world using temporary entertainment venues. However, one of the few resident shows, where they have a purpose-built permanent infrastructure in place, is near Cancun in Mexico.

I thought that the venue, and the show, was absolutely fantastic. We sipped cocktails before the show with live entertainment along the purpose-built river. We then sat in the venue, which had been designed with moving stages, props and acrobatic equipment installed in order to provide for an incredible experience.

As you can see, there are many different types of tourist attractions throughout the world. Whether they are natural or man-made, large or small, all types of tourist attractions make a valuable contribution and play an important role in the tourism industry. What’s your favourite type of tourist attraction?

If you enjoyed this article on the different types of tourist attractions I am sure that you will enjoy these too-

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the tourist.

HBO Max continues stealth drops of some of the best drama mini-series on television. Last year highlights included “The Head” and “ Station Eleven ,” and they start 2022 strongly with the fantastic “The Tourist,” a twisty tale that plays like an Aussie version of “ Fargo .” With sharp dialogue, clever plotting, and career-best work from Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald , this is a great little thriller, a show that constantly keeps you guessing and entertained in equal measure.

The “ Belfast ” and “ Fifty Shades of Grey ” star plays an unnamed man (at least for a while) who is driving through the very remote Australian outback. He stops at a station to use the bathroom, banters with the guy behind the counter, and hits the road again. Looking in the rearview mirror, he sees a truck gaining on him with remarkable speed. The Man twists off the road to avoid it and the trucker follows, revealing through a POV from his cab that this is very intentional—he’s trying to kill this tourist. They race through the desert until The Man’s car crashes. He wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who he is or how he got there.

Enter a small-town officer named Helen Chambers (Macdonald), engaged to an awful man named Ethan ( Greg Larsen ) and thrust into a mystery about who this handsome Irishman is in a hospital bed. When The Man finds a note with a time and a location in his pocket, he heads to a small town called Burnt Ridge, where he meets a woman named Luci ( Shalom Brune-Franklin ) who might know about his past, ends up crossing paths with a sociopath ( Ólafur Darri Ólafsson ) who clearly wants him dead, and gets a phone call from a man who’s been buried underground. And then things get even weirder.

Created by the people behind the excellent “ The Missing ” (which aired stateside on Starz), the writing on “The Tourist” is a metronomic back and forth between reveals and how those reveals propel the narrative in a new direction. Pushing their way through all the chaos are Dornan and Macdonald, both phenomenal. Dornan finds a quirky, unsettled way to play a man who doesn’t know who he is without resorting to the cliché of the lost soul. If anything, he leans into more of a blank slate interpretation of amnesia, playing a guy who’s more open to what comes next because he can’t remember what came before. And Macdonald is charming and so incredibly likable that she becomes the heart of a show that can be cold at times.

Echoes of “ Memento ” and “Fargo” aside, “The Tourist” also has its own quirky personality. Some of those quirks get a bit extreme in late-season episodes in ways I can’t spoil, but the show is never boring. It’s a reminder that the Dornan who was so great in “ The Fall ” is still out there, and I hope it leads him to more bizarre, challenging roles like this one. There’s an argument to be made that there’s an even-better 100-minute movie in this six-episode mini-series, but that’s not the world we’re in right now. A story like this has a better chance to be told in the TV system than the mid-budget film one, and the writers don’t drag their feet or spin their wheels like so many streaming thrillers. They’re constantly moving our hero forward, keeping us uncertain about his past and even his moral center.

Some will argue that “The Tourist” gets too convoluted and I’ll admit that I enjoyed the playful uncertainty of the first half of the season more than the intensity of the second half. Although the show does get deeper in how it unpacks lies we tell ourselves and those we listen to from other people. It turns out that everyone on "The Tourist" has a secret or two, and almost all of them could use a car accident to reset the hole they've dug for themselves. 

I'm not sure how intentional it is but the show never stopped reminding me of some of my favorite early Coen films—the noir danger of “ Blood Simple ,” the open roads of “ Raising Arizona ” (and a bearded hunter who seems unkillable), Macdonald’s very Marge Gunderson character—and yet these nods to greats are embedded in a breakneck plot that never slows down enough to distract from its own inspired storytelling. Take the trip.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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The Tourist (2022)

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The tourist attraction

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‘The Tourist’ Season 2 Ending Explained: What Did Elliot’s File Say?

Where to stream:.

• The Tourist

• Jamie Dornan

Where Was ‘The Tourist’ Season 2 Filmed? Top Filming Locations

Jamie dornan “wasn’t pleased” with the ballet scene in ‘the tourist’ season 2 finale, stream it or skip it: ‘the tourist’ season 2 on netflix, where jamie dornan’s amnesia-riddled character returns home to ireland, will there be a ‘the tourist’ season 3 jamie dornan isn’t sure: “i’m pretty busy until the end of 2025”.

The Tourist follows a car crash victim ( Jamie Dornan ) who wakes up in a hospital with amnesia and tries to uncover his past after suspecting that dangerous people want to kill him.

The first season sees the man learning the basics about himself and navigating the logistics of his situation– dealing with lawyers, doctors, and whatnot. He is told that his name is Elliot and he’s involved in a drug trafficking ring.

Elliot also makes amends with Helen, portrayed by Danielle Macdonald , a police officer whom he kidnaps while on the run but grows close with.

 The second season changes things up. Taking a darker route, the new episodes give greater insight into the people chasing Elliot and his family relations.

Elliot’s mother Niahm (Olwen Fouéré) is introduced, along with his enemy Donal McDonnell (Diarmaid Murtagh) and Donal’s son Fergal ( Mark McKenna ).

With tons of twists and turns, and a budding romance between Elliot and Helen, the journey to the end of Season 2 can get confusing. Need help ironing out the details? Here’s a breakdown of The Tourist Season 2, now streaming on Netflix .

What Was on Elliot’s File?

Once again, the season finale of The Tourist sees Helen unsure if she can be in Elliot’s (now known as Eugene) life given his dangerous past. The episode opens in the aftermath of Donal’s death and it’s revealed that Elliot’s prints are all over the gun that killed him. Elliot denies his involvement in the death, despite having a motive. Helen visits Elliot at the police station and breaks up with him.

“I don’t know you,” Helen tells Elliot in a tearful monologue. “I don’t know who you really are and that… I wish that it was different. I wish that I could just be happy.”

“We still can be,” Elliot says. 

“I’m sorry,” Helen replies before standing up to leave.

Elliot tells Helen that he loves her and she says, “I love you too, but it’s not enough.”

Meanwhile, crime lord Frank (Francis Magee) is trying to convince Fergal to seek revenge on Elliot for killing Donal, and he hesitantly agrees after his family’s legacy is mentioned. Frank arranges for Elliot to be released from the police station. 

Upon being released, Niamh warns Elliot that Frank wants him dead. Elliot claims that the current feud is not his fate and he doesn’t want to be involved.

Helen goes to the airport and bumps into her ex Ethan (Greg Larsen) and his new friend Detective Ruairi (Conor MacNeill), and the detective tells her about Frank’s arrangement. They decide to team together to help Elliot. Oh, we love where this is going. 

Elliot takes a different approach and asks Fergal to help him hide from Frank, which lands them both in trouble with Frank. After a car chase, they meet with Niamh at Cassidy’s Pub, and she is doubtful of Fergal’s intentions.

Later, Helen, Ruairi, and Ethan — who have been digging into the secrets of Elliot and Niamh’s past — arrive at the pub, shortly after Frank and his gang has arrived. Before violence can break out over the latest revelation that Niamh killed Donal, Helen reveals that she has found the missing case from Frank’s father that Niamh stole.

Inside the case are love letters between Niamh’s mother and Frank’s father, which reveal that the two are half-siblings. Niamh tries to shoot Helen, but Elliot stands between them.

“We are not blood,” Niamh tells Frank. “We’ve spilled too much of each other’s to be anywhere fucking near that.” But Frank seems touched by the news. Elliot tells Niamh that she’s going to have to shoot him if she wants to get to Helen, and she refuses.

At this moment, Ethan offers some comedic relief, saying, “A lot of potential for incest here… with the two families.”

Niamh storms out of the pub and says she can’t forget the past, and Elliot and Helen kiss and make up. 

The episode concludes with a brief time jump that sees Elliot and Helen living in Amsterdam. Elliot has received a file with information about his old life but has been waiting for Helen to open it. She arrives home and expresses that she doesn’t want to open it and she’d rather stay present in the new life they’ve built for each other. Elliot burns the file in the fireplace. 

Hilariously, Helen carts them off to a theater and she encourages him to dance since Niahm insisted he was a skilled ballet dancer in his youth. Elliot shows off his skills as the file burns in the fireplace. Before completely turning to ash, it is revealed that the file reads that Elliot was a secret agent.

Well, that left us with a few burning questions.

Jamie Dornan on Elliot and Helen’s Relationship

Decider spoke with Dornan ahead of the Netflix release of the new season. The Irish actor expressed that Elliot and Helen’s decision to burn the file was a “good thing.”

“They need to try to have some normalcy in their lives,” Dornan told us. “They’ve gone to Amsterdam, it’s a fresh start. [Elliot’s] grown his hair a bit. They’re trying to live a normal life. The past in the past. Let’s get rid of that.” Though, Dornan acknowledges that because the viewers are aware of what’s in the file, the show has opened itself to “endless possibilities.”

“What happens next? How much of that will Helen and Elliot get to know? It felt like a ploy… like we could do more of the story. But I think for the relationship, it was probably the right thing to do… sort of wash them of all that crap. They don’t need to know any of that stuff. They close the door,” Dornan concluded.

Despite the setup for a third season, Dornan isn’t sure that it will happen . “I don’t know if there’s been conversations had about that. We’re staying out of  all that  and seeing if it happens. I don’t think it’ll happen. I’m pretty busy now until the end of 2025, so it’ll be a while,” he shared.

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The Accidental Tourist

56 pages • 1 hour read

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Summary and Study Guide

Anne Tyler’s The Accidental Tourist is a literary fiction novel that follows the character-driven story of Macon Leary, who must navigate life following the death of his son and the dissolution of his marriage. The Accidental Tourist was originally published in 1985 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Accidental Tourist is Anne Tyler’s 10th novel and one of her most recognized works. This study guide follows the paperback Berkley edition released in 1986.

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Macon Leary is a writer based out of Baltimore who creates travel guides for people who must travel on business but do not want to be bothered with discomfort or unexpected experiences. Macon is an expert at finding the most comfortable and convenient solutions to average problems. While driving back from a beach vacation, Macon’s wife, Sarah , informs him that she wants a divorce. It’s been a year since their son, Ethan, was unexpectedly killed, and the two have grieved in very different ways. After Sarah moves out, Macon restructures their house, creating a multitude of systems and contraptions to maximize comfort and convenience. When it comes time for Macon to go on his next trip for work, he goes to board the family dog, Edward . He learns Edward is blacklisted from the vet for biting a worker last time he was boarded. Desperate, Macon finds another vet, where he meets Muriel Pritchett. Muriel is talkative and great with dogs. She agrees to let Macon board Edward and proposes that she give Edward obedience lessons. Macon declines and goes on his trip. When he returns, he commits to more systems to run the house. As these systems break down, Macon has an accident, resulting in a broken leg.

Macon moves in with his siblings, Rose , Charles, and Porter, while his leg heals. The Leary siblings are as peculiar as Macon with their habits, rituals, and organizational tendencies. They don’t answer the phone, eat baked potatoes often, and play the same made-up card game they’ve played since they were children. Macon’s siblings complain about Edward’s behavior, but Macon struggles to do anything about it because Edward belonged to Ethan. Finally, after being bit on the hand, Macon reaches out to Muriel, who has persistently tried to get Macon to hire her ever since they met. Muriel is great with Edward and helps Macon teach Edward things like sitting, staying, and walking on a leash. Edward struggles to learn to lie down, so Macon calls the vet. The clerk informs Macon that Muriel is out that day because her son is sick. The next time Macon sees Muriel, he asks how her son is, and she loses her temper because he wasn’t supposed to know about her son yet. Macon fires Muriel in the same scene because she harshly punishes Edward. As Macon’s leg heals, he struggles to overcome his grief from Ethan’s death and his separation from Sarah. When Sarah invites Macon to dinner, he proposes they have another baby to resolve their marital issues, but Sarah instead tells Macon she wants a divorce and cites his seemingly callous reaction after Ethan’s death and lack of comfort to her as her reason.

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After Macon gets his cast off, he flies to New York for work. He visits a skyscraper restaurant, where he has a panic attack after realizing he’s distanced himself from everyone he’s ever cared about. He calls home to ask for help despite his siblings being states away and learns that Edward is misbehaving and has cornered Charles in the pantry. Macon has no one else to call to help Charles and take Edward, so he calls Muriel and asks for her help. Not only does Muriel agree to rescue Charles, but she also comforts Macon and talks him down from his panic. When Macon returns from New York, he allows Muriel to begin training Edward again, and the two begin to spend a lot more time together. Muriel tells Macon all about her life and her son, Alexander. She invites Macon to come to dinner at her house, but Macon is afraid to do so, thinking it will feel like he’s finding substitutes for Sarah and Ethan.

When Macon goes to deliver a letter to Muriel to explain why he won’t have dinner with her, she surprises him with her tenderness, and Macon opens up about his grief regarding Ethan and the way he’s distanced himself from everyone. Muriel invites Macon to sleep in her bed, and he allows her to lead him to her room and tuck him in. Macon begins to spend much more time with Muriel and Alexander, eating dinner with them, helping Alexander with his homework, and joining them at Muriel’s parents’ house for Christmas. Macon’s relationship with Muriel heals him and helps him become less distant from the people around him. He moves in with her and gets to know the people of her street better than he ever knew his own neighbors. He forms a special bond with Alexander, teaching him to fix household items and taking him shopping for clothes.

Eventually, Muriel’s tendencies begin to wear Macon down. He is bothered by her misuse of words, her persistence, her insecurities, and her chaos. Muriel tries to convince Macon to take her to France, but Macon tells her no. Muriel presents Macon a calendar for the current year to show him she’s picked out a wedding day for them. Macon tells her he’s not interested in marrying again because he thinks only perfect couples get married, which leads to an argument and more tension between the couple as time passes.

After encountering Sarah at a wedding, Macon finds Sarah reaching out to him more and more during a trip to Canada. Sarah calls him in every city, at first asking if she can move back into their house because her lease is ending, then just wanting to talk about the weather. She hints that she wants to get back together with Macon and tells him she wishes she were with him in Canada. When Macon lands back in Baltimore, he drives home to Sarah instead of driving to Muriel’s house. They rekindle their relationship, much to Muriel’s heartbreak. Macon and Sarah begin to put their lives back together, buying new furniture and reassembling the house after it was damaged in a snowstorm during Macon’s absence. When Sarah is not around, Macon finds himself longing to talk to someone. He calls Muriel to ask about Alexander’s allergy shots, and Muriel scolds him for having the audacity to contact her about Alexander after abandoning them.

When Macon leaves for France, Muriel shows up on his same flight, having booked the same hotel. Muriel insists that Macon needs her, and Macon feels Muriel will be extremely unprepared to travel in Paris. Macon does his best to avoid Muriel, and she gets along fine without him. He eventually agrees to have dinner with her at a Burger King in Paris, where Muriel fills Macon in about the people on her street. She asks him to come to bed with her, but Macon declines. After several days in Paris, Macon starts day trips to other cities. When he goes to invite Muriel to join him, he throws his back out and becomes incapacitated. He calls his publisher to inform him of the delay, and word gets back to Sarah, who shows up in Paris to take care of Macon. She informs Macon that she saw Muriel, and he tells her that she followed him to France on her own accord. Sarah becomes excited about having a second honeymoon with Macon while they’re in France. One night, she asks Macon why he didn’t do anything to stop Muriel from getting on the plane with him. Macon doesn’t have an answer and realizes he’s never made any major life decisions on his own. Everything that has happened to him has resulted from passively accepting things. He stays up all night thinking and eventually decides to return to Muriel, realizing she is better for him.

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Tourism Review

Accueil Numéros 13 The Making of The Tourist

The Making of The Tourist 1

The author reflects on the historical context and intellectual and institutional foundations for his (1976) study The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, especially its connections to classic social and critical theory, and its fit with post structuralism and deconstruction. The influence of Marx, Durkheim, C.S. Peirce, Barthes, Lévi-Strauss, Goffman and Derrida are discussed. The method of The Tourist is to follow tourists looking for clues about the shape and direction of human society today. Its approach is antithetical to the domain fragmentation occurring in the university whereby knowledge of society is broken up and distributed across disconnected fields such as women’s studies, ethnic studies, cultural studies, communication studies, et cetera. As tourists cross all these domains they open new pathways toward holistic understanding of emergent societal arrangements. The final section addresses misreadings of the author’s concepts of “alienated leisure” and “staged authenticity.”

Entrées d’index

Keywords :, texte intégral.

• 1 An early sociological study of tourism, The Tourist was originally published by Schocken books and (...)
• 2 Fifty years later, when Dennison Nash asked me to contribute to his volume on the sociological begi (...)

1 Tourist studies today have set up shop in so many universities worldwide; have become the focus of so many journals and conferences; have attracted so many bright young minds, that it is difficult to recall a time when the study of tourism did not exist as a robust field of inquiry. Yet, that is the situation I faced in 1965 when I proposed to study international tourism as my Ph.D. dissertation topic 2 . My Cornell graduate committee rejected my proposal on the grounds that tourism did not exist as a field of study; that I would have to do my research and construct a field around it as I went. They told me they thought I was up to the task, but the process was too cumbersome for a Ph.D. dissertation, and would take at least ten years. They insisted that I finish my studies faster. “Do it as your tenure book,” they said.

2 My academic preparation was evenly divided between sociology and anthropology. As an undergraduate I was strongly attracted to the classics: especially Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Mauss, Malinowski, Redfield and Radcliffe-Brown. I did not discover Freud and Marx, the Frankfurt School, C.S. Peirce, Saussurian linguistics, Barthes, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty, until graduate school and post-graduate study. I loved reading books where the way in was difficult. The more difficult they were, the greater my satisfaction when I got my first grasp of them.

3 Today the books I loved are called “theory.” But I did not read them as “theory” then or now. To me, they were all studies of something . They staked out interesting analytic territories and provided explanations of things that were going on in new domains: the mechanisms by which capitalism transfers wealth from the poor to the rich; the reasons why the suicide rate in upwardly and downwardly mobile populations is greater than the rate in class-bound populations; etcetera.

• 3 I eventually did find enough to engage Foucault’s theories on two occasions. See MacCannell and Mac (...)

4 My favorite authors often had to invent new language, concepts and conceptual definitions to describe their discoveries, but there was none of the kind of content-free, superfluous clever wordplay that is called “theory” today. I never had tolerance for academic make-work, or the notion that the ultimate goal of a professor is to publish. My goal has always been to solve problems and I want to be judged by the importance of the problem and the quality of my solutions. Publication has always been incidental for me. I find the notion absurd that someone might publish humanistic or social science “theory” as an end in itself. Theory worthy of the name is only a byproduct of the creation of new knowledge. In my judgment at the time, the only contemporary figures who measured up were Erving Goffman and Claude Lévi-Strauss. I found little in Foucault that could not already be found in Durkheim, Weber and Marx 3 . Immediately on completing my Ph.D. at Cornellin January, 1968, I left for Paris to sit in Lévi-Strauss’s course on “Myth” at the College de France. Later, while writing The Tourist , I re-connected with Goffman at the University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate, I sat in his “Introduction to Sociology” course at Berkeley. At Penn, I joined his graduate seminar, “Relations in Public” and we enjoyed free-wheeling conversations about the past and future of sociology and many other things.

5 That is the bedrock beneath my intellectual foundations for writing The Tourist. It took almost exactly ten years just as predicted by my Cornell faculty.

1. Why the tourist?

6 I chose The Tourist as my subject because the figure of the tourist seemed to me to be as good a cipher and key as any other for the global socio-historical epoch we are in. The tourist, I then thought and still think, is today’s analogue of the industrial worker of late 19 th century sociology, a figure worthy of all the attention we might give it to understand what is going on around us. And I chose it especially because in 1965, it had not already been studied in any depth.

7 As a result of the way I read the classics, I am intrigued and challenged by macro-social phenomena that occur on the largest scale and are widely deployed throughout cultures and societies, especially at the points where the macro touches us most intimately—macro/micro. The universal prohibition of incest and the individual’s relation to the means of production under capitalism are classic examples of this kind of macro/micro phenomenon. Socially structured face-to-face interaction would be a recently elaborated example, as would the proliferation of modern mythologies and their impact on individual and collective conscience. A close examination of tourism and sightseeing was perfectly suited to my curiosity and predilections.

2. Would it be possible to do a sociological study of tourism?

• 4 In an early progress report on his theoretical effort, Parsons wrote: “. . . as for the building it (...)

8 Not in any conventional sense. I knew from the start I could not approach tourists as some kind of bounded group . The standardized units of social analysis (classes, groups, institutions, communities, regions, etcetera) were conjured into existence by positing highly contingent boundaries separating rural from urban, men from women, black from white, parents from children, rich from poor, European from American, North from South (as economic development categories), first, second and third generation immigrants, etcetera ad nauseam, and treating the resulting groupings as if they were real. Talcott Parsons tried to fit these mainly fictitious entities together in the 1950s into a general theory of society he called “structural functionalism.” He often likened himself to a mason, mortaring together sociological categories as the structural building blocks of society, fitting them together with all the other building blocks to make a conceptual analogue of our social world, a “functional whole.” 4 He failed.

9 Nevertheless, universities in the United States followed a quasi-Parsonian framework setting up new departments, majors, minors, research centers, and graduate degree programs specializing in the study of hypostatic social units as “building blocks” of our current academic humanities and social sciences. Sociology, in the United States, and perhaps with a guilty conscience toward its European origins, was more than ready to outsource much of its work to new independent academic programs: e.g. women’s studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, communications, visual studies, ad infinitum. No one seems to have seriously questioned the fragile and tentative basis of these categorical domains. Faculty and graduate students willingly accepted the notion that the boundary definitions around their programs are real and stable enough to provide unquestioned context for academic labor. Approval of a faculty line in Cultural Studies made cultural studies a real field.

10 Academics trapped in these newly institutionalized domains can do worth while, albeit limited, research. These extra-disciplinary sub-fields, have discovered all sorts of difference and dynamism, shifting definitions, movements, transgressions, transactions, negotiations, and new kinds of human agency. But discovery required a devil’s bargain. Current academic work is predicated on an unspoken agreement that precludes serious and direct questioning of the shape and direction of society as a whole. This is only one of several ways that the University has disabled itself when it comes to understanding the social and human world in the 21 st century. But it is the main way. Faculty in the new social sciences and humanities have closed their eyes to the questions that animated every sociological classic on which their work is ultimately based. They must willfully disregard the evident truth that if there is change going on within their domain, there must also be change going on in the entire society. They especially must shield themselves from ever knowing that macro-change at the societal level necessarily de-stabilizes the very existence of the domain they are working in, the one that is paying their salary.

11 An underlying assumption of this work is that the structure of the unit of analysis sets the limits on the range of possible research results, much the way the rules of a game structures the plays of the game. (Some openly make use of a game analogy.) My work on tourism began with an opposing assumption: namely, that an outcome of the game might be a new, entirely different, game; that the stakes in a game might be the game itself. If there is a single lesson to be learned from the sociological classics, it is that in social life the game itself has always been the ultimate stake in the game. I wanted a method that would permit me to observe the birth of a new kind of society.

3. The actual work begins

• 5 In the last several years there has appeared in the tourism research literature an unfortunate tend (...)

12 I started by making a collection of things tourists go to see. I briefly entertained the notion of creating a naturalistic typology of tourist attractions and working my way back from there to varieties of tourist motivation and desire. Had I followed this strategy to its logical conclusion I would have simply repeated the errors of academic sociology and foisted them off onto the study of tourism 5 .

13 Any typology requires a more or less comprehensive collection. I began to collect accounts of every imaginable type of attraction. Niagara, a waterfall, attracted tourists. So I collected visitor observations of Niagara and of other famous falls. These included entries in guidebooks, travel brochures, diary entries, fragments of essays by travel writers, incidental observations by politicians, social scientists, news reporters, others. In my file labeled “Waterfalls as attraction” I assembled accounts up to the point where they became redundant. And so I went through thousands of accounts of monuments, mountains, festivals, battlefields, churches, archaeological ruins, towers, articles of clothing (Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” cocktail dress, Napoleon’s hat) paintings (The Mona Lisa, Guernica), gardens, bridges, neighborhoods of the poor and the wealthy, sites of tragic events and miracles, etcetera. Some, by no means all, of these accounts are found on the pages of The Tourist .

14 Eventually my archive overflowed an entire room of our apartment. It was growing increasingly evident that my dream of imposing on my collection some division into natural categories of attractions or of tourists was just that, a dream. There was nothing on earth not susceptible to becoming a tourist attraction. Everything has a very close relative that is already an attraction, even petrified dinosaur dung. Now I knew two things. First, most of the accounts I collected were not very different from one another; that few observers actually penetrated the symbolic that held them in its thrall. Second, the attractions, seen collectively as a function of tourist desire, were a realm of pure and unlimited possibility. Gazing at my collection, I concluded that tourist desire is universal and boundless, or as nearly universal and boundless as any human desire can be. Goffman told me I must never lose my archive. But several moves and one house fire reduced it to a few random scraps.

4. The French connection

15 If any kind of object or event can become one, the question that remains is What exactly distinguishes the tourist attraction from the thousands of other similar things that do not attract tourists? To answer “fame” or “extraordinary-ness” is merely tautological. What made the objects and events in my files different from their unloved twins and other siblings was that they were socially marked as attractions. It was their symbolic representation, literally the clippings I collected and other similar labels, that separated these things from the myriad similar things that are not attractions. A “Monterey Cypress” tree that stood for many years on the central coast of California appeared in every guide, and there are thousands of postcard and other photographic views of it in circulation. Everyone who passed by had to stop and take yet another picture, often with members of their family in front of it. Very similar trees 300 meters away had no socio-symbolic representation and attracted little notice. There are several hundred thousand “selfie” type pictures posted on the Web of tourists at the Golden Gate Bridge. There are only several dozen similar pictures at the equally large and busy Oakland Bay Bridge two kilometers away.

16 When I first had these thoughts, my mind flooded with memories of passages from Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of the Religious Life , e.g., “So we must refrain from regarding these symbols as simple artifices, as sorts of labels attached to representations already made, . . . they are integral to the representations.” (p. 263) Durkheim reinforced my primary goal, not just a study of tourism but a holistic account of the kind of society we now live in. Was it possible that the global system of attractions, their symbolic representations, and the gathering of tourists around them might constitute an analytic opening into our current socio-historical epoch? My data were clearly not containable within standard institutional, regional or national boundaries. The vast symbolism seemingly sloughed off by tourist attractions world-wide seemed to me to be the best possible mirror of the operations of modern consciousness or “world view.”

17 The dissertation I did write at Cornell was a comparative study of the laws in the 48 continental United States. I wanted to know if discriminatory legislation (racially segregated National Guard, public housing, etcetera) had any impact on economic development of the states. I constructed measures of social structural differentiation that allowed me to explore the connections between very high levels of development and the persistence of exclusionary and discriminatory laws. The other students in my graduate program teasingly called me “differentiation man.” My first apprehension of my tourism data brought me back to the same dimension. How do moderns live under conditions where Society has become so huge and disconnected from their day-to-day existence, so complex and differentiated, that no one can really know their place in the totality? Is it possible that modern tourism is a massive collective effort directly to engage difference, or differentiation, itself? There was nothing in my data that suggested otherwise.

18 But there was also nothing in the approach of mid-century Anglo-American sociology that gave me a method to understand the human being as something other than a member of some group, community, class, or tribe from which she derives an identity. My tourists were enthusiastically crossing every analytic and moral boundary, jumping from group to group and epoch to epoch, admiring the unique heritage and contribution of all the different peoples who had ever inhabited the face of the earth. If tourism is a positive way of coming to terms with the very complexity that bedevils modern life and incapacitates modern sociology, I needed a new approach.

19 The intellectual setting I had thrown myself into at the time, Paris in the late 1960s, provided me with the conceptual and methodological moves I needed to advance my study of tourism. While I sat in Lévi-Strauss’s course on “Myth” at the Collège de France, Juliet Flower MacCannell took third year professor Jacques Derrida’s philosophy seminar at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. Juliet and the other American students in Derrida’s seminar reported to me daily on what he said: “there are no transcendental signifieds. There are only signifiers.” And, “there are no fixed meanings. Meaning is always deferred. There is only deferral or ‘ differance .’” Of course I heard “difference,” and “differentiation.” Derrida also told his students that to understand the next turn in Western philosophy, they would have to know Saussurian linguistics, but even more important, the writings of the American philosopher, Charles S. Peirce. Saussure had begun the process of freeing the symbolic from the natural world. But it was Peirce’s semiotics that paved the way to an understanding of the symbolic as completely free of essentialism. Pierce had been briefly mentioned in my History of Science seminar at Cornell but I had not yet read a book by him. Juliet and I immediately wrote our friend Alan Nagel at Cornell asking him to check every Peirce book out of the graduate library, package them, and mail them to us in Paris. When the books arrived, I tore through them finding passages like this one:

6 Buchler, 162. [L]ogicality inexorably requires that our interests shall not be limited. They must not stop at our own fate but must embrace the whole community. This community, again, must not be limited, but must extend to all races of beings with whom we can come into immediate or mediate intellectual relation. It must reach, however vaguely, beyond this geological epoch, beyond all bounds 6 .

• 7 Few of the extended reviews of The Tourist have dealt with it’s theoretical engagement with semioti (...)

20 Peirce’s semiotic gave me the basic concepts I needed to build general models of tourist attractions and the dialogic structures of tourist encounters. But Lévi-Strauss and Barthes helped as well. 7

8 Lévi-Strauss, (1967a), pp. 47-8.

21 On the first day I went to Lévi-Strauss’s course on “Myth” with low expectations. His words “travel and travelers are two things I loathe” still burned in my brain. He had already told me to my face that a structural study of the whole of modernity was impossible. I could recite from memory passages from his “Inaugural Lecture” on assuming the chair at the Collège de France 8 . “Pure anthropology,” he said, could only be the study of “primitive societies” whose “past is as old as the origin of the species.” “These societies seem to have elaborated or retained a particular wisdom which incites them to resist desperately any structural modifications which would afford history a point of entry into their lives.” (47-8.) I was a great admirer of his research reports like “Do Dual Organizations Exist” where he followed is own admonition to confine his analysis to the internal workings of a highly bounded group. i So, I held out little hope that he would provide me with a methodological move or a concept that might advance our understanding of a concrete Peircian Community Without Definite Limits.

22 Was I surprised! Standing at the lectern was this dignified proponent of “pure anthropology,” an anthropology that focused on the elucidation, one-by-one, of the internal structures of primitive isolates. A subject he and I both knew would soon pass out of existence. ii But what was he up to in 1968? He was bounding crazily from one Native American society to another, hop-skipping and jumping from the Bering Straits to Tierra del Fuego. He was following the movement of myths from one society to the next and analyzing their structural transformations as they were repurposed for local use. My sigh of relief was probably audible in the great lecture hall. Aha! If I wanted a clear precedent for doing mythic analyses of tourist attractions as points of repair in the modern consciousness, it was right here before me in the latest work of the contemporary thinker I wanted most to admire. In his handling of them, the proper domain of Native American myth, was a Community Without Definite Limits.

23 Lévi-Strauss’s handling of his collection of myths gave me a methodological framework for working with my entire collection of attractions as texts. I could not approach my attractions analogically as he approaches his myths. But very nearby I found an adaptable method in Roland Barthes Mythologies , especially his still indispensible essay, “Myth Today.” My ultimate hope for The Tourist would be that it provide the initial conceptual framework for detailed symbolic studies of the attractions in the global system; the concrete ways the attractions reflect cosmopolitan morality, values, and human relationships. iii Much of this kind of work, i.e. decoding the mythic dimensions of the attractions, is now occurring in China and Japan. See, e.g., studies by Shinji Yamashita, Takayoshi Yamamura (in Seaton et al., eds.) and Hong-mei Zhao.

24 I should have been aware of the post-structural turn Lévi-Strauss’s work had already taken before I went to his lectures in 1968. Le Cru et le Cuit (1964) had been published four years before. It appeared in English translation ( The Raw and the Cooked , 1969) the following year in time for me to take it thoroughly into consideration as I continued working on The Tourist . Bear in mind that no one had yet bothered to give “post-structuralism,” or “deconstruction” their currently fashionable labels. All I had access to was the raw thought that gave rise to these movements. And frankly, I have never been able to identify with the way their later adherents assimilated the foundational work that I was fortunate enough to have witnessed first hand. My first grasp of deconstruction came not from books and articles but from conversations in cafés and in bed before going to sleep. I should have made some notes to this effect, but everything was still very much up in the air when I was writing the first drafts of The Tourist . iv

25 Derrida’s Grammatology appeared in English translation the same year as The Tourist (1976), and his Writing and Difference came two years later (1978). I support the theoretical shift from structuralism to post-structuralism and wanted my study to reflect and represent the thought that was happening in the time and the place of its original conception. The Tourist contains sections and chapters on “difference” and “differentiation,” “structural spuriousness,” “the semiotics of attraction,” “staged authenticity,” “cultural production,” and “the Paris case.”

26 My chapter on “Staged Authenticity” has occasioned the most response in the literature. Almost everyone, including Professors Ed Bruner and Erik Cohen have attributed to me an essentialist belief in the authenticity of tourist experiences when the opposite is clearly the case from the title to the final note. I have already tried several times to correct the misreadings of “staged authenticity.” See, for example, “Why it never really was about authenticity,” “Staged Authenticity Today,” and “Comment on Lau and Knudsen/Rickly-Boyd.”

27 On this occasion I would like to address an important criticism of The Tourist that I have mainly left unanswered until now. I based the sightseeing drive on modern alienation and the weakening or dilution of intimate social bonds in modern life, bonds that might be experienced as “authentic.” The particular criticism that goes to the heart of the thesis of The Tourist is nicely summarized by Dennison Nash (2007, p. 249)

28 MacCannell sees tourism as a ritual of modern peoples, in which they scour the world looking for some kind of authenticity , a quality which many think is lacking in modern social life; and in this intention they are aided by modern hosts who attempt to “stage” it for them . . . . This notion has been criticized by a number of scholars (Cohen 1988. 2004:2-5; McCabe 2002) for both theoretical and empirical inadequacies. . . . Cohen feels it is no longer applicable in a post-modern era where ‘the craving for enjoyment and fun become a culturally sufficient justification’ for touring.

29 In The Tourist I made it abundantly clear that the modern “alienation” I wrote about is not a psychological concept and has nothing to do with any individual or personal feelings or emotions. I have always tried to let the tourists think and feel anything they might wish. What I have mainly learned from my critics is that the mere mention of “alienation” or “authenticity” causes them to take what is being said personally, even when they should know better. My concept of “alienated leisure” is openly derived from Marx’s concept of “alienated labor.” It does not take a virtuoso reader of Marx to know that even if a worker loves his work, his boss, and his co-workers, and looks forward to going to work every day, that does not make his labor any less alienated. In a strict sense, so long as the profits of his labor accrue not to the worker, but to the owner of the means of production, the worker’s labor is alienated. Probably all the more so, or at least pathetically so, if he experiences “joy in work.”

30 The underlying question of alienated leisure is the same: what is the surplus value of leisure at the level of the entire society? If society evolves to the point where, from the perspective of its ordinary, everyday members, it appears unimaginably huge, ungovernable, disconnected, fragmented, what can be done to impose upon it some sense of order and meaningful connection? My argument at this point became dialectical which is probably why it throws so many readers off. I stated, rather too clearly I suspect, that the very fragmentation of society today, its disconnections and dislocations, have become primary resources for a new and modern kind of solidarity founded on resistance to the rule of alienation. However it may be experienced psychologically in the mind of the tourist, it is the structural motive to go on tour.

31 In traditional communities the separation of truth from lies, the maintenance of a moral order, of a strong collective sense of right and wrong, good and bad, was necessarily felt at the individual level. Each individual assumed a share of responsibility for the smooth functioning of the totality. Today, traditional morality has become disconnected from the social totality. It may have become so disconnected that a bankrupt businessman, one who lies every time he speaks, who has a proven incapacity to enter into or sustain a stable marriage, would not even attempt to hide these foibles as he ascends to become “leader of the free world.”

32 My central argument in The Tourist is we will never be able to correct for this state of affairs by trying to return to some kind of federation of traditions. Rather, the only correctives will be found in facing the social totality for what it is, digging in and discovering its symbolic secrets, embracing its positive dimensions and resisting its negatives.

33 Sightseeing is by no means a perfect way of affirming a principled socio-logic under current macro-social conditions. v Nor is it the only way. Some moderns have figured out that the truth, and honorable interpersonal ties, may no longer be holding up the sky, but they continue to make a huge difference in the quality of their everyday lives and relations. There are myriad examples of heroic collective resistance to modern fragmentation and disconnection ranging from Doctors Without Borders to renewable energy and other ecologically concerned movements. Sightseeing remains the largest and most sustainably funded response to the rule of differentiation. It is the only social activity that can be scaled to the totality and has the capacity to turn the totality inside-out.

34 I decided not to burden my book with this kind of meta-theoretical musing. I assumed that the meta-critique would soon enough be brought out in discussion and reviews. Of course I was very wrong about this. After the original publication of The Tourist , in the United States, all discussion of our current socio-historical epoch was emphatically swept under the sociological rug. I have been very fortunate that the growth of tourism studies as an applied field along with the growth of tourism itself, has sustained the relevance of The Tourist . After 1976, The Tourist is the only English language book on the shelf of sociological studies of the whole of society—no more American Dilemma s; no more Organization Man ; no more The Social System ; no more White Collar ; no more One Dimensional Man ; not even a Lonely Crowd .

Bibliographie

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Bruner E., 2005, Culture on Tour: Ethnographies of travel , Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Cohen E., 1988, “Traditions in the Qualitative Sociology of Tourism,” Annals of Tourism Research , 15, 29-46.

Derrida J., 1976, Of Grammatology , Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Derrida J., 1978, Writing and Difference , Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Durkheim E., 1915, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life , New York, The Free Press.

Graburn N. (ed.), 1976, Ethnic and Tourist Arts: Cultural Expressions from the Fourth World , Berkeley, University of California Press.

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett B., 1998, Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage , Berkeley, University of California Press.

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Lévi-Strauss C., 1967a, The Scope of Anthropology , London, Cape.

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Lévi-Strauss C., 1969, The Raw and the Cooked—Introduction to a Science of Mythology, I, New York, Harper and Row.

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MacCannell D., MacCannell J-F., 1993, “Violence, Power, Pleasure: A Revisionist Reading of Foucault from the Victim Perspective,” in Ramazanoglu C. (ed.), Up Against Foucault , London, Routledge.

MacCannell D., 2001, “Tourist Agency”, Tourist Studies , vol. 1, n. 1, 23-37.

MacCannell D., 2007, “Anthropology for All the Wrong Reasons,” in Dennison N. (ed.), The Study of Tourism: Anthropological and Sociological Beginnings , Amsterdam, Elsevier.

MacCannell D., 2008, “Why it Never Really was About Authenticity, ” Societ y, vol. 45, n.4, 334-337. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/103513/ >Society>

MacCannell D., 2011, The Ethics of Sightseeing , Berkeley, University of California Press.

MacCannell D., 2014, “Comment on Lau and Knudsen / Rickly-Boyd”, Annals of Tourism Research, 44, 283-87.

McCabe S., 2002, “The Tourist Experience and Everyday Life,” in Dann, G. (ed.) The Tourist as a Metaphor of the Social World , Oxon, CABI Publishing, 61-76.

Marcuse H., 1964, One-Dimensional Man: studies in ideology of advanced industrial society , London, Routledge.

Mills, C. Wright, 1951, White Collar : The American Middle Classes , Oxford University Press.

Myrdal G., 1944, An American Dilemma , New York, Harper and Brothers.

Oakes T., 2005, “Tourism and the Modern Subject: Placing the Encounter between Tourist and Other,” in Carter C., Lew A. (eds.), Seductions of Place: Geographical Perspectives on Globalization and Touristed Landscapes , London, Routledge.

Oakes T., 2006, “Get Real! On Being Yourself and Being a Tourist,” in Minca C., Oakes T. (eds.), Travels in Paradox: Remapping Tourism , Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

Parsons T., 1950, “The Prospects of Sociological Theory,” American Sociological Review , vol. 15, n.1 (February,), 3-16.

Parsons T., 1951, The Social System , Glencoe, The Free Press.

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Sugawa A., Seaton P. A., Yamamura T., Jang K. (eds.), 2017, Contents Tourism in Japan: Pilgrimages to ‘Sacred Sites’ of Popular Culture , Amherst: Cambria Press, forthcoming.

Van den Abbeele G., 1980, “The Tourist as Theorist,” Diacritics, vol. 10 (December), 2-18.

Whyte W., 1956, The Organization Man , New York, Simon and Schuster.

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1 An early sociological study of tourism, The Tourist was originally published by Schocken books and has been kept continuously in print by Schocken, MacMillan, Random House, Pantheon and most recently the University of California Press. Its first translation was into Korean and subsequently into Italian, Spanish, Polish, Mandarin, Japanese, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Russian. There is a Persian translation in progress.

2 Fifty years later, when Dennison Nash asked me to contribute to his volume on the sociological beginnings of the study of tourism, I found and published my original Cornell dissertation proposal. See MacCannell, 2007 pp. 142-46.

3 I eventually did find enough to engage Foucault’s theories on two occasions. See MacCannell and MacCannell, 1993 and MacCannell, 2001.

4 In an early progress report on his theoretical effort, Parsons wrote: “. . . as for the building itself, a post here and there, and a few courses of bricks at the corners are all that is yet visible above the ground. After all, . . . one and a half generations, in the perspective of the development of a science is a very short time.” (Parsons, 1950 p. 4.)

5 In the last several years there has appeared in the tourism research literature an unfortunate tendency to reproduce the incapacity of the older social sciences, namely, a division of tourists into specialized groups: extreme tourists, “travelers,” eco-tourists, sex tourists, and the like. Today, a researcher might try to establish herself as a leading expert in death tourism, or dark tourism, perhaps calling it “thanotourism,” e.g. Any advantage that results from this strategy is gained at the expense of the field as a whole. No human being has ever been just one of these artificial “types” of tourist.

6 Buchler, 162.

7 Few of the extended reviews of The Tourist have dealt with it’s theoretical engagement with semiotics and the implications of that engagement for understanding intersubjectivity and dialogue. Notable exceptions would be Van den Abbeele (1980) and Oakes (2005 and 2006)

Note de fin

Lévi-Strauss, (1967b), pp 128-160.

Tourism research in the field of anthropology in the United States has advanced much further than in sociology. This, I think, is partly because the original anthropological subject, primitive culture, was about to disappear from the face of the earth due, in some measure, to the impact of global tourism. To their advantage, U.S. anthropologists have tended to treat tourism as systemic question rather than episodically. See, e.g., studies by Ed Bruner, Nelson Graburn, and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett.

While this work is necessarily left undone to be continued by others, I have started it with observations of work displays in Paris, the Statue of Liberty, the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington, D.C., the Cornish Coast, the town of Locke, California, Disneyland, Disney’s town of Celebration in Florida, Freud’s House in London, Yosemite, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and Piranesi’s lithographs.

Juliet and I eventually tried to fill in this gap by sharing what we learned in our Paris years in our book The Time of the Sign .

I have tried to map both its positive and negative potential in my Ethics of Sightseeing .

Pour citer cet article

Référence électronique.

Dean MacCannell , «  The Making of The Tourist  », Via [En ligne], 13 | 2018, mis en ligne le 01 septembre 2018, consulté le 15 avril 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/2239 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/viatourism.2239

Dean MacCannell

University of California at Davis

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Review: 'The Tourist' is a ferocious thriller that relentlessly keeps you hanging on

Talk about a binge watch!

Talk about a binge watch! “The Tourist,” on HBO Max in a blast of six, one-hour episodes, is a ferocious thriller that’s also ferociously funny. Starring Jamie Dornan as an Irishman suffering amnesia in the Australian outback, the series is—to recoin a phrase—must-see TV.

The plot kicks in hard in Episode 1 as Dornan drives down a dusty road with a monster truck on his tail. Waking up battered and bruised in a hospital, he can’t even remember his name. Known only as “The Man” until the end of Episode 2, The Man—like Guy Pearce in “Memento”— must put together the puzzle of his life with crucial pieces missing.

“The Tourist” relentlessly keeps you hanging on. In the book world, they’d call it unputdownable. Each episode of the script by Jack and Harry Williams (“The Missing”) ends in a cliffhanger that whips you into the next episode. Forget about sleep.

It’s clear that Chris Sweeney (who directed episodes one to three) and Daniel Nettheim (who helmed the other half) have seen a lot of Coen brothers movies, especially “Fargo” and “Raising Arizona” with their deliciously deadpan blend of mirth and menace. If you’re going to borrow inspiration, why not swipe from the best.

MORE: Review: 'Licorice Pizza' one of the best films of the year

And Dornan, free from the cartoonish excess of the “Fifty Shades of Gray” trilogy, carries the whole thing with his starshine and burgeoning talent as an actor in “The Fall” and “Belfast.” Dornan is so good, you’ll follow him anywhere, which is just what “The Tourist” needs.

Dornan finds a perfect partner in Aussie dynamo Danielle Macdonald as Helen Chambers, a traffic cop with ambitions to rise in the ranks. The sweetness of Macdonald’s funny, touching and vital performance brings a nurturing humanity to the evil-doings surrounding her.

Can the diet-obsessed Helen, stuck with a controlling fiancée (Greg Larsen), discover herself by helping The Man recover his memory? Their attraction, repped by a burrito emoji, brings heart to a series that aims to blow the doors off with shocks and exploding violence.

For instance, there’s the dude who keeps calling The Man while buried alive in a secret grave? And why does the detective inspector, played to the hilt by Damon Herriman, seem less reliable than the gangsters and drug dealers who occupy the periphery of the episodes?

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Truly terrifying is the best way to describe Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Billy, the hulking American cowboy who drove The Man off the road and yet keeps comparing everyone he meets to his beloved mother. The scene between Billy and Helen will have you biting your nails to the quick.

And what of Shalom Brune-Franklin (“Line of Duty”) as Luci, the flirt who meets The Man at a diner that explodes minutes after they leave it. Luci volunteers to help The Man chase down his past. Or is she hiding something. Hint: Everyone in “The Tourist” is hiding something.

There’s no way I’ll spoil the fun by telling you who’s hiding what. Packed with high-voltage suspense and twists you don’t see coming, “The Tourist” also poses tangled questions about the nature of identify. You can tell The Man is afraid of what he might learn about himself.

Put yourself in his place, which is exactly what “The Tourist” wants you do. It’s one of the reasons this thrill-a-minute series has the staying power to haunt your dreams. The final episode is open-ended enough to suggest there might be a Season 2. Count me in.